A splinter, though a very small and thin piece of wood, metal or glass, can enter into your skin and cause a lot of pain and discomfort. A splinter, despite its size, can be really dangerous if it enters into your skin. Removing splinters from your finger is not very difficult. However, if the splinter has gone completely inside the skin, it may cause an infection and is very difficult to draw out. There are poultices and salves which can be used to draw out a splinter. However, these do not always work well and you may have to undergo a small medical procedure to remove the splinter.
Splinters in the fingers should ideally be prevented. If you are working with wood, glass, or metal be careful so that you do not end up getting a splinter. Work gloves are usually a good idea for protecting your fingers from any unnecessary flesh wounds. A lot of people do not know how to remove a deep splinter and in such a case, the help of a doctor should be sought. Ordinarily, a splinter which is still halfway inside the flesh can be taken out with the help of a pair of clean tweezers. However, if the splinter has gone completely inside the flesh then there may be some trouble that could occur.
A wood splinter in the finger not only makes a puncture wound on the skin, but also opens a gateway for other pathogens to enter into the skin and cause infection and damage. If the splinter in the finger is infected, you may need to get antibiotics apart from a medical procedure to remove the splinter. Since the splinter causes a flesh wound and punctures the protective layer of the skin, other pathogens begin to fester. Detecting a foreign object, the immune system of the body may also attack the splinter, triggering an allergic reaction.
Splinter removal tips are readily available online. However, to get the splinter out, you do not need a lot of things. A clean and sterilized needle, a clean pair of tweezers, and an antiseptic lotion are the most important things that you need. Once you have cleaned the area and the equipment properly, use the needle carefully to position the splinter in a manner so that it can be removed from the finger using tweezers. The best splinter tweezers are those that have fine edges and are sterilized. Since the tweezers come in close contact with bruised and tender skin, it is important to have the tools for splinter removal sterilized.
Splinters are most common in the digits of the body. However, they not only affect the hands and feet, but may affect other parts of the body as well. Ordinarily, when a splinter enters into your skin, you experience a short burst of pain. When the skin is pressed, it causes additional pain. However, these small splinters do not cause the pain and discomfort associated with such injuries. The pain is caused when you have a larger splinter dig into your skin. These can cause complications, and if not removed immediately, they may cause gangrene in the skin. A boil may form around the splinter, which becomes filled with pus. The boil is painful and requires medical attention. In such a case, removing splinters is left to the doctor.
Once you have been able to get splinter out of your finger using a needle and tweezers, the next thing to do is to wash the wound with a disinfecting solution. This is important to ensure there is no presence of any microbes or pathogens in the flesh wound. Once the wound has been washed, apply antiseptic lotion on it and put a bandage on it to prevent further exposure to pathogens. Depending on the size of the flesh wound and the extent of the infection, you may need to change the bandages often.
If you have removed a splinter from your fingers, you will know how to remove a deep splinter in foot as well. This is not always very easy and you may need to get help from another person for this. The procedure remains the same, but the splinter in the foot may be a little more painful than the one in your hand. This is because your feet bear all the weight of your body. Your foot will need a bandage and you will also need to keep daubing the wound with antiseptic lotion and changing the bandage regularly.
If you do not know how to remove a deep splinter under the skin, do not attempt to do so yourself. A lot of time, while attempting to remove the splinter, you may inadvertently end up pushing the splinter even deeper into the skin. Only doctors know how to remove a deep splinter without tweezers, so it is important to ensure that you do not attempt this on your own, or you will infect the area of the wound even more severely. Do not even attempt removing splinters from the fingernail, even if they are not completely inside the skin.
For removing splinters, baking soda is often used. Simply make a mixture of water and baking soda and soak your fingers in it for a few minutes. Once your fingers are a little softer, apply scotch tape on the part where the splinter has entered into your skin. Do not press on it very hard. Instead, remove the scotch tape in a swift motion and if you have done it right, the splinter will stick to the scotch tape and come right off. This is the best remedy for removing splinters from children. This can be used for removing splinters from the feet as well.
Removing splinters from finger and hand is also possible with a piece of potato. For removing splinters with potato, simply take a small piece of potato and rub it on the affected skin. Often the splinter gets stuck in the soft potato and comes right off. However, do this carefully, because if you do not, it may cause the splinter to go in deeper. A splinter in the finger can lead to infection, so be careful with how you deal with these small splinters. If due to a splinter in the finger, the affected digit becomes swollen, see a doctor immediately.
answered by G R