Summer injuries: how to remove a glass splinter? How to remove glass from a wound How to remove a small piece of glass from a wound

You won't be thrilled if something glass breaks into small pieces - especially if one of them gets stuck in your foot. If you don't want to go to the emergency room or see a surgeon for such a minor injury, you can try to remove the fragment yourself. However, keep in mind that it is better to seek medical help if you are not confident in your abilities or the fragment is stuck too deeply.

Steps

Carefully pull the shard closer to the surface

Use Epsom salt and warm water. Fill a small tub or basin with warm or hot water (depending on what water temperature is comfortable for you) and add 1 measuring cup (250 grams) of Epsom salts. Stir thoroughly until the salt is completely dissolved, then immerse your injured foot in the solution. Keep your foot in the solution for 20–30 minutes: under the influence of heat, the sweat glands of the skin will begin to work more intensely, due to which the glass fragment will move to the surface of the skin. Epsom salt will also help remove glass from the thickness of the skin.

Apply castor oil. Castor oil is an excellent home remedy for helping to get rid of small glass shards stuck in the thickness of the skin - it helps move the shard closer to the surface. Soak a gauze pad or cotton pad thoroughly in castor oil and apply it to the foot above the place where the glass is stuck. You will need to wait a while for the oil to penetrate the layers of the skin: the longer you hold the napkin or disk with oil, the closer to the surface the fragment will move.

Apply some PVA glue. PVA glue (the white glue commonly used in schools) dries very quickly and will pull out anything stuck underneath - making it a good glass remover. Apply a little white glue to the skin over the area where the splinter is stuck. Wait until the glue is completely dry, then carefully pull the resulting film from the edges to the center. If the glass is shallow, it will stick to the dried glue and you can pull it out along with the film of cured glue. The glue may not pull the fragment out completely, but it can move it slightly closer to the surface.

Remove the shard

Rinse the affected area. Wash your foot in cool water to remove any glass shards that may remain on the surface of the skin, as well as to wash away any dirt from the skin. Use rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, or iodine solution to treat the area of skin where the glass is located. Dampen a cotton pad with disinfectant and wipe the foot area to disinfect it.

Prepare your tweezers. Use sharp-edged tweezers and disinfect them before removing the shard. Place the tweezers in a pan of boiling water for 10 minutes to kill any bacteria that may be present on the surface of the tweezers, which will reduce the risk of infection in the wound. Use a clean towel to dry the tweezers using a blotting motion and wait until the tweezers cool down.

Find a comfortable position to remove the glass. Sit in such a way that you can clearly see the sole of your foot. If possible, ask someone to help you. For the procedure, choose a room with bright lighting or place a lamp or flashlight so that the light falls on the foot. You need to be able to clearly see the area where the glass is stuck, or the edge of the shard.

Use tweezers to pull out the glass. Carefully pick up the edge of the fragment and pull to release it from the layers of the epidermis. You may have to lightly squeeze the skin around the shard, squeezing the glass out, or, conversely, stretch the edges of the wound to catch the shard with tweezers. However, you should not insert the sharp edges of tweezers deep into the wound or pick at the skin at the site of damage - this will only worsen the situation and cause yourself pain.

Apply a bandage to the damaged area. Bandage the wound left after removing the glass, or apply a bactericidal patch - this will help stop bleeding from the wound. It is first recommended to lubricate the damaged skin with an antiseptic cream or ointment to prevent the development of infection. Don't forget to throw away the extracted shard - everything is fine now!

If you lack flexibility, you will need to ask a friend to help you remove the glass.
Avoid wearing shoes that are too tight for a few days after the incident to allow the wound to heal.
After you remove the fragment, the damaged area will be painful, so try to moderate the load on your leg (for example, avoid long walks or runs until the pain goes away).
If the splinter is lodged deep in the skin, consult a doctor.

Warnings

What you will need

Tweezers
Disinfectant
Hot water
Epsom salt
Castor oil
PVA glue

Sources

Article information

wikiHow works like a wiki, which means that many of our articles are written by multiple authors. This article was produced by 22 people, including anonymously, to edit and improve it.

It can be very easy to get a foreign body into your finger. It is often microscopic, invisible to the eye, but it brings great trouble and pain. If dirt (pathogenic bacteria and fungi) gets into the skin with a splinter, it can cause an inflammatory process and the formation of a purulent wound. Therefore, it will not be superfluous to know how to remove a splinter from a finger and whether the wound needs to be treated. Let's figure it out.

Before removing a splinter, you should thoroughly wash your hands with warm water and alkaline soap, and treat your skin and tools with an antibacterial solution. If you do not follow this rule, an infection may get into the wound, which leads to complications. The main consequences of improper removal of a foreign particle are:

the appearance of pus in the damaged area;
blood poisoning, or sepsis;
gangrene is the most dangerous consequence.

Important! Under no circumstances should you put pressure on the wound so that the splinter does not penetrate even deeper.

In most cases, you can remove a splinter from your finger at home, but sometimes the intervention of a medical professional is required.

You should contact a specialist when:

the splinter is deep under the nail, it is not visible;
the foreign particle is located far under the skin, and it has been impossible to get it out for twelve hours;
the sliver has been removed, but its end remains, causing concern, and cannot be reached by improvised means;
a piece of glass was embedded deep in the fabric;
the wound was caused by a poisonous plant;
part of the animal has penetrated the skin (fur, cat whiskers, insects, etc.);
on the wound under which the splinter is located, there is redness, numbness, hardening, throbbing pain or suppuration.

Techniques for removing a splinter

You can use tweezers to remove a splinter from a finger or toe if the end of the splinter is on the surface of the skin:

Examine the wound through a magnifying glass, making sure that the tip of the splinter can be caught with tweezers.
Treat the tweezers with an antiseptic (alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, etc.).
Grab the end of the sliver.
Make sure that no surrounding skin or hair is caught in the tongs.

The particle must be pulled out in the direction opposite to the one in which the sliver penetrated deep into the finger. If it is located at an angle, do not try to pull it straight out, it may break.

The method of removing a splinter with a needle is suitable if the particle is visible through the top layer of skin and its end cannot be grasped with tweezers. It is allowed to use an antiseptic-treated metal pin, a sewing needle or a needle from a disposable syringe. It is necessary to open the wound, damaging with the tip a sufficient area of skin above the foreign particle. After this, you can remove the splinter with tweezers or a needle. This method is suitable for those who have a steady hand and excellent vision.

If a child has received a splinter and the end of a small sliver sticks out, but the child does not allow it to be removed with a needle or forceps, then you can use medical glue. We need to lubricate the wound with it. After a while, when the glue has dried, remove it. The stuck chip should come out painlessly. After this, observe the child’s behavior to determine whether part of the foreign body remains in the finger. If the child complains of pain, it is better to consult a specialist.

Advice! If a child has planted a splinter, the first thing to do is to calm the baby down. By panicking, the child may cause even more harm to himself.

Adhesive tape works well for removing several small splinters without a needle. You can use a medical adhesive plaster or tape. It is necessary to cut off a portion of the tape sufficient to cover the area affected by the thorns. A long piece will prevent you from missing small particles, but it is often inconvenient to use. It is better to take several pieces of short length. Gently apply the adhesive plaster to the affected area. There is no need to press on the tape. Then remove it smoothly. The sharp particles should remain on the tape. You can repeat the procedure several times until the splinters are completely removed.

The medical patch can be used in another way. If the wound has healed but the splinter remains, then you need to stick an adhesive plaster on this area of the skin. It is better to use a rolled plaster without a gauze pad. The bandage must be left in place for at least a day. If it gets wet when washing your hands, don’t worry, it’s even better. Under the bandage, the skin will swell and the crust on the wound will soften. When removing the patch, the sliver is usually removed as well.

Hydrogen peroxide also helps in removing splinters. You need to moisten a piece of bandage or gauze and tie it to the injured area.

Folk remedies

If the foreign body cannot be picked up either with tweezers or with adhesive tape or adhesive tape, you can try to pull out the splinter:

To remove microscopic, barely noticeable splinters, you can use a remedy widely known in cooking. Make a paste of baking soda and apply it to the splinters. The skin under the baking soda will swell over time and push particles to the surface. This method should be used after all the others, since with wet skin it is difficult to use adhesive tape, tweezers or a needle.
You can apply the properties of indoor aloe. The juice of this plant perfectly softens the skin and has a bactericidal and wound-healing effect. The cut aloe leaf must be applied with the cut to the wound and secured with a bandage or plaster. After two hours, the foreign body can be easily removed with tweezers. If you use this method to remove a deep splinter from your foot, it will take more time. In this case, the procedure is repeated several times, and the bandage is changed every four hours.
Birch tar is good at removing splinters. Apply a cotton swab soaked in it to the wound and hold it there for 30-40 minutes. The tip of the sliver should come out. Now the particle is easy to remove. You can use pine tree resin instead of tar. It has a bactericidal effect and will help avoid inflammation. This remedy is great for removing splinters from the heel.
Everyone in the house has potatoes. You need to cut the tuber, apply it cut side to the affected area of the skin and tie it. Potato juice will help pull out the splinter.
If you tie a piece of fresh lard to the damaged area, the native particle will come out quite quickly.

If a splinter gets under the nail

A particular problem is a splinter that has stuck under the nail. Compresses will help pull it out:

From medicinal herbs. Take dried comfrey or fenugreek root and grind it into powder. Add hot water until a thick paste forms. Treat your finger and nail with iodine or alcohol, apply the prepared paste and secure with a bandage. The bandage must be changed every three to four hours. Do this several times until the foreign particle appears on the surface. Carefully remove the splinter with tweezers.

From a bow.

The onion must be peeled and grated. The resulting paste should be applied to the injured nail, covered with plastic wrap and tied with a bandage. The compress needs to be changed every three hours. Apply it to the nail plate and around it, as well as under the nail. You need to bandage your finger tightly and leave the bandage on for six hours. After the specified time, the remaining oleoresin must be removed with a piece of cotton wool or gauze soaked in alcohol or turpentine. When you have access to the foreign particle, carefully pull it out with tweezers or a needle.

If the splinter under the nail is deep, a compress of crushed cabbage leaves with the addition of a tablespoon of alcohol or vodka helps. This compress is changed every three hours until the splinter becomes accessible.

After the foreign body has been removed from under the skin, the wound should be treated with a disinfectant and healing agent.

A splinter can penetrate the skin while working in the garden, or during any household or household activities. Sometimes the splinter is so small that a person almost does not feel its presence. In this case, the skin itself will expel the foreign body over time. But if the splinter is so large that it causes discomfort and pain, urgent measures must be taken to remove it as quickly as possible.

What to do if a splinter stuck in your hand

Before taking any measures to remove a splinter from your finger, you need to thoroughly wash your hands and all the tools that will be needed to carry out the “operation”. This is especially true if the splinter was acquired during dirty work - chopping wood, washing floors, working with wood.
Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water. Then use alcohol to clean the area where the splinter stuck, as well as the needle and tweezers. Have a couple of clean napkins ready. Instead of a regular sewing needle, it is better to use a sterile syringe needle.
It is best to remove a splinter in good daylight. If you have poor eyesight, wear glasses or use a magnifying glass.
If the splinter is so deep that it is impossible to pry up the tip, use a needle to carefully lift the skin above the splinter. If necessary, you can slightly tear the top layer of the epidermis.
When the tip of the splinter appears, pick it up with tweezers and carefully pull it out. It is better to do this at the same angle at which the splinter dug into the skin.
If the tip cannot be reached, it is better not to pick at the soft tissues and consult a doctor.
If you pulled out part of the splinter, but a piece of it remained in the skin, it is also better to consult a doctor. Because without special tools it will be quite difficult to remove a deep splinter.
After this, squeeze the skin around the wound so that the contaminated blood comes out.
The final stage of the procedure is treatment with an antiseptic. This is very important, because the splinter could carry bacteria and microbes deep inside the tissues. It is best to treat the wound with hydrogen peroxide, boric acid or medical alcohol. Regular vodka will also work. If the wound is open and large, you can apply a bandage or apply an antiseptic plaster.
Monitor the condition of the wound for a couple of days after the incident. If the skin turns red, swelling appears, or pain is felt, you should consult a doctor. An infection has probably occurred.

How to remove a splinter

But you don’t always have sterile instruments at hand that can be used to remove a splinter. This is especially true for hiking conditions. Here are some simple tips to help you remove a splinter quickly and painlessly.

Scotch. This method is suitable for removing large numbers of small splinters. For example, if you were holding glass wool, a cactus, or small wooden objects in your hands. Tear off a piece of duct tape and apply it to the affected area. Don't press the tape too hard against your hand, as this could cause the needles to get pushed in even deeper. After this, carefully tear off the tape - you will see that most of the small splinters remain on the tape. Repeat the procedure several times until your skin is completely clean.
PVA glue. This method is suitable for children's splinters. It is quite difficult to remove a splinter from a child - it is rare that a child will allow himself to be pricked with a needle. To remove a splinter from your finger, you just need to generously coat it with glue. When it dries, the glue can be removed in one large layer. If the splinter is shallow, it sticks to the glue and is easily removed from the skin.
Soda. If the splinter is deep and it is not possible to pry it off, you need the skin itself to give it to you. To do this, mix baking soda with water to make a paste. Apply the paste to the wound and secure with a bandage or bandage. After a few hours, the skin will swell and squeeze out the foreign body. If this does not happen, it will be much easier to pull the splinter out of the soft, swollen skin.
Iodine. If the splinter sits so deep that there is no way to get it out, smear the wound with iodine every three hours. The wooden splinter will simply burn and after a while will come out on its own. Iodine helps to destroy the sharp structure of the splinter, thereby relieving the person of pain.

Folk remedies for removing splinters

There is an easy way to self-heal a splinter using salt water. But it is only effective if it is applied immediately after the splinter is received. Pour water into a glass at the hottest temperature you can stand. Dissolve three tablespoons of salt in water. Immerse your finger with the splinter in water for 20 minutes. After this, dry your finger and apply a sterile bandage. Hot salt water softens the tissue and removes the splinter.
To remove a deep splinter, you can use a banana peel. Tie a piece of peel to the damaged area of skin with the pulp to the wound. Leave it overnight. In the morning, the splinter will be on the surface and it will be easier to pry it off.
Birch tar will help remove a splinter. Lubricate the place where the splinter has stuck, put a piece of cling film on top and wrap it with a bandage. In a few hours, the tar will bring the splinter out and it can be easily removed. You can leave the compress on overnight.
If the splinter is already several days old, and an abscess has formed in its place, it is better to prepare such a remedy. Take medicinal or cosmetic clay and dilute it until creamy. Add a few tablespoons of vinegar to the mixture. Lubricate the damaged area with the resulting ointment. After the composition has completely dried, you can replace it with a fresh one. After just a few hours of such treatment, the skin will bring the splinter to the surface.

A splinter is a very unpleasant phenomenon. It’s amazing that such a small thorn can cause so much inconvenience. To avoid pain and discomfort, remove the splinter immediately after it penetrates your skin. We hope that our simple tips will help you get rid of the annoying thorn.

Video: how to remove a splinter from your finger

You will need

- tweezers;
- antiseptic;
- syringe needle;
- hydrogen peroxide.
- ichthyol ointment or Vishnevsky ointment,
- bandage.

Instructions

If a piece of glass gets into your leg, try to get rid of it as quickly as possible so that it does not go deep into the foot and cause severe purulence. In this case, it is very important to keep your hands clean; before removing the glass shard, wash them thoroughly with household soap and treat the affected area with any antiseptic.

If you can see a piece of glass in your leg, then it won't be difficult to remove it. Tweezers treated with alcohol or cologne will help you with this. Gently remove it at the same angle at which it entered your leg. If the fragment is close to the skin, it will easily come to the surface if the foot is thoroughly soaked in water with the addition of baking soda or in salt water.

If the glass has penetrated deep into the skin and into your leg, you will have to resort to using a sterile needle. A needle from a medical syringe is perfect, as it is sharper than a sewing needle. And it has a groove that you can use to pick up the glass. Gently rip the skin with a needle and, if possible, lift the fragment upward so that it can be easily picked up with tweezers. This procedure should be carried out in a well-lit place; if the fragment is too small, you will need a magnifying glass.

If the fragment is very small, try applying pressure to the affected area of the leg on both sides. In this case, there is a chance that it will come out on its own. Under no circumstances should you make any cuts where the glass is located. You can not only cause an infection, but also damage blood vessels and nerve tubules.

After removing the glass shard from your leg, treat the wound properly with hydrogen peroxide, alcohol or brilliant green. If the wound does not bleed and is small, you can simply cover it with an antiseptic plaster.

You can make it easier for the fragment to come out naturally; to do this, make a gauze bandage with ichthyol ointment or Vishnevsky ointment and apply it to the affected area. Leave this compress on all night, by the morning the fragment should come to the surface of the skin, all that remains is to remove it with tweezers.

note

Only attempt to remove glass yourself in the most extreme cases. Consult a doctor as soon as possible!

Sources:

how to get rid of glass splinter

Pulling out a splinter is not always easy; if done incorrectly, the opposite situation can arise - it will go even deeper into the body. And if you need to pull out some kind of splinter or thorn from a child, then you can become completely confused. This matter also requires composure, knowledge of some basic things and practice.

Instructions

Examine the place where the splinter entered. If its tip is found above the surface of the skin, you can try to pull it out immediately. To do this, it is most convenient to use tweezers or tweezers. The most convenient tool for this purpose is tweezers with a flat tip; these are usually included in cosmetic kits, but you can also use medical tweezers.

Pre-lubricate the wound with some antiseptic, for example, alcohol or hydrogen peroxide. Also disinfect your hands and tools with alcohol. After this, grab the tip of the splinter with tweezers or tweezers. To prevent it from breaking and some part of it remaining, try not to pull the splinter sharply and move it towards you at the same angle at which it hit the body.

If the splinter has gone deep and is visible, or you were not able to pull it all out, then just steam this place. Prepare a bath of hot water, add a soap solution to it and immerse the affected limb there for about five minutes several times. The splinter can come out on its own. But even if it stays in place, at least you won't have an abscess in that place later.

If desired, use one of the effective folk methods for removing splinters. Lubricate the place where the splinter has stuck thickly with tar, and 15 or 20 minutes after that, the splinter appears outside, grab it with tweezers and pull. If you don’t have tar or this method causes some embarrassment, use another common one - attach a piece of aloe leaf to the entry point of the splinter and fix it. After some time, the skin softens and the splinter can be pulled out.

In many cases, it is convenient to use a needle to remove splinters, especially if the splinter has entered at an angle to the surface of the skin. Using a clean needle, prick up the skin a little, and then, moving the needle flat across the surface, try to direct the splinter towards the exit. It is not advisable to dig deep into the wound to avoid further injury or infection.

After you remove the splinter, treat the wound again with an antiseptic: a solution of potassium permanganate, furatsilin, peroxide, brilliant green, iodine, etc. If the wound is large, isolate it from possible contamination with a bandage or bandage.

If you still failed to remove the splinter or suppuration began in this place, do not delay your visit to the doctor.

It's very nice to be able to walk barefoot on a summer day. However, this is fraught with the possible appearance of splinters. The worst thing you can do if you are careless is to step on a piece of glass. But don't worry about this. After all, the fragment can be easily pulled out.

You will need

- a needle from a medical syringe;
- tweezers;
- cotton wool;
- hydrogen peroxide;
- iodine or brilliant green;
- streptocidal or tetracycline ointment;
- antiseptic plaster;
- bandage.

Instructions

If there is an accident and glass gets stuck in your arm or leg, you must immediately contact the nearest emergency room or a surgeon. But you can also pull out the glass in the field. To do this, have certain medical supplies on hand and have a certain amount of ingenuity.

We must remember that it is necessary as quickly as possible - since the glass can spontaneously go deep into the wound and cause severe suppuration. First of all, you should soak the affected area in a solution of baking soda or salt. This will facilitate quick removal of the foreign body.

Then you should thoroughly wash your hands and treat them, the medical syringe needle and tweezers with a special antiseptic. Then you need to carefully widen the wound with a needle to gain access to the fragment.

Then you need to try to carefully pick up splinter using tweezers. It should be removed at the same angle at which the glass stuck into the skin. A piece of cotton wool should be kept under the wound so that the foreign body ends up remaining on it. It must be remembered that the extraction procedure should be carried out in a well-lit room - this will increase the chances of a successful outcome.

If the fragment is relatively small in size, you can gently press two fingers on the skin next to it. There is a certain probability that it will come out on its own. After this, the wound can be sealed with a special antiseptic plaster.

After removing the foreign body, you need to thoroughly treat the affected area again with hydrogen peroxide. The edges of the wound must be lubricated with iodine or brilliant green. If the wound is large, it is necessary to lubricate it with streptocide or tetracycline ointment and apply a bandage on top. This will prevent infection from entering the wound and increase the chances of its speedy healing.

note

You need to know that if a glass shard is in close proximity to the eye or large vessels, then under no circumstances should you remove it yourself

Sources:

First aid

But many Novosibirsk residents try to spend warm days outdoors - outside the city or on the beach. Here we are faced with such dangers as in the form of shattered glass from empty bottles left behind by careless vacationers.

Will steam help?

What should you do if, after a pleasant walk through the forest or barefoot, you receive a “surprise” in the form of a piece of bottle glass?

Often small glasses that have gotten under the skin are felt, but not visible. At the same time, if you touch the wound, then... Traditional medicine in this situation advises to steam the place where the fragment is stuck in hot water, then it can come out on its own.

"Root therapy"

Another popular tip says that a compress of grated potatoes will help. To do this, you need to cut a circle or square out of polyethylene and make a hole in it. Then secure it tightly to the leg with an adhesive plaster so that it does not slip; the hole should be right on the wound. You need to put raw grated potatoes in place of the “hood”, cover the top with a piece of polyethylene and bandage it overnight. According to the authors of the recipe, by morning the fragment will be pulled out, and all that remains is to remove it and treat the wound.

Another option is to apply a baked onion to the wound. To do this, you need to cut it in half and bake it in the oven. The onion should be applied warm, but not hot.

“Indeed, traditional medicine often promotes potato compresses as a way to pull out a foreign body,” says Yuri Alekseevich. - I’ve never heard of onions before. I can say about potatoes that they can help when drawing out pus, but glass... It’s unlikely, such an effect is in no way confirmed either from the point of view of physiology or from the point of view of physics.”

Toothed doctor

If the child is small, some advise the mother to pull it out... with her teeth. Moreover, the author of this text is personally acquainted with several mothers who practice similar methods. Then everything ended quite happily, but experts do not advise using this in practice:

“Firstly, this can make the child even more painful,” says the expert. - Secondly, the oral cavity contains more different types of bacteria than the rest of the gastrointestinal tract, from 160 to 300 different species. Bacteria enter there with the air and are constantly present in the microflora. Their entry into the bloodstream is extremely dangerous and undesirable.”

Home operation

On online forums devoted to this issue, many are inclined to do it at home. Before doing this, you need to thoroughly wash your hands and also treat the tools with an antiseptic: a needle (sewing or medical syringe) and tweezers. If there is no antiseptic, you can hold the tools in the fire of a lighter or gas stove.

To facilitate access to the fragment, the wound is widened with a needle. Before removing the glass from your leg, you should make sure that you can reach the wound yourself. If not, you will have to turn to someone for help. You should try to carefully remove the fragment from the widened wound with tweezers at the same angle at which it stuck.

After the glass is removed, the wound must be treated with hydrogen peroxide, and its edges lubricated with brilliant green or iodine. If the wound is small, it is enough to cover it with an antiseptic plaster. If its size is large, it is lubricated with antiseptic ointment - tetracycline or streptocide - and then bandaged on top. This should reliably prevent infection.

“This is perhaps one of the most adequate ways to get rid of a foreign body under the skin,” says Yuri Polynin. “But here you should be confident in your abilities: if you are afraid of blood, cannot reach the wound or do not know how to treat it, it is better to go to the clinic at your place of residence, where you will be provided with qualified assistance, completely eliminating the possibility of infection.”