Splinter in de foot.

lollercancer

Well, I got a strange problem. I'd superbly like avoiding a visit to the doctor, if possible. I have a really strange splinter in my foot. its decently large, being about half an inch long, but thin and not wide.

the thing is, its on the botton of my foot, and its not like, in me, or piercing me, but its existing sideways between layers of skin. so, its no good on pulling it out, but im thinking that i could induce a blister, or maybe use some other method to get this to rise the tiniest bit out of the skin so i could pull it out or something.

maybe i should give it a day or two to rise out itself? i got it friday night (sunday afternoon now) while drunk :-p

other things to note, i doubt that its infected, didnt even draw blood going in or whatever, just discomfort and a pain when walking.

Alpine

Soak your foot in water.

It always worked for me as a kid when I got small ones, but I never got ones that were imbedded like yours.

Akilae729

Alpine wrote: »

Soak your foot in water.

It always worked for me as a kid when I got small ones, but I never got ones that were imbedded like yours.

Water with some Epsom salts

supabeast

If it isn't in too deep, try cutting a slit into the skin around one end with an X-acto knife (clean the blade first, they come oiled to prevent rust) and pulling it out with tweezers. If you got lucky and it's in a callus, just cut out/off the whole thing.

StephenB.2006

The salt water trick is generally helpful and soothing. Yours is a strange case. If all else fails, live with it for a week or two and natural processes will expel it.

Raneados

I had one of these once, I just ignored it, eventually, it worked its way down a many number of layers of skin

eventually, through, it just fell out after a few months

lollercancer

thanks guys, ive been hitting up the epsom salts, and it seems to be drawing it out. from what i can tell, the entry point for this splinter is like 1/4th of an inch away from where it currently is. when it gets more towards callous, i'll exacto knife it out.

KMFurDM

What always works for me is a simple needle. The type you'd use to sew a button on. Make sure it's clean with some alcohol or peroxide then just pick at the skin with it until you get down to the splinter then pull it out. It may be a little easier to control the depth of the cut than an X-Acto.

Thanatos

Use fire.

Well, not on your foot, but on whatever you try to use to get the splinter out. This will heat-sterilize the tool, which is much more effective than chemical sterilization. I'd recommend letting it cool before you try to use it, though.

And if you can't get it out, you should seriously consider a visit to the doctor, because those things can become infected, and not a mild infection, either.

Sikarian

Not to derail anything, but how is it you guys can so casually talk about talking an x-acto knife to your foot? Jesus....

neth

the very top layer of your skin is basically dead. ever put a safety pin or anything through that top layer of skin in your finger when you were in gradeschool and walk around with it? same idea, just this time with a purpose other than to scare the girls =P

Thanatos

Sikarian wrote: »

Not to derail anything, but how is it you guys can so casually talk about talking an x-acto knife to your foot? Jesus....

Well, a lot of people have a biological problem, where they'll actually pass out at the sight of blood. These people tend to be fairly squeemish about doing anything like this, too. For the most part, though, this isn't that bad, once you get the splinter near the surface of your skin. It certainly isn't going to feel good, but it'll be much better than leaving it in there.

Raneados

Sik

your feet have callouses on the bottom

it's not going to feel like anything amazing, but getting this sucker out's going to hurt less than an injection, by my reckoning