It hurts, went right through my glove into my thumb joint. Just may I ask when is the right time to try to extract a sliver like this, after it festers or within hours after accommodating such a thing? You can hardly see it because it’s a softwood needle point splinter, what’s left from pulling the larger piece… I already tried the sterilized exacto without a shred of wood. That hurt also- Anyone feel my pain out here and have a good solution?
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Replies
A really bright light and a magnifier. A foot away from one of those little 50 watt quartz lights is not too much light.
Even if you can't see it, if you can tell where it is cause it hurts more when you touch it, you can still dig it out.
I dug a chunk of glass out of the sole of my foot by sound one time. I could hear when the knife blade touched the glass.
You might want to treat the pain with ethanol, taken internally, and let somebody else do the surgery.
I've had some success with Benadryl cream to reduce the tenderness around the site. Doesn't help much when you push the actual splinter against a nerve, though.
Take some wood glue.. (I usually use yellow) and pour it on the site of the sliver let it dry and then peel the glue off, chances are the sliver comes with it.. if not the skin is now clean enough for you to easily see the sliver..
It won't help you with this particular splinter, but I highly recommend the "Sliver Gripper" tweezers. I know they are sold by Lee Valley and, I presume, several other suppliers.
These little jewels are invaluable, work as advertised, and fully qualify as one of my favourite tools. For those small little numbers that you can't see but certainly can feel, I use a magnifying lamp with a built-in light.
Regards,
Ron
You can try a piece of masking tape. Just put it on at bed time, and in the morning the sliver should be out and stuck to the tape.
Jeff
Time for a doctor?
No, not yet. But I can tell everyone that I have pretty much forgotten about the festering piece of pine in my thumb. I am more concerned about my pinky finger, which I smashed and drew blood, at the present moment. I seem to get hurt in groups of three, my shoulder is barely hanging on at best from lifting something wrong and without help.... -Brogan
Great tips on getting these splinters out guys. I am going to let another day pass and then try a very small needle and magnifiying glass and get to work. Rinsing my thumb under hot water to losen up the skin allowing foriegn matter to be extracted. Oak splinters seem to be the worst ones that I have lived through. Be safe out there!
Woodworkers do it with a fine finish!
I feel your pain...I have a small tool kit to help deal with small injuries such as yours - - Ibuprofen is good to dull the pain and reduce inflamation, my doctor say I can take 800mg 4X per day if necessary - rather aggressive for a splinter, but makes it less painful to dig - - with your smashed finger, I'd get on a regime - -
seeing is the most difficult thing about digging for splinters - I recommend an 'Optivisor' http://xtronics.com/optivisor.htmView Image you will find myriad other uses for it - a pair of disecting tweezers (availible at a college bookstore or online) along with the aforementioned 'sliver grippers' give you a selection of tools to attempt to grip the splinter - - and lastly, hydrogen peroxide to boil out the wound, then a little antibiotic ointment and 48 hours you are back to good -"there's enough for everyone"
Try ice.
It numbs the area to let you work.
I once dug a fish hook out with my pocket knife and some ice.
Worked great.
Jeff
I use the optivisor and a surgical tweezers. There probaly like the ones in an above post, they have very sharp tips that allow you dig and or pull. They only didn't work one time. On that occassion I just let my body take care of it. Your body will see it as a foreign obeject and proceed to isolate it. After a few days you can then see it and remove it with the tweezers. It s-cks for a few days but what else can you do. There is no way I'd wait in an ER for4,5,6,7... hours just to get a splinter out.
frenchy, does that glue idea actually work? It sounds interesting, just wondering if you ever used it successfull. Dan019
As a medical professional, I can tell you a sliver that actually went into the joint is an urgent medical issue. An infected joint---even the thumb---is a big deal. I typically let my own imbedded slivers fester and then squeeze them out, but wouldn't do that if I had any inkling it involved a joint.
Call your primary medical practitioner ASAP for advice.
Oh geez. I just noted this is from 2004! If the original poster is still around, let us know how it turned out.
Either way, I hope this provides a counterbalance to a lot of well intentioned but misguided advice on this thread.
I have it on good advice that if the splinter truly entered the joint space, a physician should probably evaluate it, as an infection in a joint space can be particularly pernicious. Otherwise, soaking the affected digit in warm water with antibacterial soap for 30 minutes twice a day should do the trick. Good luck and be careful.
Since we are talking about splinters....
About one year ago I was making a cut on the table saw when the wood shot back at me. My body was not in the danger zone, but before I could get my hands clear I got hit. I was doing a test piece, so I had grabbed a semi rough piece of pine. Needless to say, once any edges caught they bristled into 100's of splinters. The index finger on my left hand took the hit. It felt like someone had hit my left hand with a baseball bat. It took a minute for the shock to wear off before I could even evaluate my hand. 4 splinters, about the diameter of toothpicks, shot through my finger. They went from the bottom up through my nail. Half the nail was ripped up as the splinters passed through. I thought for a second that my tweezers could do the job but after tugging pretty hard, and almost passing out, it was off to the emergency room. The Dr. pulled them out and I thought that was that. 3 weeks later one of the wounds had still not closed up. I decided to do a little bathroom surgery and found that there was still another splinter in there. It was about a centimeter in length and the thickness of mechanical pencil lead. Pulled it out and my finger healed up shortly after that. For about 6 months I had limited feeling in the tip of my finger.
I don't like splinters
Ryan
Try putting some Oragel one the site to numb it before you dig. Not only can this stuff kill a tooth ache.
Joe Phillips
Plastics pay the bills, Woodworking keeps me sane!
This is going to be like scratching a blackboard with long finger nails but some time ago I caught a nasty mahogany splinter- under my nail on a index finger! AHHH! That was the worst one I have ever had and hopefully ever will. Digging that one out was brutal and the pain was bringing tears to my eyes. It took 2 months for the finger to feel better after that. I wish I would have had some of this advice then, it might have eased the pain a little bit following these remedy's.
I hate to say it but i have the most embarrassing splinter story. It was mid summer and i was building a deck, I decided to wear some shorts instead of my Carhartt work pants. Not any shorts, basketball shorts. Needless to say theres not much protection and when the tablesaw shot the board back I got a splinter through my inner thigh and my sack. It was so painful because every time i stepped it ripped at my sack. It was horrible, it still looks deflated TBH.
Sounds like you need a taller stand for your tablesaw...and maybe a riving knife or splitter.
I don't think he wants to hear you say "splitter."
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