How to remove very large splinter from foot?!
Question: The splinter went into the ball of my foot, behind the second and third toe. It is about 3/4-7/8 inches long, toothpick-shaped (pointy on each end, thicker in the middle), and broken into 2 pieces. The piece I need to get out is about half an inch, and too deep to remove with tweezers, cutting (with tweezers and knife or pin, no access to scalpel-level sharpess), or adhesives such as duct tape, glue, or plasters.Because my feet are somewhat leathery from rarely using shoes on pavement near the house, and never in the house (got the splinter from a wood tile), when I try to remove it with tweezers, it just sinks in deeper. Is there any way I can get the main part of the splinter out without resorting to medical help?
Answers: The splinter went into the ball of my foot, behind the second and third toe. It is about 3/4-7/8 inches long, toothpick-shaped (pointy on each end, thicker in the middle), and broken into 2 pieces. The piece I need to get out is about half an inch, and too deep to remove with tweezers, cutting (with tweezers and knife or pin, no access to scalpel-level sharpess), or adhesives such as duct tape, glue, or plasters.Because my feet are somewhat leathery from rarely using shoes on pavement near the house, and never in the house (got the splinter from a wood tile), when I try to remove it with tweezers, it just sinks in deeper. Is there any way I can get the main part of the splinter out without resorting to medical help?
Soak your foot in water or water with soda, then keep trying with needle nose tweezers or a pin. I'm pretty good at picking but it's hard to explain how I do it... I just sort of push the needle or pin next to it, then press into it from the side and while pressing, pull back (like you would try to get something small out of a bottle that you can just reach into with one finger). Another trick is wiggling and pushing the skin so it works out until you can grab it with the tweezers, but again it's more practice and getting the feel for it than that I can truly describe how to do it, especially without seeing the splinter and seeing at what angle it is under the skin.
I have removed lots of splinters and no matter what the first answerer says, my success rate at 39 years of age is 100%, I've never stopped without getting it out and never seen a doctor. (should add that most of the time I get practice on my hands, I'm always barefoot too but I also garden bare-handed not to mention doing some woodwork... but I have had a few splinters in the foot too over the years).
Shell C's comment on the soaking in ice helped. Report It
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