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01-03-2010, 08:38 AM
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#1
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 12,880
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Buried Splinter
I know it's a little silly to post this, but I seem to have some small foreign object in the tip of my index finger. I first noticed it when scrubbing a pan with a copper scouring pad, so it's either a small piece of copper, or an earlier splinter than the pad pushed on. I dug around where it looked like it went in, and couldn't find anything.
This is a pain for playing piano and using the computer.
It's been there for a week or two. Anyone else had this? I figure I'll either hope it will go away, or try to located it by probing and then dig it out.
__________________
Al
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01-03-2010, 08:44 AM
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#2
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 8,827
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Cover the area with a coat of Elmer's Glue. Allow it to dry fully. Peel it off.
If it's a tiny splinter and not totally buried under the skin, that should do it; otherwise it may need a bit of attention or just time, so it can form a little pustule and you body can push it out.
Perfect cure for Prickly Pear Cactus contact, too, but the way.
__________________
Rich
San Francisco Area
ESR'd March 2010. FIRE'd January 2011.
As if you didn't know..If the above message contains medical content, it's NOT intended as advice, and may not be accurate, applicable or sufficient. Don't rely on it for any purpose. Consult your own doctor for all medical advice.
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01-03-2010, 08:46 AM
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#3
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 47,500
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That's a long time to have a metal splinter and it sounds painful. I don't know what I'd do, in your situation. Have you tried soaking it in water for an hour or so? Maybe it would work its way out. Other than that, I don't have any suggestions.
Edited to add: Rich's ideas, which I hadn't seen when I posted the above, sound like the way to go. Hope they work.
__________________
Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harbourless immensities. - - H. Melville, 1851.
Happily retired since 2009, at age 61. Best years of my life by far!
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01-03-2010, 08:54 AM
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#4
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 10,252
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Elmer's sound too slow. Would super-glue work?
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01-03-2010, 08:54 AM
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#5
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 12,880
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The skin is completely healed, so it's completely buried.
__________________
Al
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01-03-2010, 08:56 AM
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#6
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 12,880
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LOL!
Elmer's sound too slow. Would super-glue work?
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I could superglue myself to a spoon or something, and then when they take me to the emergency room, I could say "Oh, by the way, there's a splinter in there, could you remove that while you're at it?"
__________________
Al
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01-03-2010, 09:03 AM
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#7
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 8,827
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TromboneAl
The skin is completely healed, so it's completely buried.
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Maybe, but even a tiny splinter can do this. You might either check it with a strong magnifier or just try it to see if it works.
__________________
Rich
San Francisco Area
ESR'd March 2010. FIRE'd January 2011.
As if you didn't know..If the above message contains medical content, it's NOT intended as advice, and may not be accurate, applicable or sufficient. Don't rely on it for any purpose. Consult your own doctor for all medical advice.
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01-03-2010, 09:20 AM
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#8
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Moderator
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 4,065
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Soaking a long time in water worked for DH when he had several splinters in his feet. They didn't immediately come out, but within the next day or two they seemed to just disappear.
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simple girl
less stuff, more time
(55, married; Mr. Simple Girl, 59. FIRED 12/31/19!)
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01-03-2010, 09:39 AM
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#9
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 12,657
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I work outside a lot, and get splinters all the time in my hands, fingers, and sometimes, inexplicably, in my feet (I always wear shoes and socks outdoors, but stuff can get down inside the socks). Usually I can get splinters and thorns before they're buried, but not always. Soaking in warm water is always worthwhile.
My body does one of two things:
A) Forms dead skin pocket around the foreign body and new live skin under the dead pocket, which takes about 2 weeks, and results in the foreign body "suddenly" (usually when I'm bathing) appearing on top of my skin (takes about 2 weeks, and is painless except when I hit the splinter while typing, etc.), or
B) the faster but nastier "festers its way out" (spot is swollen and hurts for a few days, then - there is no nice way to say this - splinter bursts out).
I have never had a splinter take up permanent residence. I get a tetanus shot every 5 years. Good luck - splinters can be maddening.
Amethyst
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If you understood everything I say, you'd be me ~ Miles Davis
'There is only one success – to be able to spend your life in your own way.’ Christopher Morley.
Even a blind clock finds an acorn twice a day.
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01-03-2010, 10:04 AM
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#10
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Hooverville
Posts: 22,983
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You may be going werewolf. I had what I thought was a splinter on the palm of my hand. I sterilized a needle in Clorox and went to work. To my surprise I pried loose a nice black curly 1" hair. Got my tweezers and detached it. A month or so later I found the same on the sole of my foot.
Grrrr.
Ha
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"As a general rule, the more dangerous or inappropriate a conversation, the more interesting it is."-Scott Adams
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01-03-2010, 10:14 AM
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#11
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 47,500
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Quote:
Originally Posted by haha
You may be going werewolf. I had what I thought was a splinter on the palm of my hand. I sterilized a needle in Clorox and went to work. To my surprise I pried loose a nice black curly 1" hair. Got my tweezers and detached it. A month or so later I found the same on the sole of my foot.
Grrrr.
Ha
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Are you serious? !!! Men are so hairy - - maybe you are serious.
That story is enough for me to break out in song: "I enjoy being a girl..."
__________________
Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harbourless immensities. - - H. Melville, 1851.
Happily retired since 2009, at age 61. Best years of my life by far!
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01-03-2010, 10:16 AM
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#12
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: World Citizen
Posts: 150
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Oldetymy cure, buy some PRID, which is a wax based form of ichthamol ointment. Put it on at night,bandage, draws out the splinter.
Looks bad, smells bad, works good.
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01-03-2010, 10:19 AM
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#13
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Independence
Posts: 7,298
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Quote:
Originally Posted by haha
You may be going werewolf. I had what I thought was a splinter on the palm of my hand. I sterilized a needle in Clorox and went to work. To my surprise I pried loose a nice black curly 1" hair. Got my tweezers and detached it. A month or so later I found the same on the sole of my foot.
Grrrr.
Ha
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Ha, you tantric master - hair on the palm I've heard of. On the sole of your foot? Dang!
Thanks for the set up.
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01-03-2010, 10:25 AM
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#14
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 606
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I think I'm a splinter magnet. I get them all the time, especially in summer when I'm always doing something in the yard.
If they don't come out immediately, this is what I do - I take a new, tiny safety pin and dip it in rubbing alcohol. Then I dig around a little with the pin to try to open up a space for the splinter to emerge. I can usually push the splinter out from there. A little unpleasant, but it usually works for me.
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01-03-2010, 01:13 PM
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#15
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Collin County, TX
Posts: 9,296
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Sorry Al...you're going to have to amputate.
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There's no need to complicate, our time is short..
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01-03-2010, 11:12 PM
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#16
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 2,395
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At least for me, my system dissolves most buried splinters, if they are in deep enough that they don't reject themselves out over time. Small splinters of steel, wood or plant stalk, etc. seem to dissolve. Maybe it's my acidic nature
A true copper splinter can take a looong time to dissolve, I know, I got one years ago. A single strand from a small-gauge stranded wire.
I don't know if those copper scouring pads are really copper, or just a thin plate of copper over steel. Could try a magnet on one to find out.
A small bright light, like a red LED keyfob keyhole-finder can make a good illuminator. Press it onto the side of the finger about ~90 degrees around from the splinter entrance point. The red light passes through the body really well. And the point-source effect of the LED allows you to aim it around. If there IS something still in there, should be able to see a small dark spot by moving the LED around.
DO NOT use a good Laser Pointer instead... lest you inadvertantly illuminate someone's foot one or two states away
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-- Telly, the D-I-Y guy --
Two fools dancing on the hands of time
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01-04-2010, 10:01 AM
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#17
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Atlanta suburbs
Posts: 900
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Amethyst
I have never had a splinter take up permanent residence. I get a tetanus shot every 5 years. Good luck - splinters can be maddening.
Amethyst
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I have a permanent residing "splinter".
I think it's been below the surface of my shoulder blade for about 25 years.
It's a short piece of graphite from 0.5 mm pencil a friend accidentally stabbed me with.
This thread reminds me that I should send her Happy New Year wishes and tell her I still carry her pencil with me
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01-04-2010, 10:18 AM
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#18
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 886
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich_in_Tampa
Perfect cure for Prickly Pear Cactus contact, too, but the way.
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01-04-2010, 02:44 PM
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#19
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gone traveling
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 3,864
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T-Al, sorry to hear about your owwie...
I usually dig around a buried splinter as deep as I can stand with a sterilized needle or exacto knife, then slather it with antibiotic ointment and a band aid- the splinter is usually lying on the surface the next AM...
If that doesn't work, I see that Dr. bbammI has proposed an alternate course of treatment.
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01-04-2010, 03:13 PM
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#20
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 14,328
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I got a wood splinter in my thumb two+ years ago and could not get it out. A hard area was formed over it , though it was still tender for about a year. I'd forgotten about it until now and I can still fell the lump if I search for it, but it is no longer sensitive. Wish I had better advice.
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