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Ot: sliver question.

J

JayinNY

Well-known Member
I was loading wood in the stove yesterday morning, and being
in a hurry I dident bother to put on my gloves, well of course I
get a sliver, right at the base of my middle finger were it
attatches to my hand.I tried picking it out with a razor blade,
but couldn't get it out. My wife said her father would soak his
hand in Lysol and warm water, to draw it out??? Anybody ever
heard of this? Or have any other ideas how to get it out? I
googled it and wasent real helpful. I guess I just have to wait
for it to come out on its owns.
 
Go to a real pretty medical assistant,
Then have her remove the sliver, it may take hours. But, at least you get to talk to a pretty lady while she performs minor surgery on you.
 
Old time remedy is to put black salve on it and cover with gauze. Also called drawing salve or iccthamol. A lot of people swear by it for drawing out slivers, glass,etc.
 
Personally speaking, I seem to be able to put up with a fair amount of digging, with clean sterile implements, one of those disposable scalpels is a nice tool for this. LOL ! Might not be for some.

However, I too subscribe to the not using YT for medical advice, LOL ! and would seek a medical professional if its just not going to come out, break off or what have you.

I have seen 2 people with slivers of wood in their hands that ended up in the hospital, arm elevated and swollen beyond belief, it was a long time ago when I worked in the local lumber yard, one was a friend and contractor, forget who the other fellow was, one was from some old wood under roof shingles and the other I believe was from CCA treated wood. Its hard to say whether everyone will have a reaction like that, but if it becomes infected or the body takes a hard line stance about rejecting it, the possibility of what I described is very real, being winter is in your favor, but I recall vividly paying a hospital visit to this contractor/friend, it was that serious, or became so. Might be an easy removal for a doctor, and you avoid the risk. I know with me, I'd either clean, sterilize, have at it and win, if not, right to the doctor or ER if need be, that swelling I saw was right up there with a venemous snake bite, had I not seen this, I'd probably not think this way on those, he was lucky, infection was serious.
 
Many years ago I reached in a snowmobile tool box and got a piece of fiberglass in the back of one of my fingers that I couldn"t get out. Never had a sliver I couldn"t get out with a needle but this was something else. Finally went to the doctor. He said he could lance it or I could try a "drawing salve". Lancing sure didn"t appeal and a "drawing salve" wasn"t anything I though would work at all. Well, figured I could always go back for the lance job so told him I"d try the salve. He gave me note with the name "Neosporin©" (sold over counter, not a perscription)and sent me to the drug store. It was a clear salve and I just put a gob on the back of my finger where the fiberglass was and kind of forgot about it for awhile. Looked a couple hours later and there the little piece of fiberglass was in the salve. Couldn"t believe it!
 
Can I use the ichthammol that's for the horses? Lol??
a139830.jpg
 
Worked at a lumber yard, splinters were a fact of life. I would just let the fester up and they come sliding right out.
 
I'd put some Prid salve on it (drawing salve). I've had it pull out splinters of wood, metal, and glass. Be patient. It might take a couple of days. The one I have here is in a short round orange tin.

Mom used to tie bacon to you if you got a splinter she couldn't get. If you want every dog on the farm to be your best friend try running around as a four year old with some slick bacon tied to your leg with cotton string. I always figured that she did it just to torture us. Just like eating doughy bread if you ate a fish bone.
 
Jay, I was a carpenter all my life and the best thing I found was a good pair of finger nail clippers. Just grab it firmly and pull it out, some times you have to trim a little meat away to get a hold of it. The clippers are good for that to. Good luck, Chuck
 
I prefer to use a hypodermic needle, a big one like 14 gauge or so. They are nice because if its new then it should be sterile and they are real sharp, I dig around a while and usually end up getting the sliver stuck to the needle, pull it out and away you go. You can get needles by the gross at the vets office.

Nate
 

Call 911!!!! immediately!!!,LOL. I just pull them with tweezers. If they don't come I put on the Neosporin or whatever triple antibiotic that we have on hand and forget about it. My insurance would probably get canceled if I sought medical attention whenever I got a sliver.
 
Lol, I forgot to mention it's down were I can't use tweezers, so I
been picking at it with a razor blade, ya 've got neosporin on it
and ill wait.
 
Put a piece of adheiseive tape directly over the sliver. No gauze or anything except the sticky part of the tape. Leave it on for a day or two and the sliver will be stuck to the tape or pushed out to where you can grab it with tweezers.
Note the tape will give you relief from the pain if you wrap it tight.
 
I usually use a pair of finger nail clippers to get slivers out. It's difficult to describe, but I'll use the edge of the clippers to clip the skin off above the sliver. I then can usually grab the sliver with the edge of the clippers, or a tweezers, or a pin. Using the clippers first prevents me from driving the foreign object in further.
 
I never walk out of the house without a Case pocket knife, and a pair of Trim finger nail clippers. I have pulled hundred's of wood and metal splinter's out of mine, and my coworkers hands with the clippers.
 
I've been a carpenter for 35+ years. I use my utility knife to remove slivers. Sometimes I even put in a fresh blade to cut/dig the sliver out.

If it's deep you can let it fester and squirt the sliver out. Problem is if it starts to heal you'll have to open it up again to squirt the sliver out.

Metal slivers don't usually work their way out like wood slivers so you have to go in after them.

Worst one I ever had was a metal sliver went through my thumbnail. I dug around it with a new utility knife blade but couldn't get it. I had to take the knife blade and separate my thumbnail from the skin under it, then pulled the sliver out from under my thumbnail with the blade. I apparently made some strange squealing noises while performing that little operation.
 
I got a piece of heart pine in my finger 3 years ago working on a 100 year old house. The splinter is still in my finger after many attempts to get it out. It has a little calloused place over it. I showed it to my doctor one time and he said if it does not hurt or get infected, just leave it. I told my friend whose house it is that I am going to my grave with a piece of his curved staircase in my finger.
Richard in NW SC
 
Put a small piece of bacon on it and put on a bandage. I usually dig them out, but had a small one in my heel that I couldn't get out. Wife always said to use a small piece of bacon and a band aid. I always just kinda of laughed. So I decided to try it. Put it on and went to bed and forgot about it. The next day is seemed better and pulled the band aid off and there was the splinter stuck to band aid. So I am a believer now.
 
Doesn't answer your question - but I can tell you, if you buy a pair of these you will thank me some day.

SOOO much better than "regular" tweezers for removing splinters.

You can probably find them cheaper, just posting the link for picture. I didn't buy them myself - sister in law worked in an electronics factory and "borrowed" a pair for us. What could I do.

If you've ever sided with cedar shingles and rubbed your arm the wrong way across said shingles - this thing is worth it's weight in gold and then some for removing the hundreds of splinters from your arm.
Good Tweezers
 
For sliver surgery I prefer a sharp Xacto knife. It pierces and cuts.

Twice I've had slivers go under a fingernail all the way back to the cuticle. Doctor first time, did it myself the second. Also dug out a rose thorn that penetrated the center of my middle fingernail and then broke off even. Took me about four hours of digging.
 
I got a chunk of glass stuck in the bottom of my foot about three years ago.

It's not 100 years old so it's not a very interesting story, AND it hurts to walk.


every now and then I try to squeeze it out, but all I do is make it hurt more.
...

maybe I should get it removed.
 
My dad was a firm believer in "Prid drawing salve" I am pretty sure it is still available in Walmart and other pharmacys. It is in an orange tin, with black writing. The salve is a very dark brown, lots of camphor in it. Put a glob of that on the splinter site, bandage it overnight, and often it would be out the next morning.

Good luck, Gene
 
Take and sterilize a large needle and tweezers and see if you can dig it out. If you can't get it out try ( if you can find it)get some Smile's PRID drawing salve. I have used it with good results.
 
Try putting a dab of Bag Balm on a bandaid and leave it on overnight. Sometimes it will take two days for it to start working out, but usually overnight will work the darn thing out enough you can dig em out without too many problems.
 
Jay:

Soak your hand in a HOT Epsom Salts solution, It will usually draw it right out. Repeat as necessary.

Doc
 
funny story about slivers started remembering a time i worked in door factory .they started to add fiberglass to the fiber mix after the doors are pressed they were sent to sizer to be cut down.the guy on the sizer had to go to the bathroom and empty the kidneys he forgot one thing to wash his hands
 
(quoted from post at 10:41:54 12/27/13) I prefer to use a hypodermic needle, a big one like 14 gauge or so. They are nice because if its new then it should be sterile and they are real sharp, I dig around a while and usually end up getting the sliver stuck to the needle, pull it out and away you go. You can get needles by the gross at the vets office.

Nate
Click to expand...
xactly.
I haven't had a sliver i could not dig out with a hypodermic needle.
Had once a sliver that entered sideways about midways under a finger nail and curled around the bone for quite a ways.(didn't know that it was till i pulled it out)
On first try the sliver broke off just under the nail.I could see the sliver just under the nail so i took a file and kept filing away trough the nail till i could lift the critter up and out of the groove with a needle and then jank it out with a needle nose pliers.
damm sliver was almost an inch long.:shock:
The operation was not entirely painless though
:wink:
 
check out Zee Medical. they have the best tool I've found. Its like tweezers but the points are needles instead of flat. And attached to it is a magnifying glass so your're lookin at where you're digging. About $15.00.
 
Thanks for all the advice everyone. I got a bandaid on it now with ichthammol on it, when I dig with the blade it bleeds so I can't see the piece of wood. It's getting closer to the surface thought as I can see it now, but still can't get it out, Ill wait it out.
 
Hydrogen peroxide dissolves the flesh, although very, very slowly, not the splinter. Horse drawing slave works good for me, Icthamol type stuff.

Worst one I ever got was my last scuba dive in Okinawa. Drove a real big hunk of sea urchin spine in around me knee. That was just before Thanksgiving. A little after the New Years I had a boil on the back of my calf. What was left of the sea urchin spine came out in the pus! Darn thing never gave me a moments problem till the boil.
 
I notice a lot of people talk about sterilize this or that before you dig it out. Do you usually sterilize the sliver before inserting? I usually dig it out as soon as I can and then clean the area.
 
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