Splinters - Cleveland,OH

I was interested to hear what others were saying, I also did a quick google search. I saw the one about the bacon fat, some other suggestions on-line were - put elmers glue over whole area and once dry, peel off, splinter should come with. Another said something about egg shell..... here is the link - http://susangaer.com/studentprojects/splinter.htm my mom bought something from CVS (can't remeber what it's called) but it's like a tar you put over splinter location, cover with bandaid and in a day or two, the splinter works it's way out... sounds like it takes awhile - I say - Bring on the Bacon! Good Luck!

This happened to my daughter before and the doctor told me that eventually it will work itself out. Just keep an eye on it. If it gets red or hurts, then it's getting infected and you will need to take it out.

If you need to take it out, use a small sewing needle. Sterilize it first. She will need to be held down, but you will have to cut through each layer of skin until you can get to the splinter. Be careful not to poke straight down with the needle. Splinters are no fun. Good luck!

Sometimes you can use a sterilized needle or even safety pin and open up the first layer of skin sometimes that will open it up enough to use tweezers to grap an end and then you can pull it out.The doctor and nurses would probably do the same with different equipment. Hope this helps.

IMO if you're inexperienced and feel uncomfortable trying to coax it out, just take her in and have your doctor do it. Don't feel embarrassed about it - they do this every day.

My daughter has a big splinter in her hand the other day. You need a GOOD set of tweezers and a needle. A sterile hypodermic needle works best, but unless you're a diabetic, they're hard to home by, so a simple sowing needle works too. Make sure it's clean, I will dunk mine in rubbing alcohol.

If one end of the splinter is closer to the surface you can just use the needle to cut the very top layer of the skin (the translucent layer, don't go poking around any deeper) so you can get a grip with the tweezers. Occasionally I will also use the needle to move the splinter gently towards the opening.
I always found that this works best after a bath, when the skin is soft.

If it's just too deep, see you doctor, they just have better tools.
You can wait a couple of days, see if it starts coming out closer to the surface, BUT if there is ANY sign of infection (redness, warmth, tender to the touch) bring her in right away.

It is only the first of many... good luck!

I second Laurie A.'s advice, just have her not look. A video, or conversation with the other parent works pretty well. Just keep her involved in something else. It is when they see what is going on that it hurts more. My sister is very weak in this area, especially where blood is involved, and having her not look, allowed me to relieve a blood blister under her fingernail one time. And yes, I am the younger sister. :)

Try soaking her in the bath... then it will likely move it's way right out, by just pushing it out of the entry hole with your fingers... or grab the end w/ tweezers. When the skin & wood is soft it won't hurt when you work with it.

I am sure it will work its way out. It sounds like you did what you could. As her body begins to fight against the sticker, that area is going to become more and more sensitive and it is possible it will move closer to the top of the skin. I would try each day to see how it has progressed. Bath time after she has been in the water a bit is a great time to look at it

If it seems to becoming infected, you could call the Doctor and have them remove it.

If you want to try to get it out on your own, we used to have our daughter watch a video while my husband would "operate". This kept her distracted from the actual procedure.

You can use a piece of ice to numb the area, this will give you a few seconds to work on it. Or you can use teething gel like Ora gel to slightly numb it.

Use a sterilized sewing needle and use it to slightly "cut" the end of the splinter. The outer skin is not where the nerves are so it if done lightly she will really not feel anything. It is the strange pulling that she will notice. Once you have a good opening for the sticker, take REALLY good sharp tweezers and you should be able to pull hat sucker right out.

My husband has excellent control of his hands, I am too fidgety to do this myself..

Soak in hot Episom Salt water and it will draw it out.

I heard this question asked on the radio the other day. Have never personally tried this but many people called into the show to confirm it works......Buy some bacon jowl (sp?) put directly over splinter, wrap with gauze, string, whatver keeps it in place. Keep it on overnight and by morning the splinter will have worked it's way out of the skin. Usually will end up IN the bacon jowl or if it's a doozy of a splinter, will have at least worked its way out enough so you can grab it with tweezers. A few callers said they didn't have bacon jowl on hand (who does?!) and used regular bacon. It has something to do with high sodium that draws it to the surface? I'm not sure a 5 yr old would be willing to undergo this experience, maybe wait till she is sleeping? I would be interested to know if this actually works! I have kids myself and fortunately no splinters yet but my husband seems to get them quite often!

My ped has always told us to not use tweezers and I've heard the same thing my whole life (my mom is a nurse). Most people usually just end up pushing the splinter in further, or making the hole bigger. The best thing is to use tape. Plain old scotch tape works great. Put over splinter, press a little then pull off and it usually pulls the splinter with it.

If it's a big splinter you can't get out, I'd go to the doctor to get it out and inspect for unseen damage that might be greater. If it's small, give it a few days to work itself out.

If it's a deep one that is causing her pain, I'd recommend taking her to the doctor for one simple reason: infection.

Who knows what microscopic organisms are on decking material, and if it gets buried deep into her skin, it could cause an infection that will be much more to treat than just having them excise it now.

That's what I'd do. Good luck.

i wouldn't even leave the small ones in, the skin will grow over them and they will be trapped, and could get infections which will hurt worse then the splinter. that said, no child likes getting splinters out, they kick, scream, and act like you are going to chop thier head off, and once you get it out, they are like..'oh!, that didn't hurt'..yet 2 weeks later, they get another splinter, and you do it all over again. .... handy supplies, tweezers, small pin/needle, band aid, good light, and alcohol if your the sanitary type, which i am not, and you can sterilize the needle, Oh and EPSON SALT. show her what you have and what each item is for. The pin/needle is the scary part, but will not hurt her. As Kids we have all take safety pins and put them thru the lil layer of skin on our palms. so thats kinda what your doin here. I am assuming you can see her splinter under the skin. show her on your hand what you will do.
1...soak her hand in the salt water for bout 10 min, will soften the skin up, and sometimes will help bring splinters out.
2...use the pin to kinda scrape away that top layer of skin above her splinter, that leaves the splinter just open now.
3..try and gently push the splinter out just alil, and grab with the tweezers.
4..put on band aid, lil neosporin is good too.
Good Luck