Help!
I ran a wood splinter up under my fingernail yesterday morning. I got what was visible out, but it still hurts like heck. Anyone know of folk remedies for this? I can’t see anything to tweeze out.
My poor body. I had a piece of rusting steel removed from my eye last week.
remodeler
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Replies
The only thing I could suggest is a hot water soak with epsom salts. I suppose you could hit your thumb with a hammer - it would take your mind off your sore finger !
Greg.
Ouch!!
The epsom salts suggestion is a good one, but if it fails to get the job done you may have to resort to other means.
If the remaining piece is the broken off tip of the splinter and is back up under the fingernail, try to determine where it lies and then slowly drill a hole down through the finger nail with a sharp drill bit powered by the fingers of your other hand. I know, I know......but, this will give the splinter a place to emerge when it's ready to. Been there, done that.
Or........you can go see a doc. He/she could very well take the same approach only perform the drilling operation with the aid of some novacaine.
Hope you've been charging enough to make it worth while.
Half of good living is staying out of bad situations.
The other...proper application of risk.
Yep!
Years of splinters in odd spots have taught me to leave it alone, let the body do it's work, and then, in a couple of days, with the aid of puss, chase that sucker out the way it came.
So, if you can, wrap it up with a padded bandage, ignore it and the pain, and wait it out.
So good when ya get it out!
or
Go to the doc.
Thanks for the tip. I think I'll wait it out. Took three weeks to get to the doc on the steel in the eye, but that worked out much better than I could have hoped. I asked my wife if I had brown spots in my blue eyes before and she said yes, it was really rust.
Good god it seems like my body takes a beating. A friend said, you could wear gloves sometimes - and it was like a flash of inspiration. I though you just bled on some tasks all these years.
remodeler
When I get a bad one like that I freeze the fingertip with ice, then use the corner of fingernail clippers to nip and cut until I get the end of the splinter exposed enough to remove it. I guess you have a few pair of "Splinter Experts" tweezers lying around, they're the best.
If you don't want to do that, you could always soak it in cider.
Cider?
Are you funnin' or is there a realistic procedure here I have here-to-fore been unaware of?
Jim- please define and don't leave me hanging like you did on my block floor question. :O)Half of good living is staying out of bad situations.
The other...proper application of risk.
Maybe I misspelled it.
I left you hanging? I thought I answered that, not? I'll see if I can find that thread.
You ever figure out why the "Caps Lock" button is so close to the "A" button? I am forever hitting that thing and not realizing it until I look up at the screen. Did Al Gore invent this part too?
oh, it was the block floor photo you said swelled up and bubbled. I was wondering how you corrected something like that.
The cider soak got my attention 'cause I've been around the stuff for decades. Can drink a half gallon and not get the sh&ts 'cause I'm acclimated to it. No, don't tell me I'm full of it.
Sorry for the dark pic. Only one handy at the moment. Thought it would give the size.
150 something year old press. Pop presses for self and others bring in theirs to get pressed. A lot fill their freezers with it and drink it year around.
I always thought Gore was the one that put the question mark tab so you had to shift to use it.
Half of good living is staying out of bad situations.
The other...proper application of risk.
Edited 2/3/2003 11:04:01 AM ET by rez
I think Jim is thinking about "Dickens" cider (from Dickens Bros. orchards) . Ya know my wife likes a good hot Dickens cider, others prefer hard cider....nothing like a hard Dickens cider.
OK. Now I see. Thanks.
Bet it's nothing compared to authentic homegrown Applejack tho'. Roar!Half of good living is staying out of bad situations.
The other...proper application of risk.
where are you located, rez? - - does your family have an orchard history? - - I scored a small coup last week at the state meetings - see attachment - I enjoy watching peoples first experience with quality juice - what's your dad planning on doing after 2003 when all the rules change? - DOUD
sorry about the size - still haven't got this scanner thing figured out -
Good job maestro. Roar!
Can you give me a brief rundown on the 2003 law changes.
Is it just to enforce the ones they have now from a few years back?
He's a real small outfit anymore. More a hobby attitude and he enjoys circulating with the locals. No longer sells to retailers. Loads his freezer up. 'Cept last year which was one of worst I've seen. Spring freeze annihilated his orchards. Had to buy in PA to get his apples. Not one person around had apples to press. Usually two or three dozen get the apples pressed for themselves.
Some local orchards had the bottom of trees freeze and the top produced some fruit. Strange winds.
Orchard history? Well ya. (another roar) Pop bought mill in early 70s and planted an orchard that he's added to over the years. That's it.
I had shown him the family orchard pics you posted a while back. Do you carton your juice and sell to the local schools?Half of good living is staying out of bad situations.
The other...proper application of risk.
rule changes -
well, what you do for yourself is up to you, but... if you press for other people or sell, you have to have a 'HACCP' plan http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~comm/haccpjui.html
and for anything that sells off the farm, a mechanism to achieve a 5 log kill of e-coli must be in place (pasteuriztion - maybe UV treatment, - - ozone treatment-maybe, etc) - - and if you do that (5 log kill), you can't use the same plant (press, tanks, pump, etc) to produce untreated juice
gonna take $100K for us to (hopefully) get ramped up to that point, and then we won't be able to make the same product for which we hve become known - looks like your dad might be able to fly under the radar, altho if someone brings in contaminated fruit and some one (maybe several, if the system gets contaminated) gets sick/dies it would be a sad day -
here's more - http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/juicgui7.html
here's a nostalgia piece for general consumption, if anyone is interested - http://www.tedsgarage.net/pages/article010.html
Here's the same pic, only much smaller. I got an answering machine for my phone. Now when I'm not home and somebody calls me up, they hear a recording of a busy signal.
Thanks, BH - -how did you do that? I've got ifranview, is that what you used?what controls thefile size? -
Piece of cake. (Like you haven't heard that one before)
First, save it to your hard drive. Then open it in Ifranview.
Then click on "Image" and "Resize/Resample". (Or hit Ctrl R)
This brings up a dialog box with lotsa options. In this particular case, I hit "800 X 600" and clicked on "OK".
Then I clicked on the picture of the floppy disk, which is "Save As". Make sure the file type is set to .JPG.
Then click on the "Options" button. Ignore everything except the slide bar labaled "Save Quality". I generally use 50% or so. (Use 100% if you're going to print the picture) Then click "OK"
This should make the picture considerably smaller. There is no accounting for taste, poor or otherwise.
thanks - I'll give it a try next time -
Atta boy Doud, we still gonna meet in Ft Wayne and make the drop (cider)? If I don't make it, throw the jug in the river and call me.__________________________________________
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
we still gonna meet in Ft Wayne and make the drop (cider)?
I'm up for it - - cinema center downtown plays limited release movies - you have any interest in that? - - the Blues club closed down, not sure about the music scene right now - anyplace interesting to eat between Defiance and New Haven? - DOUD
Under the nail, I don't know. But anywhere else, when I get a splinter, I immediately grab a fresh razor and slice down to the splinter while the skin there is still numb. Then I can lift the splinter out from the edge, rather than have to expose enough to grab it with a pliers or tweezers. Makes my wife sick, but works for me. Shots shots up to date. No infections yet, and quicker healing.
Ditto.cabinetmaker/college instructor. Cape Breton, N.SWAY too conservative to be merely right wing
"Best Apple Cider in Indiana" that's impressive man. "Best Of" anything is darned amazing in a state that big. Congratulations.
"Anyone know of folk remedies for this?"
My folks would tell me to go see a doctor. Sounds not fun.
I thought this thread was gonna be about Splintergroupie...I'm thinking "What's the gal done now??!!" and "Why isn't this in the 'Shed?"
Another day, another tool.
Ichthammol, aka black salve or drawing salve.
It is also good for weak and brittle hooves.
I've was informed about three months ago that Ichthammol was pulled from the market. Something supposedly nasty in there. I dunno, but we've got about two thimblefuls left. Guess I'll save it for a rainy day.
Knowledge is power, but only if applied in a timely fashion.
THIS TRULY WORKS!
Cut some bacon fat. Salt it well. Put over splinter area. Secure all around with adhesive tape. Go to bed.
By next morning the splinter will either out completely or enough to pull easily.
I've done this for extremely deep, broken off splinters at the rear corner of fingernail. Was only skeptical the first time when I was prepared to do self-surgery if it failed.
Hey and when you wake, breakfast is waiting for you
I thought that the old goat who taught me was the only one who said "soak it inside er" I mean cider!!
This FWIW is what works for me:
Take a shower. Soak if you have the inclination. The longer you soak, within reason so no need for cement galoshes here, the softer the skin and the easier it goes. Besides a shower gets you clean and relaxed.
Grab your handy splinter kit. Uncle Ben's Silver Grippers, a bottle each of hydrogen peroxide and alcohol, needles, syringe, swabs and a few band aids. A sewing needle will work but the small bore model from a insulin syringe is the best. A few insulin syringes with needles make a handy addition to any first aid kit.
Use the needle, sterilize with alcohol set on fire, to probe the path the splinter took in. This, if properly done, should be relatively painless. It will be obvious when you reach bottom or any remaining splinter fragment. When you regain composure slightly wiggling the needle should allow you to locate any pieces. With care you should be able to tease the rogue out. Gentle wallowing the path open can help. Let pain be your guide. Take it slow. If the piece gets near the surface grab it with the grippers.
If you get it out attach another hypodermic needle to a syringe and irrigate the splinter path with boiled water. Even if you don't get anything out irrigating the hole is a good idea. Rinsing the critters out is good.
I used to play as a kid in large patches of piracantha. These needle like thorns can easily go an inch deep and will fester angrily if not removed completely. The Epsom salt soak will help before and after operating as will a few therapeutic doses of your favorite snake bite medicine.
oh, ya - the splinter question - sorry to hijack - here's what helps me - you'll probably have to go shopping, but these tools are worth hving - a pair of dissecting tweezers, availible at book stores in college towns or mail order - I don't have the camera handy - here's a link to a pict http://www.tedpella.com/twzr-bio.htm - these are great to follow a splinter path and grab pieces - ]
another tool that helps tremendously is an 'Optivisor' http://www.covington-engineering.com/optivisor.htm - hands free magnification so you can see what you're doing -
I've always used sewing needles when appropriate, but think I'll give 4lorns hypos a try -
I have used a dremel to sand a finger nail to access - I'd be scared to use a regular drill like someone else suggested -
good luck -
David,
Congratulations!! Best cider in the state. How cool!
As for the splinter, I am of the school that believes in getting the sucker out ASAP. Although I can see the usefulness of a good soak before the procedure.
Rich Beckman
Another day, another tool.
Tweezers, re-filed to an appropriate angle and shape.
An exacto knife with a brand new blade.
If working on yourself, a magnifying light.
I learned early that if I cut away or through the skin above the splinter, the whole ordeal was over with a lot faster. Later I learned how to do it almost painlessly.
When my kids started coming in with splinters, big and small... I let "mommy" do it for a while, because the kids naturaly migrated to mom for that. When the oldest one was old enough, I convinced her one time that I could take that nasty big splinter out of her leg with no pain. She was extremely sceptical because their mother's method with the needle alwasy produced a grat deal of extra pain. But I was convincing enough that she agreed to try.
Long story short, I cut very quickly down to the level of the splinter. Cut along most of it's length. Used the blade of the knife to coax the splinter up from it's bed, and then used the reground tweezers to extract it. She was afraid to look. When I was finished, she asked me when I was going to do the job. Was amazed that she hadn't felt anything at all.
It helps to kind of pinch the greater area around it. I was able to put my hand clear around her leg, hold the leg, and give a bit of a pinch to the area at the same time. The only thing she ever felt was the pinch. (A lot of neighborhood kids were watching that one too. It was the biggest splinter that anyone had gotten yet on the playground. To them, she was a celebrity.)
The cuts with the knife have to be very quick, and very shallow. If the splinter is way deep, you have to make a lot of very quick and very shallow cuts to equal the depth. The deeper you try to cut at one time, the more pain there will be. Also, for some reason, more blood. If done right, you really will not feel the cuts.
Some mycitracin, and a bandaid, and by the next day, you wouldn't even know there had been a splinter or a cut with the knife.
After that, their mom was out of the splinter removal business. Matter of fact, all the neighborhood moms were. LOL
Quittin' Time