Splinter

Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
12,330
2,297
Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
Yesterday, I managed the most irritating injury. I somehow got a splinter stuck under my left 'attitude finger', just under the nail. A long one. it is too, it goes 3/4 of the way to the cuticle.
And it broke just inside the soft tissue....
No infection yet.

I really should use gloves, but it is impossible to teach an old dog new tricks, as they say!
 
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Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
39,133
4,810
S. Lanarkshire
Do you have magsulph paste Janne ? that'll draw out the remainder of the 'splinter', or take a bar of soap and shred up a little bit (scrape it with a knife) and add the same amount of sugar to it. Mash the two together and pack it around your nail, wrap it up in a thick elastoplast and leave it overnight if you can. That works to draw out the debris too.

M

p.s. found an Australian lady on youtube demonstrating just how to make this :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UioNnFPEhM
 

Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
12,330
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Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
Yes, the 'bad' place. Will try the remedy tonight.
The funny bit it it does not hurt much. Seems to be lodged exactly between the nail and the nailbed.
( is it called nailbed?)

If the Remedy does not work I will cut open the nail just above the splinter at the end and remove it that way. My work drills are good for more than teeth!
 
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Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
39,133
4,810
S. Lanarkshire
It's a horrible place to get a skelf/splinter.
I think I'd try to avoid cutting there if I could, but you know your tools best.
I do know that the soap and sugar works very well on most things that get trapped in the skin, not sure how it'd do through nails though.

Either way it sounds like it could be painful if it goes septic. Best of luck with it; I hate it when my hands are sore like that.

M
 

mrcharly

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jan 25, 2011
3,257
46
North Yorkshire, UK
I wouldn't bother with the paste; splinters from pressure treated timber will generate a fair amount of pus pretty quickly and that will push the splinter out. If the pressure gets too much under your fingernail, melt a hole through with a heated needle.

BTDTGTT
 

Leshy

Full Member
Jun 14, 2016
2,389
57
Wiltshire
Magnesium sulphate paste as first recommended by Toddy.
Sold at most chemists /pharmacies.
Works a treat .
I carry a little pot in the glove box for the splinters that I can't cut out with a Stanley ...
 

Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
12,330
2,297
Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
It is weird. No throbbing, no inflammation. I can see the splinter very clearly. It must have slid exactly between the fleash and nail.
 
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Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
39,133
4,810
S. Lanarkshire
Are you sure it's still in there ? and you're not just seeing the blood track of where it went in and was pulled out ?
That can happen, especially under nails where it's tight quarters.

Pleased to hear that it's not bothering you though :)

M
 

Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
12,330
2,297
Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
I can see the wood, also it is tender when ai press on yhe nail. Whrn I come home I will do some surgery and take it out.

The last time I used my work tools I emptied a large blood pool under another nail, on my left toe. Hammer damage. Dropped it. When I went through the nail ( used a small round diamond bur and high speed drill ( 400 000 rpm) my assistsnt almost fainted when she saw the blood spurting out.
Was spectacular!
 
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mr dazzler

Native
Aug 28, 2004
1,722
83
uk
I can see the wood, also it is tender when ai press on yhe nail. Whrn I come home I will do some surgery and take it out.

The last time I used my work tools I emptied a large blood pool under another nail, on my left toe. Hammer damage. Dropped it. When I went through the nail ( used a small round diamond bur and high speed drill ( 400 000 rpm) my assistsnt almost fainted when she saw the blood spurting out.
Was spectacular!

LOL brings back vivid memories. exactly 20 years ago (approximately), I pinched my thumb in a pallet recycling machine, it was like a tom and jerry cartoon HUGE black swelling. I went to casualty, 2 nurses held my arm down on a table then they used like a soldering iron to burn a hole through the nail, hey presto black blood escaped, pressure relieved
 

JamPan

Forager
Jun 8, 2017
245
1
Yorkshire
On a far less impressive note. Bizarrely this evening I turned on the kitchen tap and sliced my finger. Turns out the chroming has lifted and created a razor sharp edge. Who knew it could do that?

Anyway Ive filed it down now.
 

Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
12,330
2,297
Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
Well, it is out. Cut a v notch over it, and fished it out with a suturing needle.

About 5mm long, 0.5 to 1 mm wide.

Modern chroming can do that, it is crap. I have rechromed loads of car and bike parts. Has to be done the proper way. Copper first, then nickel, chrome on top.

Not easy to find somebody that does it that way these days. Apparently some of the stuff is toxic.
 
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Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
12,330
2,297
Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
I am lucky, I heal quick. Before wearing gloves at work I will use some neutral nail lacquer ( polish) to seal it. 'Glove juice' is nasty.
 
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