What are Splinters?
A splinter is a foreign body that penetrates the thickness of the skin.
Sharp slivers from wooden surfaces, small spikes of plants, and small sharp metal objects can be a splinter.
Symptoms of Splinter
An object that is a splinter is most often contaminated, and therefore can lead to the development of suppuration. Particularly dangerous splinters of the fingers and toes, including those falling under the nail plate. Splints that are not removed or removed if the aseptic rules are not followed can lead to the development of panaritium. Panaritium is an acute purulent inflammation of the tissues of the finger. The prevalence of the process of panaritium is cutaneous, subcutaneous, nail (paronychia), articular, tendon, bone. If symptoms appear that indicate the development of panaritium, it is urgent to seek medical attention (redness, swelling and fever at the site of injury, pain in this area, aggravated by movement of the finger).
Splinter Treatment
The splinter must be removed immediately. To do this, the injured surface of the skin is pretreated with any antiseptic solution (3% hydrogen peroxide solution, alcoholic iodine solution, brilliant green solution, 2% alcoholic boric acid solution), then a splinter is removed with a needle (also pre-treated with an antiseptic solution) . To do this, the tip of the needle is inserted on the side of the splinter in order to hook it and remove it. If this fails, then the edge of the splinter is exposed with a needle, grabbed with tweezers and removed. After removing the splinter, the wound is re-treated with an antiseptic solution. If the splinter got under the nail plate, then it is better to seek medical help, since the procedure for its extraction is complex and very painful.