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splinter removal
Almost everyone has had a splinter stuck in the skin on their hands or feet at some point or the other. At times, these splinters could be a bit painful too. If these splinters are not removed in time, the skin could become infected. Therefore, it is best not to wait for the splinter to find its way out of your skin on its own. There are several splinter removal techniques and tricks that you can follow, to get rid of the splinter, with minimal pain. However, before you begin the splinter removal procedure, check for signs of an infection, which include swelling, redness, draining pus and severe pain. In case there are symptoms of an infection, it is not advisable for you to try splinter removal at home. Instead, you should allow a doctor to take a look at the splinter and treat it according.
However, in case there does not seem to be any infection, splinter removal is quite a simple process and can be done at home. Given below are some simple steps to be followed for splinter removal:
- Never press on the splinter, when you are trying to remove it. This only pushes the splinter deeper into the skin, which makes the splinter removal more difficult. Avoid trying to squeeze the splinter out with your bare hands, it as could break the splinter into small pieces, thereby worsening the condition.
- Baking soda can work wonders, in splinter removal. Take a quarter teaspoon of baking soda and add some water to it, to make a paste. Apply this paste on to the skin, where the splinter is stuck and cover it with a bandage. Leave this paste on overnight and when you take the bandage off in the morning, you should see the splinter sticking out of your skin, which can now be easily removed.
- Take a small piece of the stickiest tape you can find, which may include masking tape or duct tape. Place the piece, sticky side down, where the splinter is, all the time making sure that you do not apply any pressure. Once the tape has stuck to the skin, rip it off in the direction that is opposite to the one in which the splinter went in. The splinter removal may take a few tries to work and the splinter will come out, attached to the piece of tape.
- Several people use a pair for tweezers for splinter removal. However, it is important to note the angle at which the splinter went in and then use the tweezers to pull the splinter out, in the opposite direction.
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