How to get a piece of glass out of my foot?
 

Apparently I stepped on a very small piece of glass and it has wedged itself into my foot and been there since last night. Normally with thorns or splinters they soften and break apart but as far as I know glass never will.

It is too small to see with my naked eye (trying to find a magnifying glass to see if that helps). It seems to have gone below the surface of my skin so there is nothing to grab with tweezers.

How the heck am I gonna get it out? Will my skin naturally eject it eventually? Help please.

I work with stain glass sometimes and I've always found that over time it will work its way out of my fingers or hands. Feet I don't know. Soaking in a hot bath may help, that's what my dad used to do to eject foreign matter he stepped on.

Soak it in hot water like Psycho Dad said. It will work itself out, or at the very least, work itself out enough to give you something to tweeze.

Yes, soaking it in hot water may work. You could also try to use the point of a needle to rub the top of the skin around the area where the glass is.

The good news is that your older skin will eventually fall off and become replaced and so it will fall out by itself. Good luck!

I echo the other posts on soaking. Works great for splinters. Fingernail clippers may help with the skin around the spot and can also act like very pointed tweazers. Just soak them in alcohol first!

I once had a very large thorn imbedded in my knee. If you can find an old coke bottle or other glass bottle with a small round mouth this is what got it out for me.

Boil a pan of water
Insert the round opening a few inches into the water
When it is just as hot as you can stand place the mouth of the bottle around the site of the glass

If you repeat this several times the suction from the bottle will draw it out.

Soaking the skin in water first will sofen it up and expedite the extraction.

DO NOT BURN YOURSELF!

Ditto soaking in warm water for awhile.

After that, if it's a tiny little sliver, try coating the area with Elmers Glue (yes, really). Let it set for about 20-30 minutes, and then peel it off.

I know it works for tiny cactus needles (and a lot easier than spending hours with tweezers and a magnifying glass)!

Other than that - like others have said, it'll eventually work its way out.

i had some glass that stayed in for a month... eventually i cut it out with an exacto knife and some vodka and maybe a joint or three

I have a 3 inch scar at the bottom of my right foot from a childhood incident of stepping on a toothpick... didn't work it's way out -- after my food turned black and blew up like a macy's thanksgiving day float... I went under the knife and the toothpick was retrieved.

Why not go to a doctor and get it removed?

I think it might not work its way out like other foreign matter because you will constantly be pushing it back in if it is on your foot.

Mal has a good point! See a doctor.

Money. Don't worry though, I'll go if it gets really bad.

Thanks for the advice guys.

:) I love it. We'll spend $X for newest, hotest, latest, greatest....

but we'll hold off when it comes to our health. at least that's what I thought of...

Heh ya, but that's not true of me at all. I'm cheap or thrifty (read: college student) depending on the perspective. I only buy about 1-2 non essentials a year (usually a computer game) and maybe go to the movie theatres once every two months.

then as a college student you should be able to go to the clinic or school nurse for next to nothing...

and yes it is the same thing, since you'd go to the movies or buy a computer game at the risk of infection. Risk being >0.

and that's what my point is... we are all like that to some degree..

Add some salt to the warm soak (no, it doesn't hurt). My mother used to do this with us and I've done it with my son (who's 5 and won't let me near him with a needle or tweezers). It has worked with him several times. From what I understand the salt helps draw it out. Personally, I use a needle and tweezers. You can buy splitner tweezers (I think mine are Revlon, VERY pointy, don't cost much). Picking at the surface with a needle doesn't hurt (clean the needle with alcohol first). Stick the needle in from the side (not straight into your foot), just enought to grab the skin and pop the needle up. Slowly but surely you'll open it enough to be able to see the glass. Sqeeze around the opening as hard as you can stand (this can hurt) to push the glass up. Use the tweezers to grab it. Pick, squeeze, tweeze...Clean the area with alcohol when you're done.

I've never gotten an infection from doing this & I've never gone to the Dr. for a splinter.

I'll echo the pick/tweezer approach. Opening up the outer skin doesn't really hurt (especially if your feet are as hard as mine :p ) - just make sure that you don't prick yourself in the fleshy part.

In my experience, leaving it alone has never worked out well. And you don't want to have a foot that looks like a 'black macy's thanksgiving day float'. :D

Nope, I still disagree. And as far as I know I can't go to any school clinics ("for next to nothing"). My point is the amount of money I spend on entertainment is probably less that 20% of what health insurance would cost me a year. And so far I havn't needed it. You act like the shard of class is going to give me cancer or something. I'd rather have a minor amount of pain for a couple days than use up a shitload of money. And anything can give me a risk of infection, I get tons of scratches and thorns in me for the life I lead (and living in a desert), so far I've taken care of them well enough to never have been infected once.

I got it out fine after giving it some time to work out and softening up in the shower.

Glass in the foot is a huge pain in the butt!! Somebody mentioned pushing it back in as you walk, thats what happened to me. Glass apparently doesn't cause the normal infection that thorns or slivers do (non organic material), it stays sharp enough to continue cutting its way back in. Took me six months to get one out, that was with the trip to the Dr and an X-ray. BTW, glass wont show up on an x-ray. The vodka and joint idea, with some soaking is about your best bet.

Yea, Zeph... I'm with you. I'm a college student as well, and try not to spend too much. But then even with insurance, I don't really go to the doctor for anything as simple as a glass sliver.

I get slivers (or used to) from all sorts of things, thorns, rough cut lumber, steel, glass, etc. Each and every one of them, no matter how deep, I got out with the same trusty pocket knife I do everything with... Clean nails, cut wood, rope, baler twine, etc... Not a bit of disinfectant in sight. Unless you count wiping it across the pant leg of my work jeans disinfectant. And I've never got an infection.

We are too paranoid and doctor dependant these days.

Glass shards are the devil's handiwork!!
 

Yesterday, I stepped on a shard of glass that feels to be about one third to a half centimetre in length. After hobbling around on the side of my heel trying not to apply pressure, here I am at 7am trying to get it out. I tried soaking in hot water, applying salt to draw it out, using various tools to dig it out (pumpkin carving knife, thick pointy needle type dohickey, a meat carving knife, non-pointy tweezers) I am yet to get it out. After digging around with those various objects it started bleeding, so I soaked it more and felt a huge stinging pang in my heal. So at this point I have conjured up my own little suture out of gauze wrap, and bandaged my foot up. This is only after applying warmly damp gauze over salt in hopes that'll it'll draw itself out.

Why don't I goto the ER you ask? Much like many Americans, I don't have insurance and unless, I'm having a heart attack, I won't goto the ER. And I haven't the money to goto a quick clinic, as those are 85 dollars just to have the doctor acknowledge your existence. Anymore suggestions, when nothing seems to be working?

Move? :)

Glass shards in my skin have always worked themselves out so far. Just might take a while. Soaking to me sounds like the easiest and healthiest option.

Shoowop: you can take Cynthetiq's approach perhaps?

Obviously haven't been to "clinics" at colleges in at least 10 years. They're far from cheap (typically more expensive than individual doctors) and generally won't accept you unless you've got health insurance.

I still go with toenail clippers in cases like this. Usually, feet skin is callousy so it doesn't hurt. The only thing that bugs me when I do it is the grindy sound made when the clippers clamp onto the piece of glass.

Really? The clinic at my university is "free". They charge you a health fee ($85 is what I paid most recently), and it covers urgent care and regular doctor's visits. It does not cover specialty procedures or immunizations. They also have a program for free family planning services, which is funded by the state.

I also have health insurance, though--$95/mo., which isn't bad. If you DON'T have health insurance, I really recommend ehealthinsurance.com, that's where I got mine. They allow you to compare/contrast plans and premiums so you can choose the best one for you. I went with a plan that has a higher deductible but ER visits, doctor's visits, and urgent care visits all come with a cheaper copay.

I thought that most colleges won't accept students unless they have proof of some kind of health insurance, and if you aren't already covered, they'll sell you a school policy.

That's how it was for me when I was in college (lo, these many moons ago!).

Don't use more glass.

Still no luck. I'm not a college student so there clinics are out of the question. I haven't tried clippers yet, the glass is lodged on the side of my foot and the area around it has puffed up. I think I may have to bite the bullet and goto the ER and wait for the 300 bill in the mail to add it to my collection of medical bills. I'm consistently turned down for health insurance because I have a pre-existing heart condition. I've basically been told I'm too much of a liability.

thats a bummer

heres from the society of barefoot living faq entry about getting things in your foot...
http://www.barefooters.org/faq/12.html

its basically what lady sage said.

I would try to take care of it yourself before going to the hospital for it... see if you can get a friend to dig around in there with some needles, nail clippers and a razor blade. it can be awkward to try to work on your foot, depending on where the sliver is.

Ding, ding, ding. Very warm salt water will prevent infection and draw out the glass sliver.

Stupid question, so advance apologies. Do you have to pay every time you go and see a doctor there? Like for everything? Yearly physicals, emergency stuff, glass slivers...? I'm sorry if I come across as uneducated, I suppose I am in this area. Where I live I just go and that's it. I do have insurance through work for dental, prescription, etc. Thanks. I hope you guys (shoowop and zeraph) are able to get the glass out of each one of your affected feet.

Tenniels: unless everything is covered by insurance yes we do have to pay for any little thing a doctor see's us for unless he is a family friend or something.

Sultana: Most universities don't really care. Ive been in college for 5 years now never having any health insurance, no one has batted an eye. I know it's stupid, as I now do have insurance after having my appendix out last year uncovered.

As for the glass in the foot problem...

A few years ago when hurricane Francis came threw a bunch of us headed out to the pool to party the next night when no one had power. Few turned into the whole college apt complex, friend got into a fight, turned into a brawl, more beer bottles were dropped then imaginable. We went home victorious but with about 30 miniscule shards per foot per person. With nothing but candle light we managed to get about everything out though. Made something like a Gravity Bong if you know the workings.

Sink full of water, 2 liter soda bottle cut in half. Cap off the bottle we would submerge the bottle 3/4ish to the top. Firmly put area of suspected glass over the spout on top and slowly raise foot and bottle together. The suction created was enough to pull out almost all the glass in everyones feet.

This is really painful however and hard to accomplish without a few unscathed friends to help with keeping the seal on your foot and bottle.

Soaking never helped a bit, pulling it out with tape or glue never helped a bit. Any time I get glass in anything I either grab a finger pricking needle (mom's diabetic and has a lot of them) and use it to dig out the glass, and if that doesn't work I cut skin away with an Xacto knife until I can get to it. If you have topical anesthetic for toothaches or sore throat spray, it'll dull the pain a little.

Update! Its been about 3 weeks and its still in there hanging out. Or not hanging out rather. It doesn't really bother me, even when I press on it or walk around in heels all day, so I guess I'm just ignoring it. Probably not the wisest decision I've ever made. But its definately not the worst decision.

If after 3 weeks it's still in there, and still giving you pain, and you've been unsuccessful in extracting it, it's not likely to stop hurting by itself. it may work itself out, though if it's on the bottom of your foot that's hardly a guarantee.

Buckle down and go to a doc, don't mess around with your feet.

definatly go to the doctor, ive gotten glass in my foot before, obviously a home remedy is cheaper, but with glass (in your foot nonetheless) id go to the doctor to make sure you get it all and dont screw up your feet

my daughter stepped on a piece of glass and the skin around it has covered it how should i get it out????
any ideas?????

---------- Post added at 07:14 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:10 AM ----------

she keeps saying that is doesnt hurt when she walks
i tried the soaking it in warm water but it just made it worse
and i tried it with the salt but that didnt help either

bubbles, the last two posters in this thread had the right of it. If you've tried and it still isn't out, go to a doctor.

Especially since you might be digging and digging in the end for something that can have slipped out when you didn't notice.

Glass in you're foot is bad because it can get affected. I'd take it out as soon as you can.