Glass being stuck in your foot can be annoying at best and pretty painful at worst. Although sometimes you’re able to remove it at home, if the glass in foot healed over before you could take it out, you often need to consult a doctor.
If you’re wondering how to get glass out of your foot, keep reading on as we go through what you can do and how doctors can help.
When to Call My Doctor
Sometimes — particularly when the glass is healed over — trying to remove it yourself can do more harm than good. Hence, a trip to the doctor skilled in foreign body removal is the best plan of action. If you experience symptoms such as severe pain, fever, swelling, redness, or pus, the doctor is definitely your best bet.
To get everything ready for the doctor, do your best to control bleeding if you’re experiencing any, and bandaging the wound can help. Just make sure that you don’t put too much pressure on the glass shard.
What Will My Doctor Do?
In many cases, your doctor can simply remove the glass from your foot without a great deal of fanfare. However, occasionally the situation can be a little more complex.
A local anesthetic might be necessary if the glass is embedded deep in your foot, or has caused an infection. If there is an infection, you may also be prescribed medication to stop it spreading too. Lastly, you might also receive a tetanus booster shot if your last tetanus vaccination was over five years ago.
Removing Glass in Foot Healed Over
The procedure to remove the glass from your foot isn’t too complicated, and will probably only differ slightly whether it’s carried out by you or a doctor:
- The area needs to be clean, as do yours or the doctor’s hands, and you should also sterilize the pair of tweezers you’re going to use with rubbing alcohol to prevent infection.
- As the glass is under the skin, a sharp needle (again, cleaned with rubbing alcohol) should be used to break the skin over the needle.
- Lift out the tip of the glass shard and then grab with the tweezers, pulling the whole piece of glass out.
- Squeeze the area gently once the glass is removed so your blood can wash the germs out.
- Wash the area again and have antibiotic ointment applied.
It’s also worth noting that small shards and splinters of glass can sometimes come out of their own accord as your skin sheds, or if your body forms a pimple around the glass.
Addressing the Problem
If you find glass in foot healed over, it’s reassuring to know that there are ways to deal with the issue, as we’ve outlined above. If in doubt, put safety first and consult a doctor instead of dealing with everything yourself, but there are definitely steps you can take to help you along the way!
For more advice on getting urgent care for illness and injury, have a look at some of our other posts or feel free to contact us.