Splinter removal is first aid you perform on your own skin, with your own hands, on an injury you can see. Splinters are small, and the puncture left behind is easy to ignore. Bacteria can enter that puncture while the splinter is still in place, and a splinter that snaps under the skin can turn a two minute job into an infected wound that needs a doctor. The whole splinter can come out in one clean pull, with a pair of tweezers you already own.
What is a Splinter?
Splinters are foreign objects that have broken through the skin and lodged in the tissue underneath, and medical staff call them foreign bodies. Wood is the most common material. Glass, metal, plastic, fibreglass, thorns, and cactus spines cause the same injury.
Your skin is dense with pain receptors in both its outer and inner layers. Slivers of wood only a few millimetres long can be annoying and painful out of all proportion to their size.
When to Remove a Splinter at Home and When You Need Medical Help
Most splinters are removed at home. Splinter removal on your own skin suits a small splinter you can see clearly, close to the skin’s surface, in a spot you can hold still under a good light.
Everything below belongs to a doctor:
- splinters in or near your eye or eyelid
- splinters under a fingernail or toenail
- splinters deeply embedded in the skin, with no end you can see or feel
- glass splinters
- splinters that broke apart during removal
- wounds that bleed heavily
- splinter injuries in anyone with diabetes or a weakened immune system
For an eye injury, go to a GP, an urgent care clinic, or an emergency department the same day, and do not flush or irrigate your eye yourself. Splinters lodged under a nail are usually removed surgically, and the nail may need to be cut back first. Glass can shatter under pressure from tweezers, and fragments left behind cause pain and infection for weeks.
Tetanus is the other reason to call your GP. In Australia, any wound other than a clean, minor cut is treated as tetanus-prone, and a splinter that pushed soil, dust, or plant material under your skin qualifies. If your last tetanus dose was more than five years ago, ask about a tetanus booster.
Splinter First Aid
Splinter removal with a pair of tweezers is the method for any splinter protruding from the skin. Wash your hands and the affected area with soap and water, then pat the skin dry.
- Sterilise your tweezers by wiping the tips with rubbing alcohol.
- Work under a bright light, with a magnifying glass if the splinter is very small.
- Use tweezers to grip the end of the splinter as close to the skin as you can while still holding a good grip.
- Pull the splinter in the same direction it entered the skin, slowly and in one movement.
- Check that the entire splinter has been removed.
Stop if the splinter breaks. Nail clippers give a better grip than tweezers on metal splinters.
Splinter Removal for a Sliver Under the Skin
Splinter removal for a sliver under the skin needs a small needle as well as tweezers. Use the needle only while the splinter is still visible through the skin.
- Sterilise the needle and your tweezers with rubbing alcohol.
- Pierce your skin directly over the end of the splinter that is closest to the surface.
- Use the needle to lift the top layer of skin along the length of the splinter, until enough of the splinter is exposed to grip.
- Use tweezers to remove the splinter, pulling it back along the path it took into the skin.
Keep the needle in the top layer of skin. Anything deeper is painful, and the splinter is pushed further in.
Very fine cactus spines are too small for tweezers. Press sticky tape, like duct tape, over the affected area and peel it back slowly to lift the spines out.
Methods to Avoid
Do not squeeze or pinch the skin around the splinter. Pressure can snap it into fragments and push the deep end further in.
- Do not dig at the splinter with your fingernail.
- Do not use tweezers or a needle you have not sterilised.
- Do not heat a needle in a flame.
- Do not soak a wooden splinter in water.
- Do not use drawing pastes made from baking soda and water, Epsom salts, or hydrogen peroxide.
- Do not use banana peels, potato slices, or other kitchen remedies.
- Do not pull the splinter with your teeth.
Wood swells when it gets wet. A soaked wooden splinter is harder to grip and quicker to break. Glass and metal do not absorb water, and warm water can be used to soften the skin around them.
Drawing pastes are said to help draw the splinter to the surface by osmotic action. No controlled research supports baking soda, Epsom salts, or hydrogen peroxide for splinter removal, and the several methods to remove a splinter that circulate online have no evidence behind them either.
Heating a needle in a flame coats the tip in soot. Wipe the tip with rubbing alcohol instead.
Cleaning and Covering the Injury After Removal
After splinter removal, clean the area with soap and water and pat the skin dry. Washing the area a second time clears dirt carried in with the splinter.
Apply an antibiotic ointment or petroleum jelly around the wound. An antibiotic ointment can lower the risk of infection while the skin closes over.
Cover the site with an adhesive bandage if the area is likely to get dirty or rub against clothing. Otherwise, leave it open to the air. Change the bandage whenever it gets wet or dirty.
Signs of Infection to Watch For
Infection can follow splinter removal even when the entire splinter has been removed, and it can appear days later. Watch the affected area for:
- redness spreading outwards from the wound
- swelling and warmth
- pain that increases instead of fading
- yellow or green discharge, or pus
- red streaks running from the wound towards your body
- fever, or feeling unwell
Redness, swelling, and pain that grow over two or three days can be a sign of cellulitis, an infection of the deeper layers of skin. See your GP the same day. If red streaks, a fever, or a general feeling of illness come with it, go to an emergency department instead.
Enrol in First Aid Training
The outcome of splinter removal is decided before the tweezers touch your skin, by whether the splinter belongs at home or in a doctor’s hands. Tweezers cannot fix a splinter that was never yours to pull. Injuries on other people leave you far less room to work that out on the spot, and they will not all be splinters.
Childcare first aid training puts a qualified assessor beside you while you work, and leaves you with a nationally recognised certificate that education and care employers accept. Enrolling now means the next time a child in your care is hurt, you are the person in the room who already knows what to do.
FAQs
Are Splinters Visible on an X-Ray?
Metal splinters and most glass fragments are visible on an X-ray. Wood, thorns, and plastic are not, and wooden splinters are missed on the majority of plain X-rays. Your doctor may use an ultrasound to find them instead.
What Items Should Be in a First Aid Kit?
A first aid kit should hold adhesive strips, sterile gauze, non-adherent dressings, conforming and triangular bandages, saline, disposable gloves, scissors, tweezers, and a resuscitation face mask.
What Other First Aid Techniques are Taught in a First Aid Course?
A first aid course covers CPR and defibrillator use, choking, severe bleeding, burns, fractures, anaphylaxis and adrenaline autoinjectors, asthma, and the pressure immobilisation bandage used for snake and funnel web spider bites. Assessment includes at least two minutes of uninterrupted CPR on a manikin placed on the floor.
