I think there's glass in my foot, HELP!!!?

Question

About a month ago my cat jumped onto a table in my room and knocked it over. There was a glass jar on it and it broke on my shag rug. I tried to vacuum up all of the glass but I kept hearing sounds like tiny shards were still being picked up. It would have been impossible to get it all, the vacuum wouldn't stop making noises. Two days ago I was walking across my floor when I stepped on something that I'm pretty sure was a piece of glass. My foot started bleeding and I haven't been able to walk on it since I cut it. Now there's a little bump where the cut was but it doesn't feel like there's anything in it. I've tried everything to get it to feel better, rub on pain relievers, neosporin, and some of that stuff that's supposed to draw things out of your skin if there's something stuck in it. What do I do? I've run out of ideas!!!

Answer 1

Getting a piece of glass out can be one of the most difficult removal jobs. It is hard to see and hard to grasp with tweezers and if it is sitting on a nerve can be constantly painful. Unless you are very comfortable folding yourself into a position where you can see the place, not just touch it, you will have to have someone else do the work. If you can do it yourself or get some one, you need a very bright light that can be moved around a bit, like a halogen reading lamp or intense flash light. You will need a strong thin sewing needle (or a scalple but most people don't have one) and anticeptic like hydrogen peroxide or alcohol. Clean the skin and the tool and use the point of the tool to go in a bit and lift to cut the skin in the area creating a small trench. Use the fingers of the other hand to spread the trench. While working, the person doing the opening needs to listen and feel for the scrape of metal on glass as well as looking for a different texture or gloss. It may hurt to open and to try to move the glass if it is there. If damage has been done, but the glass is out, simply opening the place may take out dirt or other floor stuff pushed into the wound - in which case clean with Hydrogen Peroxide and bandage over.
If the glass is there, it may be difficult and painful to dig under it with the tool or to grip it with tweezers (also sterilized.) If it becomes too painful to work on, clean and bandage the wound and go to a walk in clinic or emergency room or see your doctor and let people work on it.

Answer 2

I have been there. I know exactly what anxiety you are going thru. I give you a brief history. Hopefully it helps. I stepped on an already broken wine glass while walking on a white ceramic floor at a guest's party. A sharp pain went through my spine. Bleeding, the whole bit. I took out many fragments, and was satisfied that there were no pieces left. No further pain. But..... guess what? A year goes by, a corn like thing has developed in that area. My doc told me it is too late to do anything because it may be so tiny, the surgeons will miss it, I may end up with a possible severed nerve in my big toe (that's where the glass fragments were - under the big goe) and he advised me to leave it alone. Wish I had not listened. That happened 4 years ago. I am still walking around, no pain but the corn is getting bigger, numb in that area and the skin is growing very funny in that area, very hard and no feelings. I competitively jog regularly and I cannot afford to be in bed for too long. My advise? get it checked early. Be completely satisfied that all the fragments are out. Otherwise, you will have problems later.

Answer 3

You can rub ointments on your foot all day long but until you get the piece of glass out of your foot it's going to bother you. Pick and probe to see if you can locate and remove the glass or go see a Dr.

Answer 4

You're just playing, lol xD as usual