Hair splinter is a category of splinters in which a sharp hair penetrates inside the skin layer. This is more common in individuals who have more exposure to hair. Such as a hair cutter person (men or women both) or a person who touches his or her dog’s hairy skin more often.
It can occur in any place on the body especially the foot, face, and hands. The hair penetrates half the inside which comes out of the skin itself but sometimes causes the worst pain and fails to get out of the skin.
1. What are splinters?
What are splinters? Splinters are any particle (foreign body) that enters the skin. It could be a tiny piece of wood, glass, or pointed hair. This can cause irritation and inflammation in the affected areas of your body. Even it can result in skin damage if the case gets savior. To remove it, you need to be very careful because the piece can completely enter the skin and this will cause pain. Concern the doctor as soon as you can if the splinter is not going off after all your tries otherwise the self consultation can cause infection.
2. Foreign particles (body) that cause splinters:
There are 4 materials that can cause serious injury when entering the skin. Here they are:
1. Wood splinters:
- Small pieces of wood when fixed with the skin cause wood splinters. The wound size depends on the body area and size of the piece. It is recommended to remove the piece as soon as you can. Not taking it seriously can cause serious skin infections.
2. Fish ■■■■ splinters:
- When a small ■■■■-like piece lodges the skin it causes skin problems. For example, inflammation and the wound can become complicated if not treated at the right time. Fish Hooks have a sharp end that makes it more difficult to take off the ■■■■. In fact, the end result could be in removing an affected muscle part. Palms, feet, and faces are prone to injuries.
3. Glass splinter:
- A sharp broken piece of glass causes more irritation when it enters the skin. It is hard to detect the tiny glass piece located in the skin. Radiography is used to detect it. Fingers, toe, eye, foot are the most common areas for glass splinters. Use sterilized needles or alcohol-cleaned tweezers to remove the glass from the skin.
4. Any sharp/pointed body:
- When anything pointed like pencil lead or other metallic piece lodges the skin it can cause a permanent mark in the skin. The splinter complexity is defined on the basis of wound size and depth. It is easy to take off the material when it is just half entered. Complications start when it starts disturbing the innermost layers of the skin. In such cases, it is better to seek medical treatment.
5. Hair splinters:
- Small, stiff, and hair with pointed edges can easily get into the skin. People who have a job in a salon or work as a pet groomer are very prone to hair splinters. Even the non-hairy parts of the skin are not protected from this. It can be as simple as a normal incident or it can be severe that cause infection.
3. infected splinter:
How do you tell if a splinter is infected? There are some indications that give a clear warning alarm for infection. Here are some of them:
- The material of the piece might have poison, germ, etc.
- Depth of ■■■■■■■■■■■ matters.
- A diabetic patient, an older person, a person who has a previous injury history could get an infection very easily.
- Visible lines inside the affected part of the skin
- Swelling, inflammation, or a sharp sensation of pain.
4. How do you draw out a splinter?
How to remove a hair splinter? The process is easy as well as tricky so you have to be conscious. There is more than one method to follow.
Points to be noted for the previous procedure: sterilize the tool before using it as it can cause infection if not cleaned properly.
Points to be noted after the procedure: wash the affected area because chances for getting an infection are still there.
The methods are:
- Using Tweezers
- Using Duct Tape
- By using the needle
By using Tweezers:
- Take out tweezers along with alcohol and use it to disinfect the tweezers
- Clean the affected area to prevent any infection
- Hold it in the right path and gently pick out the splinter
- Take care of the direction because the wrong direction can break the splinter into two pieces. Then the part which is inside the skin will remain inside it.
- Pull out the splinter in the same path as you use to stick the hair with tweezers.
By using Duct Tape:
- Stick the tape with the skin
- Slowly paste it in a right way
- Let the hair stick in the tape
- Gently remove the tape in the correct way
- Clean the surface and bandage it to avoid infections
By using needle:
When a complete hair splinter enters under the skin then it is hard to remove it with simple tricks. In this scenario use a needle along with the tweezers.
- Whenever you want to use any tool for your skin especially for the purpose to insert it inside the skin, disinfection should always be the number one step. The infected needle will not solve your problem but will make it worse
- Find the right splinter line inside the skin surface and slowly lift that part
- Get access to the hairpiece with the help of a needle
- Now use tweezers and pull out the hair
When Should you go to urgent care for the splinter?
In some cases, a foreign body enters underneath the skin and penetrates deep inside it. This will start destroying your immune system as well. There are 3 cases in which you need to go to urgent care.
- When the splinter is under your nails
- When hair splinters move inside the body
- Hair splinters in the hairless area of the skin
Splinters under your nails:
You can take the object off your nail from a needle or tweezers. But make sure that you are 100% confident about your move because it is a more difficult process with nails or nail beds. If you left it under the nail for a longer period of time then it can cause splinter hemorrhage. This hemorrhage is caused when the fine line of blood starts clotting inside the nail.
Hair splinter moving:
The condition is called Cutaneous Larva Magrans. When the hair splinter moves inside your foot skin it feels like a parasitic infection. In this situation seek the specialist as soon as possible.
Hair splinters in hairless area of skin:
A barber or hairdresser works with the hair so they get it more than anyone else. This causes a tiny hole in the skin called the interdigital pilonidal sinus. This hole can cause an infection so it needs urgent treatment. Doctors will suggest antibiotics for the cure.
5. Splinter Medical Treatment:
If you get any larger and deep splinters, take out cleaned tweezers, open the area, take out the material, wash and bandage the area. But sometimes it is hard to remove the large splinter by yourself and eventually it turns into a complicated injury. Now, is the time to ask for specialist help. Following are some warnings that indicate that you must go for medical treatment. They are:
- Your pain gets severe
- Very visible redness or swelling
- If the pointer that enters the skin is not visible
- Pus starts accumulating in that skin area
6. Natural Remedies to Remove a hair splinter:
VINEGAR (APPLE CIDER/WHITE VINEGAR):
- Take out the vinegar and wet the splintered part with it for at least 20 to 40 minutes.
- After some time remove the hair easily.
- You can also use baking soda as a vinegar replacement.
STRIPS:
- These strips help the pointed end to stick with it.
- Then observe the right direction.
- Now pull it off the skin very calmly.
POTATO:
- Cut a potato in a slice and place it on the wound.
- Leave it for a few hours and then cover it.
- Now easily remove the hair.
BACON:
- Bacon will be very helpful to make the removal easy.
- Place it on the body for some time then slip it gently.
HONEY:
- Cover the wound with honey.
- Cover it gently with the bandage.
- Leave it for some time.
- Focus on the hair direction and remove it correctly.
COCONUTE OIL AND ESSENTIAL OIL:
- These oils respond very well when no other cream works for this purpose.
- Keep using it for a few days.
- After a few days of use hair will come out and the wound will heal after repeating this method for some days.
7. How do you prevent hair splinters?
Here are some tips to prevent yourself from hair lodging and get rid of infected splinters.
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How do you keep a splinter from getting infected? Splinter is more associated with the work you do as a professional. If you are a woodcutter then you can easily get tiny wood parts inside your body surface. This can even be very infectious if not cured correctly.
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Adapt yourself according to the amount of exposure you have with your hair daily. If you are a hair designer then there must be some essentials that you should have in your carried bag. Or take some precautionary measures to reduce the direct exposure of hair to your skin.
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Use appropriate fully covered clothes, gloves, covered shoes, and socks. It will help to create a boundary between your skin and a hairpiece. Clean the floor more often so there would be no chance to leave any pieces behind.
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Take a minute after every session to check the signs and symptoms of it and also clean yourself up after pack up.
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After following all the tips, if you still get a splinter then go to your physician.
8. deep splinter removal surgery:
- Superficial splinter can easily come out with no effort. Because in this case half the body of the material is outside and half is inside the skin so you can easily hold the ending point. But if it gets deeper in the skin and even penetrates into the muscle then it leads to a small surgery.
- In order to reduce the pain, local anesthesia is used before operating. Severity also depends on the body area. If the injury occurred with a nail, that means it is a more delicate area as this body area has many nerves.
- In many cases when antibiotics failed to control the wound. This is an alarm for you so don’t wait further and consult the doctor.
- Like a nail and nail bed, splinters around the nose are also dangerous. It affects the eyes and causes inflammation in the eyes. Likewise, having a hair splinter hole is also a very serious matter. In fact, it can cause a sinus cavity in that area.
Frequently Ask a question:
Hair splinter can be very simple or can be worse. Here are some queries and people need answers to these questions.
1. Do hair splinters go away?
It’s up to the object and the wound depth. Hair splinters very easily go away with tweezers. But a deep injury may require a small incision to take the part off. It is better to treat it urgently otherwise it can turn into a serious infection.
2. How does vinegar get rid of splinters?
- Wet the skin with vinegar for at least 15 minutes
- The acidic nature of the vinegar will narrow the splinted skin so you can take the particle off the surface
- Hence you can easily get rid of the wound.
3. What to do if you have an infected splinter?
Reddish, swollen, ■■■■ in the skin means the skin part is about to get an infection or get infected. All kinds of splinters (hair splinter, etc) can turn into infected splinters. Seeking medical will reduce further complexities that can affect the immune response.
4. What to do if you can’t get a splinter out?
- Observe keenly the exact location of the injury
- Grab the end very gently to avoid it breaking
- Follow the exit part of the skin and remove it.
Conclusion:
Whenever any tiny material embedded in the skin, do follow the following strategy:
- Do not take for granted the simple hair splinter or any splinter can develop a dangerous wound. Taking professional advice is helpful
- Notice any unusual discomfort and focus on the half object that is still outside the skin. This will help you pick up the ■■■■.
- It might be a tricky procedure so do every step guided in this article very gently. This will save you from further issues.
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Hydrogen peroxide.
Wash your hands.