Remove splinters: You can get rid of splinters with these home remedies

Whether at work or playing in nature, it’s easy to get a splinter of wood. We’ll show you what tricks you can use to remove the splinter.

It happens to adults as well as to children: a splinter gets under the skin. Splinters are often uncomfortable and painful. If left untreated, they can also lead to infections. With a few tricks you can remove the splinter easily and painlessly.

Removing splinters: basic tips

When removing a splinter, be sure to use sterile tools, otherwise the entry point can become infected. To sterilize, simply hold your tweezers or needle briefly over a lighter and then wipe with a clean cloth. You can also soak the cloth in alcohol. Before you remove the splinter, you should also wash your hands.

It is important that you work calmly and carefully with the tweezers. Otherwise the splinter can quickly break into small pieces that are difficult to remove. Also, never try to remove the splinter by pushing it out. It usually gets deeper under the skin and becomes more difficult to remove.

If you can’t get the splinter out and notice noticeable redness on your skin, you should seek medical advice. Otherwise, a pus lesion can form, which is usually very painful and, in very rare cases, can lead to blood poisoning.

Remove splinters with warm water

Warm water causes the wood splinter to swell so that you can remove it from the skin more easily.

Here’s how you can remove a splinter with water:

1. To do this, simply pour clean, warm water into a bowl.
2. Soak the affected body part in it for a few minutes several times a day. The wood swells so much that you can see it on the surface of the skin.
3. You can then pull the splinter out of the skin using tweezers.

Please also observe the hygiene measures mentioned above with this method. Wash your hands before removing the splinter and use sterile tools.

Remove splinters with baking soda

Sometimes splinters get under the skin and are so small that you can hardly see them. Often you can’t easily pull them out with tweezers. In such cases, baking soda has proven to be a useful home remedy. This allows you to gently remove the splinter.

For this you need:

• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 plaster or 1 gauze bandage
• some water

How to remove splinters with baking soda:

1. Mix water with baking soda until you get a mixture with a mushy consistency.
2. Apply the baking soda mixture to the area of ​​skin where the splinter is stuck.
3. Cover the whole thing with a bandage or gauze bandage.

4. Wait a few hours. You can then use tweezers to remove the splinter. Sometimes it resolves itself.

Remove splinters with adhesive tape

This home remedy for removing splinters is suitable if you are not sensitive to pain. To do this you will need a very strong adhesive tape. Normal scotch tape is not enough – duct tape or a product with a similarly strong adhesive effect is better.

This is how you proceed to remove the splinter:

1. Stick the tape on the affected area of ​​skin.
2. Gently press it onto the splinter.
3. Then peel off the tape in the direction the splinter is sticking out of the skin.

In the best case scenario, the splinter gets stuck on the adhesive tape and is pulled out.

Remove stubborn splinters: Olive oil can help

To remove stubborn splinters, you can use olive oil:

• Clean your hands and tweezers as explained at the beginning.

• If you can’t grab the splinter with tweezers, apply some olive oil to the affected area of ​​skin.
• Let the oil sit for about ten minutes. The splinter is pushed slightly out of the skin so that you can then grab it and pull it out.

Remove splinters from fingertips

To remove a splinter that you picked up near your fingertip, you will need a bottle and water.

Here’s how:

1. Fill a bottle with hot, no longer boiling water to about a centimeter below the neck of the bottle.
2. Press the affected fingertip onto the bottle opening.
3. The warm water pushes the splinter out of the skin. This way you can grab it with tweezers and pull it out.

Removing splinters: post-treatment

Once you have completely removed the splinter, you should do the following:

1. If the affected area is bleeding, stop the bleeding using a clean cloth.

2. Clean the small wound with warm water and then disinfect it with alcohol.

3. Cover the skin area with a bandage to keep the wound free of bacteria.

Edited by Jennifer Watzek

Read more on Techzle\.com:

• Itchy eyes: causes and home remedies that help
• Fighting cystitis with home remedies: This is what you need to keep in mind
• Home remedies for heartburn: What really helps

** marked with ** or orange underlined Links to sources of supply are partly partner links: If you buy here, you are actively supporting Techzle\.com, because we then receive a small part of the sales proceeds. More info.