Removing splinters/thorns

[s o c]

Does anybody else dab toothpaste on thorn stabs and scrapes?

very soothing and once it dries it’ll stay on til you scrub it off

[woodwizzard]

Used a small syringe for years to get blackthorn out, works well. Need to just break the skin again if healed over, then draw it out. Not a problem one handed either.

[maybelateron]

Opinel knife is good for digging thorns out.

[Darrin Turnbull]

Razor blade for slicing  tough skin off or for cutting straight towards thorn then usually squeeze out or continue with a needle.

[oldwoodcutter]

Had a thorn laying crossways inside my finger joint for the past week, after it stopped hurting I’ve just left it there, I’ll admit that I didn’t try a calpol thing but I tried everything else short of cutting my own tendons through.

[Rough Hewn]

Fresh clean Swann Morton scalpel blade,pin and tweezers.
Scalpels are considerably sharper than a Stanley blade.
Just gently stroke the tip along the splinter to open the skin.
[emoji106]

[difflock]

I used to carry a scapel, taped to the smooth SS side of my jack-of-all-trades 1957 Army Issue penknife, which was as about sharp as a butter knife, and brought out when so needed, before being carefully taped back into position. Never failed me.

Edited May 1, 2020 by difflock

[gobbypunk]

I have 2 tiny splinters from some WRC and I just can’t get the bloody things out will have to see if this hack works they are so bloody annoying 

[OOO]

Have you tried magnesium sulphate paste from the chemist) overnight (with a plaster stuck over the top)? When you take the plaster off the next day, very often the splinter will have moved to the surface of the skin or even be laying on the plaster itself.

[benedmonds]

I have always used hyperdermic syringe needles. Picked some up from a drug clinic decades ago when travelling and you were advised to take your own. First time they are sterile but subsequently just heat up with flame. You can actually cut around the splinter with them and also fish it out. Seen the plastic syringe hack but never used it.