Splinter Remedies

| Modified on Aug 25, 2024
The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Baking Soda Poultice
Posted by Servant (Farmville, VA) on 02/04/2021
★★★★★

Editor's Choice

I was barefoot and stepped on a wooden toothpick that had been dropped on my living room carpet. The toothpick went deep into the skin near the nail of my big toe. Just the very tiny tip of the toothpick could be seen but when my husband tried to grasp it with tweezers, tiny pieces just broke off and left the remainder deep in my toe.

For several days I tried repeatedly soaking in Epsom Salt which kept down the infection, but the toothpick was very deep and didn't come to the surface of my skin. I made an appointment with my family doctor. She tried digging down to find the toothpick splinter and was not able to locate it to extract it. She sent me home to continue my Epsom Salt soaks, but said that the only other thing I could do would be to go to a surgeon to have it surgically removed.

Later that day I saw a YouTube video by a doctor who was sharing ways to extract splinters. She said to prepare a paste of Baking Soda and water, place this poultice on the affected area and cover with a bandage.

The Baking Soda causes the skin tissue to swell and this will bring the splinter to the surface where it can be extracted with tweezers. I tried this and after several hours of using the poultice, the tip of the toothpick had moved up to the surface of my skin so that my husband used simple tweezers to grasp the toothpick and easily pull it out. This was quite a large section of that toothpick that had been painfully embedded in my toe. I placed that extracted toothpick in a small plastic zip bag along with written instructions concerning the Baking Soda poultice and brought it to show to my doctor in hopes that she would adopt this method for splinter removal. I'm thankful that the Lord led me to that YouTube doctor who had just the answer I needed.

Charcoal Poultice
Posted by Mama to Many (Tennessee, US) on 09/11/2014
★★★★★

A post today regarding splinters reminded me of an accidental cure we had last week.

My husband got a splinter in his hand from a 2x4. He removed the splinter. The next day, his finger was swollen and red where the splinter had been. It was above his wedding band on his ring finger; I had visions of having his ring cut off as there was no way he was going to get that ring past the swelling. He figured that in removing the splinter, he must have introduced some bacteria and now the area was infected.

I put a charcoal poultice over it, a bit of plastic wrap and some cohesive tape to secure it. He went to work and we thought nothing of it until evening. We removed the bandage and poultice. The swelling was gone and so was the redness. And right there at the cut in his hand was the splinter! Apparently he had not gotten it out (or at least, all of it) and the charcoal drew it out.

I love charcoal! :)

~Mama to Many~


Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Dean (Illinois) on 02/03/2021
★★★★★

Editor's Choice

About a month ago I was closing a ziplock plastic bag, squeezing the top between thumb and forefinger and running them along the ziplock part, when suddenly I felt the unmistakeable sharp stab of a splinter going into my thumb. A plastic splinter of all things. I looked at my thumb but couldn't see anything. But I could sure feel it - a sharp stab every time I ran my fingernail over it.

I figured it would work its way out by itself, but a month or more later it had not. I still couldn't see anything there, but I could definitely feel that stab when that part of my thumb was touched.

So I poured a little apple cider vinegar out, warmed it to 130F, and stuck my thumb in it for about 10 minutes. Then I washed it off, and looked with a magnifying glass. Still couldn't see anything. So I just scraped and scraped along that part of my thumb with a fingernail. Somehow, it must have come out, because I can run my fingernail along that part of my thumb now and there is no pain. Incredible!!!


Epsom Salt, Calamine, Castor Oil
Posted by Diane (Southern Ca.) on 09/07/2016
★★★★★

Editor's Choice

I thought I had Stinging Nettles and Ringworm in my hand! I didn't know what to make of my hand and it took me a long time to figure out why my left hand was so painful! I am 65 and the skin on my hands is now thin and I used a rake that was older and worn out. I didn't realize I had gotten hundreds of fiberglass splinters in my left hand! I was even treating my hand for Ringworm! At times my hand looked like I had ringworm. I tried everything on line regarding getting the Fiber glass splinters out and it took me months to get them all out!

This is what I did!

I found that soaking my hand in Epsom salt would bring out the splinters, but usually only the top of the splinter. Then I would use calamine lotion on the infected area and let it dry on my hand and the lotion would attach itself to the splinters when it was dry so I could pull or scrap them off with my finger nails! This was not the end as most of the fiber glass splinters had gone deep into my hand. I had to repeat this process every day to get the fiber glass splinters out completely!

I even went to the doctor and that didn't help. Also to help get the splinters out I used Vaseline worked into my hand followed by caster oil worked into the skin, and even vicks! The 3 oils would help work some of the splinters out! Then I would go back to the Epsom salt again and repeat the process all over again, the Epsom salt, the calamine lotion and then the oil.

It took me about 6 months to get all the splinters out! And it was HELL!

Please use gloves when working outside! My infected hand was so bad that I actually was worried that my hand would infect and I could lose my hand! Also Tinactin the fungus powder would help soothe my splinter filled hand and give it a rest. Then I would continue to treat my hand again. My hand is finally back to normal! I will never do yard work without gloves ever again!

White Vinegar
Posted by Kate (Germany) on 10/20/2015
★★★★★

Hi,

My 14 month old and I handled a prickly pear not knowing what it was :(. No advice given in store.

My wee one screemed in pain half an hour later and I had stings all over my hands.

I read on another side to use pumice stone to reduce the pain levels. I have one with a very fine side to it, so I very gently rubbed it over my daughters hands and then over mine and she stopped screaming immediately. It worked for most of the stingers, I think.

I then used white wine vinegar and bathed our hands in it for 10 minutes. I felt better immediately but as I touched my daughters left hand I could feel, she had a pretty big splinter in the soft palm. I sucked at it for a few minutes, drawing it out and then used a tweezer to get it out completely. She is absolutely fine now and the redness on her hand is disapearing as I write this.

I won't be buying this fruit for quite a while to come as it is not child proof!

Thank you for this great piece of advice.

All the best...

White Vinegar
Posted by Tiffany (Northern California) on 02/24/2014
★★★★★

Editor's Choice

My young son had a minuscule splinter in his foot that was causing him a lot of discomfort. We soaked his foot in soapy water for about an hour but this did not move the splinter to a removable position. After reading Earth Clinic, we soaked his foot in white balsamic vinegar for 30 minutes. The splinter almost slid out of his foot! We were able to use tweezers with no problem at all to remove the splinter easily. Thank you Earth Clinic for all your information. You have saved our family many times!!


Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Alison (Ca) on 12/24/2016
★★★★★

Read up on others experiences. I was looking up how to pull wood splinters out from under nails for my husband. Came across the baking soda and ACV as the top two suggestions. Figured couldn't hurt anymore than to try one. He soaked his finger in ACV and within 5 minutes, I was able to pull out big chunk with tweezers. So cool.


Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Corin ( Hanburg Ny) on 05/03/2015
★★★★★

ACV helped me remove a long splinter lodged under my finger nail- I soaked it in AVC for about 5-10 min and then used pointed tweezers to grab the tip and it slid right out!


White Vinegar
Posted by Ashley (Austin, Tx, Usa) on 01/13/2012
★★★★★

I tried the white vinegar last night and let my finger stay dipped in it for about 20 minutes. I didn't notice anything come out.

The next day I noticed it looked like my finger was getting an infection and there was dead skin (where I was trying to get the splinter out).

I used my fingernail clippers to clip the skin away and noticed that it wasn't dead skin it was actually a white tiny bubble of pus. I popped it and the splinter came out on its own!

So, don't get discouraged if this doesn't work right away. I'm not sure if this bubble of pus would have formed on it's own or if the vinegar caused it. Either way, I would try the vinegar again!


Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Candice (Victorville, Ca) on 08/03/2009
★★★★★

Hello. I just had a splinter stuck in my index finger for two days and it hurt so bad I couldnt even type with it! I soaked it in Vinegar (apple cider, I didnt have white) for about 1 minute the attempted to tweeze it out but it didn't work. So, I just tried pushing it out from the bottom of the splinter to the top (the top being the part hardly sticking out of the skin) and about two good tries and it POPPED OUT! I was shocked, so the vinegar must loosen it some how? I dont know how it worked but Im glad that it did! Thanks for the advice!

Baking Soda Poultice
Posted by ORH (TEN MILE, TN) on 02/05/2021

SERVANT, ORH here, and this use of baking soda is a new one on me. In the old days, all homes had a tube of Ichtammol in their medicine cabinet. It is a drawing black salve made from sulfur shale oil. It is making a comeback as Wamart now has it. A few years ago, and prior to the internet, they had to special order it for me. If you research, the modern medical folks will tell you that it is an old wives tale. But, all on EC know that natural things do work. Suggest all consider buying a tube because it beats going to the ER just because of a splinter or thorn. ==ORH==


Vinegar
Posted by Mmsg (Somewhere, Europe) on 08/13/2016
★★★★★

Editor's Choice

This is the second time a vinegar soak (10 or 20 minutes) caused an embedded, not-even-seeable splinter to pop out of the skin making it easy to remove.

One time wine vinegar was used and the second: plain white distilled vinegar.

Both times, the splinter "appeared" (1/2 popped out of the skin) only a while later, when I had given up staring at it!


White Vinegar
Posted by Laura (Fort Wayne, In) on 01/30/2016
★★★★★

It worked! 9 year old daughter had a splinter under her fingernail. We had her soak it in vinegar for 20 minutes. The splinter came out lickety split. Thanks for saving us a trip to the doctor.


Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Danielle (Saint Louis, Mo) on 07/07/2015
★★★★★

I got a metal splinter in the crook of my thumb from the hangers at Macy's. Soaked it in the apple cider vinegar for 2 minutes and was able to pluck it out with a needle and tweezers with no pain. Thanks a lot!


Drawing Salve
Posted by Bonnie (Riverside, California) on 01/14/2012
★★★★★

A year ago I was working on my mother yard. I foolishly picked up a wooden rake under some bushes and began raking my mothers yard. I felt stinging horrible pain in my hands! What I didn't realize is that the wood on the rake had splintered! I had gotten about 300 splinters in my hands!

I could hardly wash dishes after that and had to use gloves to wash dishes with all the splinters in my hands. This was extremely painful!

I read that you can buy drawing salves such as Prid at pharmacies. There are other brands as well. A Salve I used for drawing boils out worked just as well.

In the dark while watching TV I rubbed the drawing salve in my hands and within minutes I felt something weird in my hands! When I opened the light my hands were full of splinters that the drawing salve had worked out of my skin!

Try the drawing salves for splinters---this really works. My doctor didn't know about this.

In early spring be sure to sand any wooden yard tools and oil the wood or wrap tape around the wood so that you don't have to go through what I went through!

Bread Poultice
Posted by Scott (Hanston, Ks, Usa) on 07/02/2010
★★★★★

Bread Poultice - Infection & Splinter Cure

This was a remedy used by my Grandmother for years, living on the farm, it was too far to run to the doctor for small infections, spider bites, splinters, glass, asphalt, scrapes, puss, etc.. You would soak a piece of bread with water, at bedtime, wrap it with bread wrapper to hold moisture in, and wrap with Ace (elastic) Bandage. When you awoke in the morning the venom, splinter, glass, rocks, infection and or puss lay on the surface of the bread. Acts like a sponge drying out, creating suction & removing obstruction. Other than the 3 hour bath (wrinkly) skin, laughing aloud, it works miracles.

Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Regina (Cape Cod, Massachusetts) on 08/09/2011
★★★★★

I can't believe the white vinegar really worked. My five year old had a terrible splinter under his big toe nail. It was quite painful for him and he would not let me near it. His doctor's office said you just have to pull and have someone strong hold him down. I had him soak it in water with antibacterial soap for some time, then I read this advice. I put his whole foot in a bucket of white vinegar and soaked it for 20 minutes. Then I told him to let me try ONE pull on the splinter. Well, that is all it took. The splinter that had been unmovable before simply slid right out. I even called back the doctor to share this wonderful remedy. Thanks it really worked!!!



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