I’ve got a bad splinter that unfortunately I cannot pull out myself, b/c it happens to be in my pinky, which is broken right now and in a splint.
After soliciting advice from my Mother about this, she said “all foreign objects buried under the skin will eventually work themselves out over time, so just leave it alone.” Arguing ensued. She said that as the skin regenerates, the foreign object gets pushed closer to the surface, until it eventually just falls out.
Sounds rather absurd to me, so I was hoping for a Cite that proves/disproves this theory. (Or an informed opinion, like Qadgop’s). I can’t seem to find anything on Google about this, although I’m pretty slow with the typing right now…
I heard there is a limit as to how far down this will work. If it is above a certain point it will work out, below it and it’s there for the long haul - your body may encapsulate.
Your Mom is correct about the basics, but I’d offer two caveats to her advice.
Splinters carry bacteria into the skin where they can set up shop. Removing a splinter greatly reduces the risk of infection.
Splinters can lodge in the layer beneath the epidermis (the dermis). If this occurs, the splinter will not “work its way out,” because the dermis does not grow outwards like the epidermis. Thats why henna tattoos are temporary (they’re confined to the epidermis) while traditional tattoos are permanent (the ink needle deposits pigment in the dermis).
Yes I think it depends on how deep the foreign object is, and how it’s lodged in. Things like fish hooks and porquipine quill won’t work themselves out, but I’ve had a couple shallow wood splinters that I couldn’t find come poking to the surface after a few days over my life. Of course beneath the skin I doubt it would ever come out, otherwise no one would be carrying around shrapnel or bullet slugs for the rest of their lives.
My grandmother once sat on a needle which went right into her buttocks and was unreachable. Years later she noticed it poking out the side of her hip and she pulled it out. Just FYI.
I’ve had lots of splinters from carpentry which seemed to dissolve or at least turn to a kind of gel. A friend (a professional woodworker) says that pine seems always to do this, but many other woods don’t, particularly walnut. He also doesn’t like stainless steel, since steel and iron splinters eventually turn to oxide, but the SS ones keep hurting forever unless you dig them out.
My experience has been that splinters that are not too deep eventually fester and can be popped out easily (I can see the medics shuddering now, even at this distance).
It would seem that foreign objects can travel around inside the body for quite a while without causing any apparent damage.
Take the case of my mother. She developed a persistent sore spot in the throat. She tried all sorts of gargles, various cough medicines, etc. Then one day she was ironing and the sore spot caused her to start coughing quite violently and shortly a common pin flew out of her mouth and fell on the ironing board. Honest - and she kept the pin as a curiosity for quite a while. It was, an maybe still is, common to hold a bunch of pins in your mouth while pinning up a hem or whatever. She must have accidently partly swallowed the thing at least part way down at some time or other, and it finally worked its way out.
