Splinters hurt

I was working in our dining room yesterday and somehow got a whopper of a splinter in my foot. Our house is 45 years old and the dining room has the original wood floor that hasn’t been refinished. Every so often, a splinter of wood pops up and reminds us that we need to get this done.

It was pretty big and I thought I got it out but that doesn’t seem to be the case. So, in an attempt to get the darned thing out, I tried my old stand-by methods, none of which worked, and then it was on to the Internet to see what advice others have to offer. The advice was pretty well to take tweezers and pull the splinter out. Right. That didn’t work – which is why I’m looking for ideas.

I figured that it was a good idea to soak my foot to soften the skin and maybe work the splinter out, but so much for my good idea. I found this on a site HealthWorld Online : “don't let the area around a wooden splinter get wet. A wooden splinter that gets wet will swell. This will make it harder to remove.” Oh. Ok then. I guess I won’t be using their next piece of advice: “soak the skin around the splinter twice a day. Place one teaspoon of baking soda in a cup of warm water and wet the affected area. After a few days, the splinter will likely slip out.”

On the bright side, I now know what to do if I ever get a bunch of cactus spines: “To remove a large number of close-to-the-surface splinters such as cactus spines, apply a layer of hair removing wax, facial gel or white glue, such as Elmer's, to the skin. Let it dry for 5 minutes. Gently peel it off by lifting the edges of the dried wax, gel or glue with tweezers. The splinter(s) should come up with it.” I did know this trick and have used white glue for small splinters. It does work.

So, here I sit, splinter and all. Good thing I don’t have to dress up in heels because right now, my daughter’s flip-flops are feeling pretty comfy!


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