Summer is here and I am sure a lot of you love going barefoot when it's possible and sticking your feet into the warm beach sand. I know some of you may even forget to put on footwear before walking onto a surface you know you shouldn't be walking on barefooted such as pavement and places where there just might be broken glass or nails, or how about those wooden decks and porches with little pieces of dried split wood popping out just waiting to get embedded into your feet, hands, and maybe even fingers.
What would you do if you were to get a splinter from walking out onto a dried out wooden deck? Would you run to the medicine cabinet for a pair of tweezers so you can sit there all day in a chair trying to remove it? Would you soak it with warm soapy water hoping your skin will soften up just enough to make it easier too remove? Or are you the type to leave the splinter inside your skin waiting for it too push itself out on its own?
Well if you are one of those people who have chosen or thought about using those methods of removing a splinter from your foot, hand, or fingers, I would highly recommend rethinking those ideas and try using baking soda, salt, hydrogen peroxide, and warm water. Reason why I recommend using those products to remove splinters is because they remove the splinter much easier without having to poke or pry your skin open with tweezers trying to get the darn thing out.
The way to remove a splinter using baking soda, salt, hydrogen peroxide, and warm water is by forming a paste like mixture by combining 2 teaspoons of baking soda, a pinch of salt, a drop of hydrogen peroxide, and a 1/4 teaspoon of warm water. Once you have the paste gently rub it onto the splintered area and allow it to sit on that spot for about 30-minutes. As the paste sits there on the spot where the splinter is, it will slowly safely and gently without causing any pain bubble the splinter out on its own without leaving a deep wound within the skin.
However, if you begin to see the splinter pop out of the skin before the 30-minutes is up, I would suggest you go ahead and grab your tweezers and gently pull it out. Then once the splinter is removed, I would recommend grabbing some first aid antibacterial ointment and applying it gently to the area you pulled the splinter from to prevent infection.
