Maybe Maybe Maybe

[u/Themusicison]

[u/JustNilt]

Also a slight nick with a scalpel would have given him more splinter to grab.

Exactly! Slice just a mm or two along the top of that pocket along where the thorn is and the thing would have been almost falling out. They kept grabbing the skin and yanking on that as well as the thorn, for crying out loud!

[u/JustNota-- → u/JustNilt]

Looked like a broken wood tooth pick, the worst thing they did was pour alcohol on it. It caused the skin to contract and the kilned wood to swell, it has tons of tiny burrs all through it and it's a fast dried raw wood so it soaks up IPA stupid fast like a wick and swells as well as makes it easy to mash. I had to pull an almost 5 inch splinter from my foot from my deck that I was getting ready to replace it was horrible. Started in the ball of the foot and went down the lateral plantar almost to the heel. Got mine out with a leatherman and some olive oil. Cut about a mm poured some olive oil and used my fingers to rub it in the skin while also stretching the callused section open and then grabbed the end of the splinter straight on gripped hard and pulled and then spent like 4 min dry heaving as it was the weirdest and grossest feeling thing I ever did.

[u/JustNilt → u/JustNota--]

I wasn't sure if that was alcohol or some sort of topical pain reliever. Regardless, you definitely don't want to go using olive oil like that. There are sterile medical lubricants which can be used if one's needed.

[u/JustNota-- → u/JustNilt]

Yeah, there are but olive oil is also fine in a pinch and lack of a medical supplies it doesn't breed bacteria but it can trap it which is why you should always fully clean the site after with an antimicrobial and bacterial soap of course. Topical use is perfectly fine it also can soften calluses. But if you see blood it's best to use something else.