I have a thorn in my finger. How to remove it?

Question

Hi doctor,

I have a thorn deep in my finger. I can hardly see the tip of it. I have tried using tweezers and baking soda and water mix. It has started to become infected. Please help.

Answer 1

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

Sorry to hear about your mishap.

The most significant concern regarding thorns, splinters, etc., in the tissue, is not really the foreign object itself, but rather the open communicating tract that it forms.

This allows microbial pathogens to bypass the protective skin layer and infect deeper tissue structures. There is unfortunately no safe or justifiable efficient "do it yourself" advice for deeper foreign bodies, especially when in very important structures, like your fingers.

I would strongly recommend that you go to your nearest trusted Emergency Department or Clinical Center so that the foreign body can be explicitly removed and any infected tissue with it to prevent the spread of infection.

The above procedure is called debridement and often performed by an orthopedic surgeon. It can also be done by other experienced doctors.

For further information consult an internal medicine physician online.