Stepping on a nail

[lbean]

My niece stepped on a nail and ended up with an abscess in her foot. When you are camping what is the protocol for when someone steps on a nail or gets cut on a piece of metal?

 

[Thumper]

Clean it with soap and water, top with antibiotic salve, bandage and head to the doctor. Stepping on something that leaves a puncture and very little blood is a recipe for an abscess or infection. We never mess around with something like this.

 

[lbean]

I agree. I was not with her when it happened but I guess she did not tell anyone she had stepped on the nail. It was two days later when someone asked her why she was limping and found out. For me it is a reminder to talk to my kids about puncture wounds and the importance of telling an adult.

 

[oldmangunner]

You are so right and what a reminder for all of us. It is so important to teach children about the dangers of the great outdoors. Not to scare them, but to help them learn how to stay safe.

 

[hikingprincess]

I agree, stepping on something like this and not taking care of it can end up in tetanus or gangrene. It is never a good idea to ignore any wound but especially a puncture wound like this. I hope she gets rid of it.

 

[Hannah]

I agree with what everyone said. My great gram would have chewed up a piece of bread, added mustard and applied it to the wound and put a sock back on the foot. She did this to me when I was a kid, I sliced off part of my heel, it was there but hanging and by doing this it didn't require stitches.

 

[lbean]

I have never heard of that remedy before. Still my grandmother used to do all kinds of things! I wonder why she used mustard. Do you mean the kind of mustard that you get out of the fridge?

 

[Thumper]

Never heard of doing that but grammas have a lot of remedies they used that worked. One day I was playing around the kitchen wood stove at Mamaw's house and I fell into it. When I fell I put my arm out and burned a big area on the back of my arm. She stuck it in the water bucket first "to stop it cooking" she said. Then she started peeling potatoes. She sliced them thin and placed them over the burn and then tied on a bandage. Do you know I barely scarred from that. I was amazed and it made it feel much better too.

 

[dinosaur]

Spuds are a good burn remedy. But, when you step on a rusty nail (not the drink) the only thing you need aside from cleaning the wound and bandaging it is a tetinus shot.