Removing splinters from uncooperative child

[FortunataTagnips]

Help! DD(10), who is autistic and has a learning disability, has two ruddy great splinters in her foot from some decking. We’ve tried all the obvious coaxing and pleading but she won’t let us anywhere near them.
They’re very close to the surface and it would probably only be a minute’s work to tweak them out, if only she’d let me.
Does anyone know of a non-invasive way of dealing with splinters? I’m so worried about infection.

Good luck. Keep trying and if you need back up from local GP if you're still on holiday you could try 111 to find local services. Pharmacies can also be very useful for assessment/advice.

Bowl of warm water with Epsom salts.

I've heard you can use the calpol syringe to suck it out. I've never tried it myself

Give her tweezers and a mirror and a good light to see by and let her do it herself?
Supply some alcohol wipes and antiseptic cream.

It does work, very well, on small splinters. Im not sure it would on these

Mag Sulph paste is almost impossible to get hold of at the moment (pharmacy staff here).

I honestly don't know what I would do in this situation, probably numbing spray (I'm a wuss and requested it for a blood gas test in hospital - it's good stuff!)

I'm in despair at all the posters saying "just pin her down" or "just bribe her with chocolate and she won't notice" etc. You realise the OP isn't talking about a stranger's child? She KNOWS what she will tolerate, and if it were as easy as bribery do you not think she would have tried that already?

The old fashioned way to get splinters out is a poultice of soap and sugar.
Soften a bar of soap a little in water, take off a good sized piece, blend in plenty of granulated sugar to make a thick paste.
Cover the splinters with the paste, top with a plaster and leave overnight. By next day the skin will have softened and the splinters will be easy to remove.

Get a treat ready, milk shake, cake etc, and put it in view during the removal "operation", much better than trying to pin the child down.

I would be poultice with whatever you can to soften the skin for a few hours, then take a look at 3am to see if it will be any easier. I have only removed smaller splinters from autistic ds, but do manage to get it done while he sleeps.

I get a lot of thorns in my hands from gardening and generally score along the line with a sterilised pin first, Then lever it out sideways, or grab the end and pull it, depending how deep it goes.

I am a parent of two autistic kids who would be doing exactly the same thing in these circumstances.

I would give her a warm bowl of water with antiseptic in it to start with and some Calpol. Then I would probably wait until she was asleep.

Sending solidarity. Mine would be screaming blue murder and panicking and shouting. Poor her and poor you.

Or watch some videos of splinter removal on you tube?

Do you have any germolene? It's got local anesthetic in it so might numb the area enough for you to be able to wiggle it out

I had to take DD to A&E for smaller splinters. they gave her Emla cream and then got it out but no chance without the cream. it does make a massive difference.

i'd do Emla + the ice cube trick

Can you put some EMLA cream on them while she's asleep so they will be numb and she won't feel you getting them out? Usually takes about 30-40 mins to take good effect

I’m now googling sedation in A&E. Sob.

My toddler had one just like this. Wouldn't let me anywhere near it and I tried calpol syringes and all sorts but just made him upset. A childminder recommended the magnesium sulphate and plaster which worked a treat. It brought it right to the surface and then I squeezed the last bit out easily when he was in a deep sleep.

Hydrocolloid 'blister' plasters will get them out painlessly

As others said, wait until she's in deep sleep. Use a Fine sterilised needle to gently break the skin near the entry wound and over the splinter so you can get a grip of it with tweezers and pull out. If she doesn't wake. Do the other one rhetorical same way.

Is your DD a deep sleeper, OP? My DD would never have slept through me even touching her feet, never mind removing splinters from them. Presumably whilst shining a light?

The plaster idea sounds much better to me, she has some input as to what’s going on.

Magnesium sulphate paste is good. I’ve used contact lens peroxide solution too.

My dc (ADHD with serious sensory issues) wouldn't even allow us to look at splinters, she'd take a picture on our phone and show us. Sympathies, OP.

We would cover any she got with a massive dollop of cream and big plasters, then go and pick at them ever so gently when she was in a deep deep sleep. (Head torch !) We found the key to this method was to leave the pulled out splinter on the plaster so she could find it herself when she checked.

We have since revealed this to her - she's 16-- she shrugged and said 'sounds smart, I wouldn't have been able to deal with hysterical me' so no lasting damage...!

@ClaudiaWinklepanda She does
sleep quite deeply but she’s also a very defensive sleeper, as I’ve discovered when I’ve tried to do stuff sneakily in the past.

I would worry about her waking when I was mid-poke with a needle and hurting her.

It’s even trickier because there are two splinters.

They usually do work their way out eventually.

Minor injuries recommended magnesium sulphate paste when they couldn’t manage to remove splinters before, they popped out overnight.