It is often hard to imagine that a little foreign body in the skin can cause so much pain. Here are some suggestions in removing slivers:
If the sliver is large enough, just remove it with your fingers or with tweezers.
In some cases, it may be necessary to soak the body part in warm water to open the pores and then attempt to remove it.
It may be hard to get the sliver pinched between your fingers or with tweezers so try using a strong, adhesive tape such as duct tape. Place it over the sliver area and then quickly pull it off. I find this helpful when the foreign body is a small piece of broken glass.
Trying to get out a child’s sliver can sometimes be frustrating as the child is afraid and in pain and doesn’t want anyone to touch it. In these cases, try numbing the sliver area with an ice cube first and then try to get the child to think or talk about something else as you work on getting the sliver out.
For slivers that are embedded just under the skin, take a needle, sterilized with isopropyl alcohol and try to poke it into the top layers of the skin near the foreign body and try to work the foreign body out. Once it is above the skin you may be able to pull it out with tweezers.
As soon as a sliver is removed, there is almost instant relief. Then to help prevent infection, rinse the area with hydrogen peroxide.
