Ok, Sunday night I broke a bottle from the fridge. My hubby and I cleaned everything up, we thought we did a good job. Monday around 5pm my 4 year old daughter stepped on a small piece of glass. I work and DH stays home, so I rushed home to check on her. After she calmed down I cleaned the foot with peroxide and looked and softly felt the spot. I couldn't see or feel any glass. So we talked about what to do and in the meantime, she was up and walking around on her foot. So, I put a band-aid on and let it go, though I have checked her foot often.
Now she is saying it hurts to walk on it and it is red. I still can't feel or see any glass, so if it is in there it must be deep. Do I take her to the ER for this? HELP!!
We decided to watch her foot closely. Since she was up playing like normal within a little while we decided that we probably got the glass out with the peroxide, etc. We do happen to have ichthammol and we put a generous dab on it with a bandaid. We cleaned it daily, putting more ichthammol on it each day.
This morning when I was helping her get dress I did my normal exam of her foot and it was red, spreading up her foot. So we called the pediatrician, went in for an appointment (they were already running 1 1/2 hours behind schedule). I asked to speak to the nurse and she said we might as well go to the ER because there wouldn't be any way for the pediatrician to see any glass. So off to the ER we went. After an ultrasound cleared her foot of any sign of glass we are back home on Bactrim to help the infection. We are to continue cleaning it and keeping an eye on it and go to the pedi if there is any change for the worse.
Hope you have resolved this by now, but in case you haven't, I did the same thing and stepped on glass in the yard. A few days later it got red and painful and I went to the ER. They did an x-ray, gave me a tetinus shot and some antibiotics. X-ray was negative but there must have been some infection and it got better quickly.
My experience with this sort of thing says that the miniscule sliver will fester and work itself out. Not very comfortable, but just continually put anitbiotic ointment on it and keep it covered with a bandaid. It will soon come to a head and then you can remove it--warm baths help, too. Then put more ointment on until the tiny wound is healed. If she developes a fever or if the whole foot becomes red or swollen, take her to her pediatrician.
Mix a cup of epsom salt in enough warm (slightly warmer than her bath) water to fill the bottom third or so of a pot big enough for her foot. Have her soak it for 30 minutes. See if you can see the shard (a blacklight, instead of normal indoor lighting, helps).
If nothing is visible, put neosporin on it and stay off it - then repeat the soak every 6 hours or so.
The only reason a doctor or hospital would be needed is for infection - and unless you broke a bottle of bacteria or your child is severely immunocompromised, it's not going to be today.
The body's immune system will push the shard back to the top - and the very salt water will pull fluid from the surrounding tissues, to reduce swelling and draw it out quicker.
S.
call your pediatrician as soon as they open this morning. if it is more red than it was then she may have an infection. i don't want to scare you but you don't want to fool around with it. I'm guessing walking on it will only aggravate it. She is too little to keep down. Get it taken care of today so that Christmas Day will be relaxed.
Put ichthamol (spelling??) on it. It will draw it out. If nothing is in there it shouldn't hurt it. You can also soak her foot in salt water to promote healing and put antibiotic ointment on it.
If you haven't been able to cure her at home, I would take her to Care now. You can register online and wait at home until they are ready to see her...much more easy and convenient that dealing with a hectic ER!
C., please take your little daughter to the doctor. Years ago I stepped on some broken glass, thought I had it all out and went on about my business. About a week and a half later I had to have it removed by the doctor (very small piece) and deal with an infection on top of that. Much better to get it taken care of--whatever it is. Happy Holidays!
Scar tissue has more nerve endings than an unwounded area, so this may be the reason for the pain...it should go away in a month or two.
I would think that there isn't a whole lot they could do for her other than open it up, which would be more traumatic for her than it would be worth.
Maybe you'll get a response from someone that knows alot about wound care...until then, you can get Lanacane spray from CVS, that also has antiseptic in it.
keep an eye on it because when I was younger i stepped on one tiny piece of glass and I thought I got it all out however when it started to heal it was still in there and I actually have a little growth on the side of my toe from the glass and when you touch it it really feels funny and hurts like my toe is a sleep.
Just take her to an Acute kids. You'll be spending alot of extra time and money at the ER.
Hi C.,
Spoken from experience, chances are, the glass is going to work itself out. The body will expel foreign objects and it will most likely come to the surface with some pus. It may be a little sore and painful, but she'll be fine.
Take care and best wishes!
I would take her to the doctor. If there is a piece of glass in her foot it could be going deeper as she walks on it. Good luck!
Take her to an ER, outpatient clinic, pediatrician. Needs to be checked out.
gl
I would continue to clean it and monitor it, but go by how she feels. If she's not crying because it hurts so bad, she's okay, it will pass. Her little human body will tell her if it's too bad and needs outside assistance. Otherwise, the body has an amazing ability to heal and repair itself. Take Care!
Could it be infected even though you cleaned it out?
i'd be getting to a dr asap - don't wait, esp with the holidays coming, then you ARE gonna end up in the ER.
I've stepped on glass before (both as a child and as an adult) and if the glass was still in her foot, she wouldn't have been able to walk on it to begin with because the glass would have been too painful. Most likely it's infected and a bit sensitive. If it's really red or inflamed, I would take her to get it looked at. If it's just a little red/pink, put antibiotic ointment on it and make sure your daughter wears socks to keep from getting more dirt on it.
The same thing happened to my daughter when she was about the same age. My husband broke a bottle in the garage and she walked out there. My husband and my sister in law thought the glass was all out but she was still complaining. Being a mom I was worried so I came home and checked it out. It was so hard to do this because she was VERY upset and screaming, but I had my mom hold her and talk to her while I gently squeezed around it like a pimple. SO GENTLY. I had a pair of needle point tweezers and when I saw the glass I pulled it out with the tweezers. We put neosporin and a band aid on it and gave her a sucker and she was fine. The only way it worked was because she understood she had to be very still even though it hurt. The glass was so far up in there no one could see it but she could still feel it. If you think there's any chance there's some in there I would go to the doctor.
