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[Xvareon]

I was out mowing the lawn, and a tiny piece of jagged iron shrapnel flew up from the grass and struck me in the upper right arm, near my elbow. I thought at first that it'd flown off, but I soon realized it'd actually lodged itself in at an angle and dug under my skin, leaving a bump. Luckily as all hell, it didn't nick an artery. It would have had it been just an inch or two to the left or the right.

I treated it already. Used a magnet and tweezers to dig it out. There was fairly minimal bleeding; it clotted quick even after I took the shard out. It was just a minor flesh wound, really. I applied Neosporin (a topical anti-infection cream for cuts and abrasions) to it right off, plus gauze.

What I want to know is if there are other things I should or need to do to make sure I don't get an infection from this. I was able to get it fixed in minutes, but still, the shard was metal, and rusty, and I know that can screw you up bad. Help?

EDIT: The wound was only like an eighth of an inch deep, maybe less, since the shard went in an angle rather than straight through. I had to dig it out from under the skin it burrowed beneath.

[ChairmanPoo]

Are you up to date on your tetanus shots?

[Xvareon]

Are you up to date on your tetanus shots?

No. I've never had one in my life, not that I know about.

[ChairmanPoo]

Then go to the emergency department. You probably need the vaccine plus/minus TIG

That being said I'd be surprised if you had never received any tetanus shot at all.

[nenjin]

Yeah in the states it's a pretty standard vaccination given to kids.

Sounds kind of like when I impaled my ankle on my bike sprocket. One of the teeth when down I'd say 1/4 inch. I didn't do much to prevent infection. (The Germans gave me an immediate Tetanus shot though.)

Rinse it the wound with warm water to get any foreign particulate out of there, then cover it. If it seals on its own it will probably be ok. If the area around the wound gets red and inflamed, hot to the touch or starts leaking something, you'll probably want to see your doctor.

[ChairmanPoo]

I'd advise going anyway. It's a potentially infected wound, and the vacc record is sketchy.  And prevention is rather simple..

[martinuzz]

Yep. When you get wounded by metal, especially metal that comes from dirt or soil, go get a tetanus shot if you haven't had one recently

[Xvareon]

Everything's all good now. I went and got a tetanus shot, so that pretty much wraps up everything I can reasonably do. The wound didn't get infected overnight at all, either. Thanks for the support, guys! It was just a bit of a scary situation for me for a bit, there.

[ChairmanPoo]

Everything's all good now. I went and got a tetanus shot, so that pretty much wraps up everything I can reasonably do

You could always amputate

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