Stepped on a nail--Please reassure me!

[ttcintexas]

It has been nine or ten years since I have had a Tetanus shot. In that time I have had kids and developed a non-vax stance. This is easy for me to hold on to until something like this. Now I need reassurance. Sorry so long...but I have allopathically minded people telling me it makes them nervous that I don't know if I'm up-to-date on Tetanus.

On Saturday afternoon I stepped on a dirty, rusty nail at our neighborhood park. I don't think it could have gone in too deep because I remember picking up my foot and looking down to see what I had stepped on (i.e. the nail wasn't still in my foot, but sticking straight up from a board on the ground. The wound bled and I went right home and washed it out with soap an water. There was a little dark spot to the side (like maybe the cut wasn't just a straight up and down). I cleaned some tweezers with alchohol and stuck it in near the dark spot (dirt?) and then didn't see it anymore. I poured some Hydrogen Preroxide on it (later found it to be past it's expiration date--poured some newer stuff on it later). I put some Bacitracin on it and covered it. Later I read more on what to do, and soaked it in salt water. I took one dose each of Ledum and Hypercium, as my homeopath had previously mentioned these in case of Tetanus worry (I have since read here that it may not have been the best use of homeopathics to take these "just in case," but I didn't think this warrented an emergency call to my homeopath on the weekend.). I have been putting some Calendula oinment on it and keeping covered. I have soaked it a few more times, and have been trying to keep the opening opened a bit, but I then put the oinment on and cover it. I have been taking sodium ascorbate, but this too is past it's Best Use By date--like by a year. I thought I was more worried about infection than Tetanus, but people asking me about my boosters keeps it nagging in my mind. Please reassure and let me know if I should be doing anything else or differently (like running out for some new sodium ascorbate?).

Thanks if you made it through this.

[WuWei]

Blood cleanses it. Dirty wounds are the issue. If it bleeds, it got oxygen. I wouldn't worry about it.


Pat

[WuWei]

Here are a few old threads to help:
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...s#post14767379
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...s#post14061179
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...us#post9795277
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...us#post5117270


Btw, the tetanus booster does nothing for a current exposure. So no need to do that.

Heat helps to kill tetanus spores. Maybe soak your foot in some really hot Epsom salts to help with wound healing.


Pat

[ttcintexas]

Thanks Pat. The links are helpful.

Did you mean to say "No" need to do the booster? You said "So need to do that." I was under the impression that if you had had previous Tetanus shots, that the boosters would help--I mean if I'm listening to the pro-vax info that I've been exposed to my whole life. And that TIG was for people who had an injury and had never been vaxed. I'm I confused?

Also, do you think soaking in hot Epsom Salt water would be helpful at this point--more than 48 hours later? This AM I could still get the opening to open a bit after getting it wet, but otherwise it's looking closed.

Thanks again for the links and reassurance.

[sbgrace]

I think they do immunoglobin or something like that for a current wound and that's not a vax. I would do it personally in your circumstance (and we don't vax).

[WuWei]

Sorry, I corrected that.

The Td doesn't help for current exposure. The immunoglobulin could help. Although it is a blood product. If you went to the ER, I'd bet $100 they would not consider the immunoglobulin for that injury, only for severe dirty wounds. They'd certainly push the Td booster and it theoretically helps for future exposures.

I would not do a booster, nor immunoglobulin for a nail puncture which bled well and which I cleaned well. You could ask on the Vaccine forum also.

I don't believe that the Epsom salts will hurt in any way, and could only help, imo.

Pat

[KimPM]

I did the same thing in Sept 09 (a few months ago)..stepped on a rusty nail that had been sitting in the dirt. I guess it doesn't get much more stereotypical for tetanus risk than that. I haven't had a tetanus shot in 14 years and like you, I have since changed my vaccination stance. As well, I have developed lots of sensitivites, so I thought it best to NOT get a tetanus booster. I briefly considered the TIG, but then decided not to after we cleaned the wound out and I had a good idea how deep it was and that it seemed we cleaned it thoroughly.

This is what I did. My wound bled a little. After I washed the wound area, my DH mechanically cleaned the wound out (he could see in there better than I could). Then I used peroxide. After that I used iodine (Betadine). I also did epsom salt soaks. For the next week or so, as it was trying to close over on the outside, I kept opening it and putting iodine in there (and also peroxide for the first 3-4 days). I did that until it seemed to be healing enough deeper down. Then I let it heal on the outside. It turned out fine for me without any tetanus boosters or tetanus immunoglobulin shot. If I recall correctly, the time to get tetanus from a wound can vary from a few hours up to 21 days. Tetanus does need an anaerobic environment to get activated, that's why I used the peroxide and didn't let the outside heal before the inside did. I also tried to air it out (no covering and keeping off my foot) for as much as possible...and definitely overnight. When I covered it I used a fabric type bandage and then covered with a cotton sock.

Just wanted to give you a positive story. But, consider all sides and do what is best for your own situation. *Do* look up all the signs of having tetanus, so you can seek emergency treatment (and TIG) if you notice any sign of it. You can get localized tetanus, so be aware of that and what the signs are, too.

ETA: Just reread your OP and I don't think I would use ointment and cover it. That would tend to increase the chance to create an anaerobic environment. Though if you do cover it, consider using a fabric-type bandage that can "breathe", not the plastic ones that don't let the air in.

Sodium ascorbate can help you fight off infection, but it probably won't do much if you have active tetanus. The toxins from tetanus are very strong (second only to botulism toxin). Prevention is extremely important here. You definitely want to keep any tetanus spores from becoming active tetanus bacteria.

[KimPM]

One more thing I thought of: make sure that another adult knows what happened, and can take you to the emergency room (and explain it to them) should the need arise. Also let that person know of your wishes regarding the tetanus vaccine, TIG, and any further treatment.