So, I stepped on a rusty nail... think I should get a tetanus shot?

randomevent

randomevent

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I was trying to fix my mother's sprinklers today, and I stepped on a rusty nail. Stupidly enough, I wasn't wearing my shoes (my wife just said that word for word). So it broke through the skin by about 4 or 5 mm. It couldn't have been more than an inch. Honestly, it was barely in my foot. But it did puncture me and I started bleeding.

In any event, I went to the bathtub, ran hot water over it, doused it in peroxide, then put a band-aid and ointment on it (by this time it stopped bleeding). It feels a little bruised when I walk on it, but I feel fine.

I tried to search about this, but I'm not going to listen to yahoo answers or answers.com. Figured maybe someone here went through the same situation.

Do I go to Solantic (since I'm between doctors, I don't have a primary right now) or another urgent care clinic to get a tetanus shot? Or do I just forget about it?
 
Cut off the foot, just to be safe.

Couldn't you just get a shot at a med-express type place? I wouldn't think you'd need to see a real doctor.
 
[quote name='RedRingOfDeath']Nah, just pee on it and your all good! :p[/QUOTE]

Foot in the toilet works, too.

(Definitely get a shot!)
 
The shot will leave your arm sore for a bit, but I'd definitely get it. I had a similar experience a few years back while fixing a broken fence. I was wearing shoes, but had a nail go clean through the sole of the shoe into my foot. I didn't even think twice about getting a tetanus shot!
 
[quote name='VipFREAK']lol, URGENT care IN THE MORNING. That's funny.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I don't get why the call them that. It can't be that urgent if you aren't open 24/7.
 
If you want the real medical answer, its you go to get the booster if you suffer a deep puncture wound and its been more than 5 years since your last booster. In the 5-10 year range since your last booster you are probably, but not definitely covered. More than 10 years, probably not. Full blown tetanus isn't something to play around with.
Source - this just came up on a question on my medical board exam prep.
 
If this were me, I'd probably have been at the ER soon after the injury, but that's just cuz I'm a broke ass mf'er, have no insurance and the 'urgent care' places round here sock ya $75 just for the visit if ya don't have insurance.

I used to love our old(and senile at the end) family doctor. He took NO insurance plans, it was $40 a visit cash money and the cost of any meds/shots.

Nowadays the first words outta the mouth of the receptionist at the ER is 'have insurance' not 'what hurts'.:roll:
 
Ya, you gotta be really careful with this type of thing. I don't think you show symptoms until a few days later, so a person can think they are in the clear and then end up dying. The minor inconvenience of the shot is worth it's life saving potential.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']If this were me, I'd probably have been at the ER soon after the injury, but that's just cuz I'm a broke ass mf'er, have no insurance and the 'urgent care' places round here sock ya $75 just for the visit if ya don't have insurance.

I used to love our old(and senile at the end) family doctor. He took NO insurance plans, it was $40 a visit cash money and the cost of any meds/shots.

Nowadays the first words outta the mouth of the receptionist at the ER is 'have insurance' not 'what hurts'.:roll:[/QUOTE]

Yeah, took my wife to the ER a couple days ago and we spent more time with the receptionist making sure they go paid than we did with the doctor.:lol:
 
In a work related accident I got my left hand crushed in a staging device (fucking intern dropped it) it happened in such a way that the muscles underneath the nails of my pinky and ring finger shot out from in between the nail and the finger itself.

I went to the hospital and they simply cut off the muscle that was hanging out as there was no saving it. No pain killers for any of it. Through all of that...the damn tetanus (HA! Tet-anus) was the most painful.
 
I stepped on a rusty nail when I was a kid. The fucking thing pierced into my foot badly. Luckily for me I had all my shots due to school regulations; you can't just go to school without being immunized for lots of stuff. All I did was painstakingly remove the nail and use alcohol on the puncture. Walking was a bitch for a little while, but it was fine soon enough.
 
[quote name='VANDALHEART']I stepped on a rusty nail when I was a kid. The fucking thing pierced into my foot badly. Luckily for me I had all my shots due to school regulations; you can't just go to school without being immunized for lots of stuff. All I did was painstakingly remove the nail and use alcohol on the puncture. Walking was a bitch for a little while, but it was fine soon enough.[/QUOTE]
what does immunization have to do with stepping on a rusty nail? they dont give you a tetanus shot
 
I think you definitely want to go in within 24 hours and... quit being a little bitch, it doesn't even hurt that much. :D
 
How embarrassed would you be to get freaking lockjaw? I'm pretty sure that in the realm of diseases for which we have commonly available cures and/or vaccinations, contracting tetanus would make me feel the most idiotic. Get the damned shot.
 
[quote name='shosh']what does immunization have to do with stepping on a rusty nail? they dont give you a tetanus shot[/QUOTE]
What do you think a tetanus shot is? It's an immunization against tetanus. I had to get a tetanus shot when I was a kid for school too. I think I needed a booster when I was 10 too.
 
[quote name='zionoverfire']Yeah, took my wife to the ER a couple days ago and we spent more time with the receptionist making sure they go paid than we did with the doctor.:lol:[/QUOTE]
What amuses me more though is that even if you go at like 2am you'll still be there for a minimum of at least SIX hours give or take. Even if there is NO ONE ELSE in the frickin' ER and no car crashes/chicks giving birth/other emergency cases come in, you will be there until they say you're able to go home.

Funnier still is a couple of times by the time one of my parents was seen by the admissions people their ailment had cleared itself up and they didn't feel they even needed to be seen at that point.

Yeah. It was THAT long of a wait, even with no one else in the fuckin' ER AT ALL.:roll:
 
I got the shot. The part I was worried about was having to wait forever for the shot. Since I have very little time off of work, I really enjoy my weekends, so I didn't want to spend my Sunday waiting 4 hours for a tetanus shot.

Total time there was about 8 minutes. It was awesome.
 
That's good.

@ hospital worried more about $$ than health - Yeah, it's pathetically funny

I remember stepping on a nail in middle school. I survived. I had my shots for school and I think it included a tetnus shot.
 
[quote name='shosh']what does immunization have to do with stepping on a rusty nail? they dont give you a tetanus shot[/QUOTE]

What kind of state doesn't require a tetanus shot along with all that other preventative shots?
 
[quote name='VANDALHEART']I stepped on a rusty nail when I was a kid.[/QUOTE]

well
this reminds me

When i was a kid, i was wearing sandals and i was on a simple quest to go to my Aunt's house.
It was quite dark outside so i could not really see my path.
Suddenly, i felt something odd around my toes.
I payed no attention and continue onward my journey to Aunty's place.

A few more blocks and my toes were brushing not against each other but against something made out of steel.
When i checked, i saw this 2.5-3 inch nail pierced through my sandal in between my big toe and index toe.

I :hot:'d hard because of how shaq-fu lucky I was that this nail did not pierced one of my toes.

Glad my situation was not like yours
 
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