toothpick in foot

[yk10]

My son has a piece of toothpick stuck in bottom of his foot.  doctor wants to wait for it to come to the surface or gets infected.   he said it could be months before it comes out.   is this crazy?  Can't a doctor just send me somewhere to have the toothpick removed?  it is swollen, very painful and he has to use crunches and his class rooms are on the 3rd floor!!!

[yk10]

Well in about  24 hours the foot started swelling and turning pink,  so I went straight to the doctor and asked to be sent to a foot doctor,  they opened and drained a large abscess,  no toothpick pieces found but that is definitely difficult,  cultured the wound and put him on antibiotics,  also pain killers, he has had xrays - toothpicks don't show up but they did it just in case they could pick up a shadow.   the MRI was done and the results should come back TODAY!!!. The toothpick entered the bottom of the foot but the abscess and pain is on the top,  as the puncture wound was that deep.   I can hardly wait for the MRI results,  and the poor guy is missing basketball on account of all of this.

[MPRA27]

Hi
I have similar problem, toothpick entered my right foot toe, ortho surgeon performed surgery but couldnt find toothpick piece .
My toe is still swollen and in pain even after 45 days.
Need advice on this.
How did they remove toothpick piece from your son's toe?
How did he recover? How long it took?
What was treatment done?
Please advice.
Thanks

[Carer88]

Try magplasta

[sunnyy2810]

i suggest you take your son to A and E. they could remove the toothpick by surgery. put his foot in a bowl of ice and cold water. people say that it could help reduce the swelling. for the pain give your son some painkillers such as paracetomol and codine(over the counter). if he is over sixteen then give him some anadin(also over the counter). you could try going to your local nhs and asking them for help or advice. ring up your doctors surgery and ask them if it would be possible to see another doctor in your doctors surgery and get advise from them. one doctor could say one thing and anothe could say another thing. it is always good to get a second opinion. i have tried this before and so have others. i find that it works for me. i hope you and your son do to. i wish you both the best and i hope i have helped in some way. i hope your son feels better soon and good luck,

[mstanfordrn42]

OK, I would get a second opinion on this one.  Why wait until its infected when he can't walk on it?  Go to a surgeon.  They love to cut!!!

[caregiver222]

The probable  problem is the toothpick is not radio-opaque and will not show up on an x-ray, and he is reluctant to slash-and-look.

The exact location can be identified with an MRI, but lines that will register on the machine have to be painted on the bottom of the foot that will register in order to provide location information.

You could try another physician, and he might be willing to make an exploratory cut, but because there may (and I emphasize may) be many cuts he may want the procedure to be performed in a hospital.

A friend had a piece of glass embedded and it took thirty-eight years for it to come out "on it's own".

[Carer88]

I literally just had a toothpick snap off in my foot 4 days of pain and dr visits as it was too inflamed to touch, anyway I put some drawing ointment on it and when changing my bandages I noticed a white tip poking through the cut the drs had made, I gently touched it to see if it was wood or pus it was hard so I gently pushed up under the opening and it slid right out