Removing Glass

[Barefoot Gentile]

So glass and my foot have a close relationship, yet again I had some glass in my foot. Not sure if it's from my run yesterday or awhile back. When I was squeezing I had some clear puss come out, so I am thinking it was from awhile ago.

This was a tough one to get out because it was close to my outer left foot, and I am not that flexable. My foot is killing me know because of the digging and prying from last night. I was squeezing so hard to make it rise that i think I bruised my own foot? I think there might be more in there, but I will wait for a few days to see if anything rises again.

I live in a very urban area and the roads are not the cleanest. I am not purposely running over glass, but you can't see the tiny shards with the naked eye.



Any other techniques out there to remove glass? I do the old pin under hot water and dig at it, then try to tweeze it out, leaves my foot a bit butchered at times depending how deep it is.

 

[BFWendyBird]

I wouldn't recomment

I wouldn't recomment squeezing to get glass out, it will just dig in and cause it to cut the tissue around it. Squeezing will also cause swelling which will make it harder to get out. Clear stuff isn't puss, it is normal tissue fluids that will continue to come out whether there is something there or not.

I had problems with this when I first started (and for the first time in about 8 months, this past week.) If you can't get ahold of the glass to pull it out, or get the needle under it to push it up, trim away the skin so there is something like a cone down to it so it can work its way out instead of being pushed deeper in. (I learned this from KenBob.)

If you are having a lot of problems with glass in your feet, you might want to take a closer look at your form. If you are putting your foot down gently, you shouldn't be hitting the ground hard enough to pop glass through the skin. Once I got my form down, I stopped getting glass. Last week I was pushing to go fast and not running with an even gait because my knee is bothering me so I know I was heel striking and hitting too hard, thus the glass in my heel.

 

[Barefoot Gentile]

Definitely not my form, 

Definitely not my form, after 9 months of doing this I got that down pat and run very light. It's called running in neighborhoods of crime, lots of cars get broken into that park on the street, dodging windshield glass is the worse, it's well camouflaged with the road until the last minute. And tons of beer bottles thrown out the window. I hope to someday move to the Carolina's and get more country.



The cone is an awesome idea and completely makes sense. Thanks Wendy!

 

[nature runner]

adam james wrote:  I hope to

I hope to someday move to the Carolina's and get more country.

Western N.C. is beautiful. Very much out in the country. I live not far from N.C. border, Tn isn't bad either, in upper East Tn plenty of country too. You would love it!

 

[Barefoot Gentile]

  Sounds great!   The wife

Sounds great! The wife and I have a long term plan to hopefully move to North Carolina some day.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

I was fetching a microscopic

I was fetching a microscopic sliver myself last night, Adam. I too had difficulty and created a cone, and it still would not come out no matter how much I squeezed, so I waited until this morning, then I squeezed one time, and it popped right out.

I think you can pick up glass even with good form. I think it's a matter of conditioning/thickening of the skin that will help to lessen the amount we pick up and the type of glass we pick up. BKB and Rick don't pick up glass much anymore if at all because they have extremely thick soles. I've seen both of them up close too. You could actually run a needle through some parts of their plantar skin, and they won't feel a thing. Anyone want to try next time you see them? ;-)

 

[BFwillie_g]

in some cases duct tape might

in some cases duct tape might work, you need the real thing, the 100mph tape that sticks forever to everything - I know this from dealing with splinters, but I think it might help with glass, too.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Thanks you, Willie.  It may

Thanks you, Willie. It may just help with glass as well. I came back to this thread when I realized I left off a very interesting detail; coincidentally, you brought this up...great minds...

This morning BEFORE I popped out the glass, I stuck a piece of duct tape over the area, and wore it for about a couple of hours. Occasionally, I lifted it and stuck it back into place. This may have helped to dislodge the sliver as well when I did squeeze it out. I mean it came out really easily.

 

[tutaepaki]

Old wives tale...but it has

Old wives tale...but it has worked for me several times....

Put a bit of soap and suger on a sticking plaster, and put the plaster over it for a few hours. (over night is good) and when you take the plaster off, if the glass is not already at the surface, a gentle squeeze will pop it out.

It's what my wife's grand mother used to do for all the neighbourhood kids, and we've used it on our kids and their friends for many years...it rarely fails to extract any foreign object which has got itself lodged under the skin.



Marc

 

[BFWendyBird]

Hmmm, both soap and sugar

Hmmm, both soap and sugar will inhibit bacteria that causes infection, and will draw moisture/fluids to the area. Maybe that is what draws the object out. I'll have to give it a try next time!

 

[Barefoot Gentile]

TJ:   I am sure they have

TJ: I am sure they have feet like leather, but smooth.



BFWillie: Brilliant idea with the duct tape!



tutaepaki: soap and water, sounds great. You really can beat those old school ways, that is something my grandmother would of done as well, she had all these crazy things, but they worked.



This is another great aspect of barefoot running, coming up with remedies to take care of the feet.

 

[Barefoot Larry]

I don't have any glass

I don't have any glass contributions, but I do about North Carolina. I moved here 5 years ago from New Jersey (Exit 10 Turnpike) I live on the Crystal Coast area of NC on the beach and it is awesome, plus no glass!!!!

 

[Neil_D]

Good to see a thread dealing

Good to see a thread dealing with one of the issues that are always brought up as a reason why shoes are necessary.

I've picked up something in my heel, not visible to the eye but I can see the area and as soon as I put any weight on the heel I get a nerve irritation from whatever I've picked up.

I have found the visible glass fairly easy to avoid, it is more the very small sharp fragments from a fresh glass smash rather than glass that has been around a while and had time to weather smooth.

One thing I know it always gets worse in the summer months as that tends to bring more morons out to the beach and pathways where I like to run.

I liked the idea about soap, sugar and a plaster I may have to give that a try.

Any other suggestions welcome.

Neil

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Man, this thread is like half

Man, this thread is like half a year old. Cool.

 

[dunetraveller]

Quote: "It's called running

"It's called running in neighborhoods of crime, lots of cars get broken into that park on the street, dodging windshield glass is the worse, it's well camouflaged with the road until the last minute. And tons of beer bottles thrown out the window."

Don't I know it. Just walking down my neighborhood streets (not crime ridden at this point), you can look at the asphalt and see shimmery sparkles from the tiny pieces of glass ground fine embedded in the spaces between. Not just here and there... EVERYWHERE! I don't even want to know how that much glass came to be in my streets, but it gives me pause. I run strictly on the sidewalks except when I have to cross side streets (I cross my fingers at that point). There's glass on those sidewalks too, but I have a better chance at spotting it... well, as long as the sun hits it right, or it's tinted.

 

[DNEchris]

They have been known to use

They have been known to use shattered glass whilst paving the streets of NYC. I was introducing a bunch of interested beginners to BFR last summer and a couple of them spotted reflections off the road surface and refused to run anywhere until they had checked out the cause - they had no problems once they did run barefoot.

From my experience I would say that glass that is embedded in the surface is unlikely to do any harm.