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Scraped Foot,puncture Wound,peroxide.Tetanus Shot?

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Posted on Sat, 29 Sep 2012
Question: Today in the yard I scraped the inside (in the arch area) of my left foot on a rusty nail. It looks like a small puncture wound and a small scrape. It doesn't look bad to me. I cleaned it out with water first then peroxide. I do not remember when I got my last tetanus shot. Should I go ahead and go in and get one or can I just keep it clean and keep an eye on ?

I am a 43 yr old female with MS. I am in generally good health. I am 5' 7" and 109 lbs.

Thank you,
XXXXXXX
doctor
Answered by Dr. Robert Galamaga (14 minutes later)
Hello and thanks for the query,

Gone through your pictures.

You are correct - the cut looks very superficial, not XXXXXXX appears clean as well. Unfortunately, I have to recommend that you go for the tetanus booster if you cannot recall when you had the last one. The risk of not doing so far outweighs the inconvenience and expense as we are talking about your health here.

More than likely you are safe but we have to be extremely cautious and conservative in approaching this type of trauma to the skin. There was bleeding associated with this trauma and it only takes a small exposure of the Clostridium bacteria to a naked blood vessel for a potential big problem to occur.

To reiterate: I recommend you go for a tetanus booster as soon as possible. You could call the local ER and ask them the best way to go about this on a weekend to help streamline the process since you likely will not need much of an intervention by a physician - one may legally have to peek at your foot before ok'ing the booster.

Again I thank you for your query. I hope you found this answer to be both helpful and informative. Should you have any additional concerns I would be happy to address them.

Sincerely,

Dr. Galamaga
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
doctor
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Follow up: Dr. Robert Galamaga (18 minutes later)
Thank you very much for getting back to me. I will call the Urgent Care here and see if they can take care of it maybe a little faster and easier, if not then I will head on over to the ER.

Thank you again!! :)

XXXXXXX
doctor
Answered by Dr. Robert Galamaga (1 minute later)
My pleasure.

Thanks for contacting XXXXXXX Have a great weekend.

Regards,

Dr. Galamaga
Note: For further follow up on related General & Family Physician Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
doctor
Answered by
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Dr. Robert Galamaga

Oncologist

Practicing since :2002

Answered : 2635 Questions

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Scraped Foot,puncture Wound,peroxide.Tetanus Shot?

Hello and thanks for the query,

Gone through your pictures.

You are correct - the cut looks very superficial, not XXXXXXX appears clean as well. Unfortunately, I have to recommend that you go for the tetanus booster if you cannot recall when you had the last one. The risk of not doing so far outweighs the inconvenience and expense as we are talking about your health here.

More than likely you are safe but we have to be extremely cautious and conservative in approaching this type of trauma to the skin. There was bleeding associated with this trauma and it only takes a small exposure of the Clostridium bacteria to a naked blood vessel for a potential big problem to occur.

To reiterate: I recommend you go for a tetanus booster as soon as possible. You could call the local ER and ask them the best way to go about this on a weekend to help streamline the process since you likely will not need much of an intervention by a physician - one may legally have to peek at your foot before ok'ing the booster.

Again I thank you for your query. I hope you found this answer to be both helpful and informative. Should you have any additional concerns I would be happy to address them.

Sincerely,

Dr. Galamaga