How Long After Stepping On A Nail Will Symptoms Show

Another review of EliteCare got u.s.a. thinking virtually tetanus and the childhood alert, "If you step on a nail you'll go lockjaw!"

After I cutting my arm on a rusty boom, I walked into the emergency rather stressed. The admissions person, nursing staff, and doctor all did an excellent job in calming me down and were professional when obtaining background data, getting vitals, and inspecting the wound to determine what course of activity to have. I would go back there in a heartbeat should whatsoever emergency arise with me or any loved one.

Mary T

6/23/thirteen

Tetanus is likewise known as lockjaw due to, well, your jaw getting locked in place. Some of the first symptoms of tetanus include muscle contractions in the area around the rima oris, which tin get out the jaw rigidly frozen. It's a scary thought that just gets worse when you detect that sometimes those contractions can spread to the residue of the torso, resulting in spasms so intense they have been known to cause bone fractures. These tearing, seizure-like spasms also make it difficult to breathe and consume. Some of the other telltale signs of tetanus are fever, drooling, excessive sweating, uncontrollable urination or defecation and irritability (when we read this nosotros laughed—lamentable, but if your jaw was locked and you were uncontrollable drooling, sweating, and urinating—wouldn't you be just a fiddling crabby?). The symptoms usually appear one week after infection but may be noticeable within a few days.

Tetanus is no joke

All wisecracking aside—left untreated, i/iv people dice from tetanus. However, with proper handling, less than 10% of infected patients die. Wounds causing infection occurring on the head or face seem to be more than dangerous than those on other parts of the body.

The Dreaded Vaccine

A tetanus vaccine is role of a standard vaccination regime for infants, however the effects fade over time. Adults are urged to update their (painful) vaccine every ten years –nosotros've all had them. Human, they're not pleasant. But the adjacent time y'all're gritting your teeth during the shot think of drooling out of 1 side of your cemented jaw, while you sweat profusely and curse at your friend who'due south collection y'all to the emergency clinic.

Tackling the Old Wives' Tale

Ok, so the legend is true—stepping on a rusty nail DOES have the potential to cause tetanus. Practise you know what else tin can cause tetanus? A perfectly sterilized nail, a sewing needle, or even a scratch from your cat.

Allow us to explain.

Tetanus is caused by leaner called Clostridium tetani, which is unremarkably found in soil, dust, and animal feces. The bacterium isn't unsafe in the soil or manure because it can only reproduce in an oxygen-deprived setting. Here'south where the nail can come into play—seeing that a puncture wound, such as one that could occur from stepping on a rusty nail, can provide a rich convenance ground for the Clostridium tetani bacteria. The rust is not the carrier of the bacteria, rather merely an assumed culprit since the nail has been outside long enough to become rusty, and therefor it probably has been exposed to soils containing the bacteria. While a rusty boom puncture tin produce a breeding ground for the bacteria, then tin a stab wound from a pocketknife, a tattoo from an amateur, or even a gunshot wound.

What to practise if you stride on a rusty boom – or feel a similar injury

Clostridium tetani doesn't care virtually antiseptics. Cleaning a wound will non flush out the bacteria and you need to head to an emergency clinic for an antitoxin known as tetanus immune globulin. The antitoxin should be administered as shortly later on the injury every bit possible. Those that wait risk their entire body freezing upwards, starting with the mouth, and volition have to endure a handling regimen that can include sedatives, muscle relaxers, multiple days of rest without stimulation and possibly even surgery.