A tetanus shot might hurt, but I'm guessing lockjaw would be worse.

September 7, 2007 8:31 PM

Do I need to get a tetanus shot?

A few hours ago, I banged my shin while getting on a bus. The cut look pretty deep and is still bleeding. I cleaned as best I could (I wasn't anywhere near home) with an alcohol swab and put a band-aid on, and it is still bleeding. I did get a cut on a dirty surface. It doesn't hurt or anything, though.

I am thinking I should get a tetanus shot to be on the safe side but I am worried about 1) sitting in a hospital for hours (note: I am in a university town on the first Friday night back in the school year) and I am already exhausted from not getting much sleep last night and 2) I am supposed to run a half marathon on Sunday morning.

I honestly couldn't tell you when the last time I got a booster for my immunization was. Oh, and in case it matters, I am in Ontario, Canada.

Is there any way to tell if I should, in fact, get a tetanus shot right away?

posted by synecdoche to health & fitness (18 comments total)

Re: the marathon. I don't do any real hard activity like that, but I had a tetanus booster recently and it was mildly sore for a day or so, but nothing more. It might have affected my stamina, but I sure didn't notice.

As for if you should get one, perhaps. Here in the US, it's a common thing to have, and you should get the booster for it about once every ten years, if you haven't had a booster in a while, now would be a good time to get one.
posted by cschneid at 8:40 PM on September 7, 2007

I you haven't had one within the last 10 years, you should probably get one, Wikipedia. Can you find an urgent care facility that's open 24 hours? That's usually much quicker than an ER.
posted by la petite marie at 8:42 PM on September 7, 2007

Definitely better to be safe than sorry.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 8:45 PM on September 7, 2007

When you get the booster shot (assuming you're going to heed the advice here!) make sure to move/massage the muscle you get stuck in frequently to avoid soreness.
posted by Burhanistan at 9:16 PM on September 7, 2007

Immunize.org has addressed Friday night injuries on their website, actually.

If a person gets a puncture wound or laceration on Friday night, does the person need to receive tetanus wound management that night or can it wait until Monday?

ACIP has not addressed this issue specifically. Puncture wounds, however, should be attended to as soon as possible. The decision to delay a booster dose of tetanus toxoid-containing vaccine following an injury should be based on the nature of the injury and likelihood that the injured person is susceptible to tetanus. The more likely the person is to be susceptible, the more quickly that tetanus prophylaxis should be administered. A person with a tetanus-prone wound (e.g., punctures, wounds contaminated with soil or fecal material) and who has no history of tetanus immunization must be vaccinated (and given tetanus immune globulin or TIG) as soon as possible. A person with a documented series of at least three tetanus toxoid-containing products, with a booster dose within the previous 10 years ago is less likely to be susceptible to tetanus, and the need for a booster dose is not as urgent, particularly if the wound can be thoroughly cleaned. The more likely a person is to be completely susceptible to tetanus (i.e., unvaccinated or incompletely vaccinated), the sooner that TIG (and Td/Tdap) should be administered, even if it means a trip to the emergency department.

So, it's your call. They think it's a good idea and you'd hate to be the dork who got tetanus because you were sleepy. I'd try to make a phone call to get a medical professional's opinion, obviously, and maybe see if you could make some sort of appointment for tomorrow.
posted by jessamyn at 9:24 PM on September 7, 2007 [1 favorite]

A bus step is a pretty nasty location. Everything every passenger stepped in/on that day is on that step.

Oh and a tetanus booster can be administered by a RN, at least in BC/AB. So your wait in the emergency room might not be that long as long as you don't need stitches; which you might, it should have stopped bleeding by now.
posted by Mitheral at 9:34 PM on September 7, 2007

cschneid writes "Re: the marathon. I don't do any real hard activity like that, but I had a tetanus booster recently and it was mildly sore for a day or so, but nothing more."

The pain from a tetanus shot can vary considerably from person to person. It can be a mild soreness for a day or two, or a seriously distracting pain for the next three or four days. It'll be localized to the site of injection, but there's a good chance you'll be feeling it on Sunday.
posted by mr_roboto at 9:53 PM on September 7, 2007

Just as important as getting a tetanus shot to reduce your chances of contracting tetanus: getting a tetanus shot to reduce your chances of getting whooping cough. The tetanus booster also works as a booster for the whooping cough vaccine. There has been a recent spike in cases of whooping cough because of a decrease in "herd immunity". The tetanus/whooping cough vaccine has been updated recently to increase immunity. So yeah, whooping cough won't kill you, but you'll sound like a damn bird for a couple of weeks. So get a shot soon, if not tomorrow.
posted by nursegracer at 10:25 PM on September 7, 2007

I'd get the tetnus shot. It's a pretty nominal hassle for what it's worth, and since a RN can do it you probably won't be waiting for too long. It'll hurt, but even if it's on the worse side it shouldn't stop you from running your half marathon.

Also: It sounds like it's probably too late for them to stitch up your cut. A few months ago I cut my finger pretty deep and didn't go to the hospital until after I'd passed the cutoff for stitches. It had a lot of trouble healing by itself, but as soon as I started using superglue on it it closed right up. You might have similar problems, especially if it's gaping.
posted by lilac girl at 10:35 PM on September 7, 2007

I recently had to get a tetanus shot, and I can tell you, it's not as bad as you think. After you get the shot, start massaging the arm as often as you remember; something about stimulating the muscles in that area "breaks up" the contents of the shot. I read this online and began immediately, and for a couple of days, rubbing and massaging the arm in which I was injected, and had minimal pain. So suck it up and get the shot, and keep rubbing that arm. As has been said, better safe than sorry.
posted by TochterAusElysium at 10:59 PM on September 7, 2007

I have VERY VERY bad reactions to tetanus shots. But that's rare. If you don't recall having a bad reaction before, you'll probably be fine if you get one. It's not the kind of bad experience that you'd forget, trust me on that.
posted by miss lynnster at 11:46 PM on September 7, 2007

As advice, I'd always tell someone else that it was better to be safe than sorry and get the shot.

If it were me, though, I probably wouldn't bother. I think most people are too 'germophobic'.
posted by chrisamiller at 1:14 AM on September 8, 2007

Is there any sort of medical advice line you can call to speak to a nurse? Most US insurance companies have them, and the UK NHS has one, so I'd think the Canadian system would have one too.
posted by happyturtle at 1:33 AM on September 8, 2007

thanks for all the tips. I ended up going to Emergency, and the triage nurse looked at it and advised I do get a tetanus shot, but she said it could wait until Monday.
posted by synecdoche at 6:45 AM on September 8, 2007

Is there any sort of medical advice line you can call to speak to a nurse?

For future reference: Telehealth Ontario
Free Access to a Registered Nurse — 24 Hours a day, 7 days a Week.
posted by kmennie at 9:15 AM on September 8, 2007

You should always keep up your tetanus shot, because all it takes is a small wound pulling weeds or something.
Tetanus is still out there, and it is so bad you do not want to survive it.
The vaccine also will take care of diptheria, but it is worth knowing that a lot of adults are allergic to whooping cough vaccine, (pertussis, which is the P in DPT.) If you are one of them, you can get the vaccine without the whooping cough part. (I get mine unleaded, after an ugly incident years ago.)
posted by unrepentanthippie at 6:47 AM on September 9, 2007

I thought the DPT vaccine was specifically intended for little kids, and a tetanus booster shot for adults was just tetanus vaccine.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 12:30 AM on September 10, 2007

In our area, the ERs tend to stock the DPT version, because they do a landoffice business in little kids, and they just shoot the adults out of the same bottle. Unless you know you're allergic to pertussis vaccine, in which case they go in the back and forage up some DT. That's what the ER nurse told me when I asked. As far as I know, they don't seem to have problems with the diptheria part, although I have no idea if it really is necessary as an adult. Maybe they think they don't want an unvaccinated pool to develop, just in case?

It's probably a regional thing, but I don't know. Whooping cough has been running rampant the last few years, so it's a good idea.
posted by unrepentanthippie at 5:03 AM on September 10, 2007