“When the warm weather comes out, kids often start running around without their shoes on, they run around barefoot; which is what kids should do. But sometimes when you run around with your shoes off you end up getting something stuck in your foot.”

– Dr. David Goo, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta

For many kids, spring and summer means more time outside – running around the backyard, the playground or the street and sometimes in their bare feet. And for thousands of kids every year, bare feet mean bumps, bruises and the occasional splinter.

Eleanora’s mom didn’t notice the infection on the bottom of her daughter’s foot — until the three-year old started walking around on tiptoe.

“Eleanora was a victim of warm weather,” says Dr. David Goo, with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. “When the warm weather comes out, kids often start running around without their shoes on, they run around barefoot; which is what kids should do. But sometimes when you run around with your shoes off you end up getting something stuck in your foot, which happened to Eleanora.”

Her mother also noticed red streaks on Eleanora’s foot – a sign of infection.

Untreated, such infections can lead to septicemia – a life-threatening invasion of germs in the blood stream.

“The concern is that she has a foreign body or something inside her foot,” Dr. Goo tells Eleanora’s mom. “We’re going to get an x-ray. If it’s metal or certain types of glass we can see it on x-ray.”

Whatever it is, or was, it’s too small to be seen on an x-ray – and shows up just as a bump.

The doctor drains the wound and applies an antibiotic. “If the redness [from the infection] here gets higher, or if she gets a fever, you’ll need to bring her back for IV antibiotics,” he tells Eleanora’s mom.

One concern for wounds like Eleanora’s is the threat of tetanus – a germ that lives in dirt, enters the bloodstream through punctures and, if untreated, can be fatal.

“It was very important that Eleanora’s immunizations were up to date,” says Dr. Goo, “because you would worry about tetanus, and you worry about other types of infection if she didn’t have her shots up to date.”

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• Some seemingly minor puncture wounds may still need medical care. Call your doctor if the wound is causing your child severe pain, if it begins to look infected (with redness, pus, red streaks or tenderness), if your child is feverish – or if any dirt in the wound persists after 15 minutes of scrubbing. (Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford)




• A doctor should be contacted within 24 hours of the wound (during regular office hours) if the child has had fewer than three tetanus shots in their life or if the last tetanus booster was over five years ago; if the wound looks infected but there is no fever, or if you think your child needs to be seen. (Children’s Hospital, St. Louis)




• For minor puncture wounds that don’t require a doctor’s attention – wash the affected area with soap and water for 15 minutes, removing any dirt or debris in the wound. Using a fine scissors (cleaned with rubbing alcohol), trim off any flaps of skin around the wound that may interfere with drainage or removing debris. Apply an antibiotic ointment and bandage to reduce the risk of infection. Puncture wounds should seal over within two hours – and any pain from the wound should resolve itself within two days. (Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center – Seattle, Wash.)

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• University of Michigan Health System
• Public Health — Seattle & King Counties
• Virtual Hospital — University of Iowa

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