That tetanus shot of mine - pass it on!

**Captain Pre-Capsize** · 01-25-2011, 05:07 PM

I cut myself pretty bad a few weeks ago (reflexively grabbing a falling razor head WITH blade as it fell to the sink) and my ER visit included a tetanus shot.

Might be good for all of us, as we handle, clean, etc these very sharp blades to keep in mind a tetanus shot if nicked to any extent. At the least, know when your last one was. Current recommendations are every eight years UNLESS it is a deep cut (like mine) and then every five years.

**Dustinl** · 01-25-2011, 05:14 PM

Originally Posted by Captain Pre-Capsize

I cut myself pretty bad a few weeks ago (reflexively grabbing a falling razor head WITH blade as it fell to the sink) and my ER visit included a tetanus shot.

Might be good for all of us, as we handle, clean, etc these very sharp blades to keep in mind a tetanus shot if nicked to any extent. At the least, know when your last one was. Current recommendations are every eight years UNLESS it is a deep cut (like mine) and then every five years.

Ouch! I haven't had one in about a dozen or more years.

DL

**GaryM** · 01-25-2011, 05:25 PM

Dip-Tet is brutal. How's your deltoid feel?

**theagent** · 01-25-2011, 05:29 PM

I don't think I've ever had one, and don't intend to! I avoid needles whenever possible.

**njpaddy** · 01-25-2011, 05:37 PM

At my job they gave us a tetanus shot every 10 years. Got one just before I retired last year so I'm good for awhile. The tetanus shot isn't bad, but I didn't like the hepatitis one and opted out of the second & third of that series.

**rtt** · 01-25-2011, 05:54 PM

I didn't think one could get tetanus from a cut from a razor blade. Maybe one that's been rusting out in a field, but not a new one or one just used for shaving.. or is my thinking flawed?

**Hawkeyeted** · 01-25-2011, 06:03 PM

Being in the military (and as any Vet can attest) we get a LOAD of inoculations. By far the most painful is the Hep A/B and all it's boosters (second is Yellowfever or Anthrax).

The Hep shot is usually applied to the tricep, and man it seems to stick around for days.

**ShavinBacon** · 01-25-2011, 06:05 PM

Originally Posted by Hawkeyeted

Being in the military (and as any Vet can attest) we get a LOAD of inoculations. By far the most painful is the Hep A/B and all it's boosters (second is Yellowfever or Anthrax).

The Hep shot is usually applied to the tricep, and man it seems to stick around for days.

I didn't like my first Gammaglobulin shot. They have to keep it chilled and it felt like a golf ball when they finally injected into my buttock (said in my nest Forrest Gump voice). Subsequent ones weren't so bad but I still remember that first one.

**randolphcarter** · 01-25-2011, 07:41 PM

I got my last one a little over five-years ago along with the Hepatitis Typa A and B series when I deployed to Texas with the Red Cross after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

**SilverKarn** · 01-25-2011, 08:04 PM

I got my last tetanus shot when i stepped on a rusty nail a few years ago.

However, growing up my dad liked to build miniature furniture and models, so there were ALWAYS sharp blades around, i learned quickly that when a sharp blade is dropped to move out of the way.

I HAVE dropped my razor before, and my first instinct is to raise my arms like a cop told me to "freeze" and step back so it doesn't land in my foot.

PS. Yes, i have had a hobby knife fall point first into my foot, why do you ask?

**instpasr** · 01-25-2011, 09:08 PM

Anthrax never really bothered me neither did tetanus but once a had a radioactive tracer dye injected and it was a killer for some reason.

**Mycon** · 01-25-2011, 09:25 PM

My last Tetanus shot was in 2006 after I wiped out on my bike on the famous Moab Slickrock Trail. I wound up leaving a silver dollar-sized chunk of knee skin on the rock wall.

Quite honestly, it was the easiest shot I have ever had. I hate needles with a passion, but I didn't even feel this one. My tricep was a tad sore for 2 days, but I've felt much more pain from a hard workout at the gym.
My last MMR on the other hand, sent me to an ER....

**instpasr** · 01-25-2011, 09:29 PM

All you guys talkin about shots and sore arms I have to get some shots next Friday, I think there all going in the glute.

hopefully it's a pretty nurse.

**bvance554** · 01-25-2011, 09:55 PM

I don't recall Hep bothering me at all. But the soreness a day or two after a tetanus shot surpasses the pain of what ever injury caused me to get it in the first place.

**canoesota** · 01-26-2011, 12:12 AM

I just got one last week, my doctor said I was due. Did not hurt at all.

**media** · 01-26-2011, 05:33 AM

Originally Posted by instpasr

Anthrax never really bothered me neither did tetanus but once a had a radioactive tracer dye injected and it was a killer for some reason.

That stuff can damage your kidneys. watch out.

My dad is now needing a transplant due to the damage it caused.

**bulldognation** · 01-26-2011, 06:13 AM

I remember my last tetanus shot. Bout eight years back when I was still in college, working a part time job at the vet school cleaning up dog kennels in one of the research labs. Nasty, but suprisingly a job I quite enjoyed. I got bit on the hand by a dog that didn't want to leave her cage. Fair amount of blood. The shot was not bad at all. But I guess I got used to shots giving myself an allergy shot in the arm once a week.

**Pkrankow** · 01-26-2011, 06:46 AM

Tetanus is like playing punch-buggy when there is a VW restoration drive-in going on at worst. I remember my hep series, the first was nothing, the second wore me out, the third I slept for most of two days.

Phil

**Barber-Eile** · 01-26-2011, 06:49 AM

Wierd. I've never heard of anyone ever getting one ever unless they get a deep cut of something dirty or rusty.

**kingfisher** · 01-26-2011, 07:15 AM

If you go in for a tetanus shot these days, they will give you what's called a dTap rather than the old dT booster. The dTap includes a booster for pertussis. Pretty good idea to get this, as pertussis is rampant these days (immunity to pertussis wanes over time, so the shots you got when you were a kid will not protect you). Pertussis can make you sick with a cough that just won't go away; sometimes lasts up to 3 months or even longer.

So, if you haven't had a tetanus shot in the last 10 years, you should go get the dTap. This is especially important if you are going to be around any babies (they're the ones who get really sick and can die from pertussis).