My fiancé was shot in the leg 14 years ago and the doctor at the time decided to leave the bullet in. Now years later he has been having problems with it. Now it is open there is a hole about 3mm it is getting bigger. I have been cleaning it out with H2O2 and I have put the H2O2 inside the open wound, it is getting worse. When it happened the Dr. said that it was lodged into the bone but now it seems that it has dislodged itself from the bone and switches position. I can see the bullet and when I feel it it seems that is has moved closer to the top layer of the skin. Today he says that it hurts so bad that he cant walk and his leg is becoming swollen. He can not go to the Dr. because he switched jobs and insurance is not offered until April. What can we do? We have not soaked it but plan to this evening when he gets home. Will the soaking help. Will the soaking help to have the bullet remove itself naturally. Please help us I am not sure what else to do. Thank you for you time I know I wrote probably to much.

Dr. Joshua’s Answer:

Sounds like it needs to be removed surgically, otherwise the problem won’t go away and there is a risk of serious infection. It should be a simple procedure, under local anesthesia. In any case, it would need to be evaluated by a doctor. If there was no pain and swelling, no fever (symptoms of infection), I guess if you absolutely couldn’t afford to go to the doctor, you could wait until April, but it sounds to me now you don’t have that option.

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