Thanks for writing to Doctorspring.com

I understand your concern.

Tetanus caused by Clostridium Tetani, is most commonly spread via injury caused by rusty sharp metallic objects, but it can be caused also through minor wounds caused by unclean objects. You got an wound last wednesday. So its been 6 days. Tetanus normally takes around 7-8 days to manifest, only in young children the incubation period is smaller. Most commonly it starts with jaw stiffness, slowly progressing to " Trismus " or " Lock-jaw " , finally leading to prolonged contraction of skeletal muscle fibres causing all the disease manifestations.

Indeed you have a risk of already being infected with tetanus. So its better to immediately get yourself examined by a GP, so that he can do some physical tests and check for Trismus. You only have had spasms in the jaw, but patients with tetanus will start developing spasms in the chest, neck, back muscles too. Since its not there, you should not be overtly worried. However its better to go to the doctor ASAP, and if on examining you, he feels it points more towards tetanus, he can start appropriate treatment for you. Normally mild cases are treated with tetanus immunoglobulin, and iv metronidazole, and Diazepam in severe spasmic cases. So its better to get yourself examined physically.

Please do get back to us with additional queries,

Regards