If you suspect that you might be at risk to tetanus you should seek medical help immediately. The wound should be washed clean to remove any dirt and foreign particles from the wound. If it is a particularly dirty or severe wound then dead and infected tissue may be removed by surgery debridement (this involves cutting away the dead tissue).
In mild cases:
Antibiotics such as metronidazole can be prescribed to fight the anaerobic bacteria. It reduces the number of bacteria present but it has no effect on the toxin that the bacteria produce. If metronidazole isn’t available penicillin may be prescribed but it is not as effective. If you aren’t sure when you had your last tetanus vaccine or have not had a complete course of immunisation then you may be given a booster shot, however this will not prevent potentially fatal cases of tetanus as it takes up to 2 weeks to develop tetanus antibodies to fight the bacteria. Diazepam, also known as valium, can be given as a muscle relaxant.
