So scared I may have tetanus; what are the chances?

[HeyHey]

Okay so on Monday I self harmed (won't be doing it again, trust me) with a pair of hairdressing scissors I had at home. I've only ever self harmed a couple of times before and they were just light scratches on the surface of my arm, but this time I accidentally cut quite deep i.e. I reached the surface of the white fatty/tissue layer beneath my skin. It bled for about half an hour and I cleaned it with cold water then TCP then applied Germoline and a plaster. It seems to be healing well as the blood has clot and I can see bits of a scab forming on the edges. It's not painful and I'm seeing a doctor tomorow. However, I'm so, so scared that I could have tetanus! I'm up to date with my shots (last one was in 2013) but I'm still freaking out. I've been getting tense thigh muscles but that might just be my anxiety, as I get that a lot, but my hands feel shakier and my eye has been twitching a little. What do you think my chances of having tetanus are?:(

[JMA]

You will be fine.

I was bitten by a dog while out running last year, bloody terrier was hanging off my kneecap, and being a bit concerned I popped down to A&E. Reason being, it was out of surgery hours, and it was quite a mess. Long and short of it, is the Army nurse told me that the thinking is now that one tetanus shot sorts you for life. My last one had been nearly 10 years ago, and she saw no need to give me another.

[Light_Bringer777]

Your shots being up to date makes your actual chances really low to begin with, but tetanus like any other infection gives signs and they're pretty easy to spot anyway (had an injury last fall with my last shot being 10+ years ago! The doc explained these few things to me).

Is the wound swollen? Is the skin red and painful around it? If so, monitor it for 2-3 days. If the red area is growing, you see pus, the wound is getting more painful or if there is a red line drawing from the injury then it should be checked by a doctor or a nurse, but even then that doesn't mean it's from tetanus. Since you're seeing someone tomorrow I wouldn't worry about it. IIRC almost everyone who has complications from a tetanus infection both didn't have their shots done AND waited too long before acting.

Also, for what it's worth I've learned to not give too much credit to symptoms that are subjective coming from myself. For example "I think my muscles feel tight" really doesn't mean much coming from me, while "I literally cannot open my jaw" would be a real warning sign.

In short, if I were you I wouldn't worry about it. Your shots are done and you're seeing a doctor very soon, so it's basically impossible for something bad to happen ;)

[HeyHey]

You've calmed me down a lot, thank you:)