As a kid, I remember the fear of stepping on a rusty nail. I had heard the morbid tales of the dreaded “lockjaw.”  I imagined my jaws locking together forever, and it sounded horrible. I was afraid that I might get tetanus — “lockjaw.”   I envisioned all kinds of horrible scenarios — like the one in the photo by 1809 Dutch painter, Charles Bell — showing opisthotonos in a patient suffering from tetanus.

One Spring vacation, my college-aged sons were visiting their cousins, having an Easter egg hunt in the back yard orchard. My eldest son found more than a candy filled plastic egg — he found an old dart in the hollow of an apple tree and being quite mischievous, threw it at the rear end of his younger brother. And it stuck in there — in his buttocks — he had to pull it. When they told me about it,  I asked — “Was it rusty?”

“Oh, yea, it was rusty,” they confirmed.

I consulted the Internet and read up on how much time you have to get immunized before tetanus sets in — 3 days. Fears of lockjaw loomed in my mind. I called my son and told him, “You have to get a tetanus shot.” Of course, he thought I was being the over-protective mom.

But “no,” I say, “it’s been almost 10 years since your last one.”

He waited — I had to call up the older brother and mildly threaten him, “Hey this is your fault, you’re the older brother, take him to the county health department and get him his shot.”

About a week later my son confessed that his leg had been feeling painful and stiff — and he was glad I’d convinced him to get the tetanus shot.

There’s good reason to have a fear of lockjaw — the tetanus toxin is out there, and we don’t have a natural immunity to it. Tetanus is caused by bacteria called Clostridium tetani.

“Tetanus is an acute and often fatal disease caused by an extremely potent neurotoxin produced by C tetani. The toxin causes neuromuscular dysfunction, with rigidity and spasms of skeletal muscles. The muscle spasms usually involve the jaw (lockjaw) and neck and then become generalized.” (FDA)

Tetanus got the nickname “lockjaw” because the muscle spasms usually begin in a descending pattern — from the jaw muscles on down to the rest of the body. Until your back goes and you look like that guy in the photo.  Prolonged muscle spasms are called “tetany” and they can be so bad as to fracture bones and tear muscles.

Clostridium tetani are bacteria that live in soil and manure. Tetanus infections most commonly happen when you suffer a wound that gives the bacteria a chance to enter your body. For example, stepping on a nail is a common cause of tetanus infections. Once inside your body, the bacteria release a toxin that causes your muscles to tighten. This can cause your mouth to “lock” shut and make it hard to swallow. If not treated promptly, the muscle stiffness spreads and, in some cases, can cause death. (ref)

I try to keep my immunizations up to date. Ever since I read “The Doomsday Book”, I prefer to be prepared. No sense waiting until disaster and then trying to find the vaccination. You know, earthquakes, floods, and that sort of thing can put you in contact with those rusty nails. Or just some freak chance you step on one. When you get tetanus vaccines, your body makes antibodies, special proteins that will help your immune system fight the toxin produced by the bacteria. The antibodies are supposed to last for ten years.

fear of lockjaw

Tetanus Vaccines:

  • TD vaccine which protects against diptheria and tetanus (no pertussis.)
  • Td vaccine which protects against Tetanus and a lower dose of diptheria — for those who already had the larger “D” diptheria dose.
  • DTaP is a combo vaccine used to provide immunity against Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Pertussis (whooping cough)
  • Tdap contains a lower dose of vaccine than DTaP — it’s used to boost immunity.
I got a Tetanus booster,  called  Tdap. This is the tetanus booster if you haven’t been boosted for Pertussis (whooping cough) and which is now required by law in California for kids going to school. Recent outbreaks of Pertussis have increased the danger to newborn babes (they can die.) The T is for tetanus, the d for diphtheria, and ap for acellular pertussis (which replaces the old DPT immunization that had more side effects.)
If you don’t believe in immunizations, or out of medical necessity you can’t have one, you can write a letter to the school and get a waiver — you don’t have to get the Tdap shot, but they may not tell you that at the schools. They have to accept it, so don’t feel pressured into getting the Pertussis shot, just because the state government passed this law. You can write a letter to the school and say out of personal belief…

But for me, I got immunized for tetanus. I’m a firm believer in taking precautions, but there are vaccines that I’ve avoided. (Gardasil, a vaccine against the HPV — I didn’t get that for my daughter after reading about possible side effects.  And I had her wait on the Hep B for her newborn, no need to get all the shots at once, and that one can wait.

Also, some kids and adults should not get certain immunizations. So do your homework first.
Originally posted July 2013, updated May 2023