Infected Finger (by sarah)
My Manky finger 🙁
About three weeks ago my nervous habit of worrying the skin around my nails resulted in the area around the cuticul of my fourth finger (the one next to the little one) on my right hand, becoming red and sore - I stopped picking it but it then started to feel really saw and ooze greeny/yellowy/baige stuff. I cleaned it with TCP and washed it alot but a crusty layer appeared around the base of the nail and this would break each time it was prodded and more pussy stuff would come out.
I cleaned it with detol and Al germolined it to high heaven and plastered it as I needed to do gardening and washing up and deal with potty training and the like. I was letting it air over night and it appeared to be getting better - not being so painfull and swollen as a raised lump just under the nail had appeared but this now just looked a bit like a burned area.
Then I was due to go to London for four days and Al dressed the area as the skin had 'pulled' away from the bottom of the nail but it looked like it was getting better. On the way back from London the dressing came off and lo! An apporximatly 2 mm thick line had appeared at the base of the nail - the finger had also started to hurt again the day before but now it felt like I had caught my nail with a hammer at the same time as having a huge splinter in there!
Anyway so today I get to see the dr having phoned up Monday - the Dr was erm thats a nasty infection you need antibiotics - then she asked how long it had been infected over all and I said three weeks - she winced :/
Its most definatly an antibiotics case and I left it far to long to go the drs with it and I am probably going to lose the nail - a new one should grow back and if it becomes too flappy or loose then I might have to go and see the nurses and have them help the situation along.
So I am now on antibiotics which i have to take four times a day :/ It needs to show a stark improvement within the week or I have to go back again. When I went to the drs today there was a red aura around the white - and there appears to be a gap at the bottom of the nail where there is no nail - I don't know how clear that is on the photo!
Wed 23rd Jul 2008 11:40 pm 
Subscribe
By Alex B, Thu 21st Aug 2008 @ 1:52 am
Ouch. I had the same thing on my toe a few years ago after bashing it.
*** WARNING, NOT FOR THE SQEAMISH ***
The nail actually gradually came loose and came off. A new one grew back over several months and now all is fine.