Have I got a whitlow?

[spamel]

I keep getting very hard skin under my thimb nail, it's sort of halfway between skin and nail in hardness. For some reason, it is incredibly painful until I cut the offending skin/nail off with a razor sharp knife, of which I have a few. Is this a whitlow? If so, I believe Sandsnakes' cure was to press the thumb straight into a lemon. I don't have a lemon!

 

[joejoe]

yes afraid so very annoying

 

[spamel]

What causes it? I've not damaged my thumb in anyway (ie. with a hammer!) and I haven't been playing the guitar much lately. It is very annoying!

 

[firecrest]

whats a whitlow?

 

[Toddy]

I 'thought' it was a recurring hack that never quite healed.

Spam, try putting some teatree oil on a cotton wool ball and elastoplasting it over the nail when you go to bed. That cures most nail infections or problems.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[ScarletPimpernel]

A whitlow is an infection in the pulpy flesh near the fingernail.

Get some magnesium sulphate paste from a pharmacy - it's cheap and you won't need much - and apply to the affected area. Cover with a plaster and leave it overnight. Mag sulph is very effective at drawing the pus to the surface and draining it painlessly.

If it's persistent, see your GP, who may either treat you with antibiotics or drain it surgically under local anaesthetic.

 

[shep]

I've always called these 'hang-nails'. Does anyone else?

Whitlow is, as above, an infection of the nailfold. When it gets big and boggy it needs someone to pop a knife in it or lift the nail. Antibugs might sort it if it's only a bit red.

 

[gilly0802]

i used to have something like this, but it got diagnosed as a wart right on the joining between skin and nail...

got treated with liquid nitrogen along with a couple of others, but obviously administered by a professional

 

[spiritofold]

My grandad always said to use magnesium sulphate...... He always went on about how brilliant it was, used it loads in the jungle during ww2.

 

[Toddy]

Mag Sulph paste draws out gunk, the teatree kills infection at source and it will go through the nail to do it without having to lance things.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[woodstock]

My wife said cut off the offending digit...No what she said is it is bacterial infection if you find you are getting it in the same place you may find you have splinter or something else in there sterilize a needle in a flame pierce and release the pus

 

[spamel]

No pus, I've carved the hard skin off before it's got too bad. It still hurts a bit though.

 

[British Red]

If you need some teatree spam let me know - I buy it buy the litre

Red

 

[spamel]

What on earth do you do with a litre of tea tree oil?

 

[woodstock]

Could you explain a bit better as to the position of it, is it near the top of the nail at the finger tip or down the side/at the base of the nail. If it is red in colour it is most probably paronychia, still bacterial in origin, if there is a foreign body in it as soon as you get this out it should clear up. if it doesn't see Gp as you may need antibiotics( they will also pierce it with a lance)

 

[woodstock]

now I've read all the posts . It sounds like a hang nail very common on dry dehydrated hands/fingers, it would keep coming back as you haven't tackled the cause. try using a hand cream ( atrixo is very good) daily and it should improve, carry on using hand cream and it shouldn't return.
Mrs Woodstock

 

[British Red]

What on earth do you do with a litre of tea tree oil?

Make soap mate - esp "the bushcrafters body bar"

 

[spamel]

now I've read all the posts . It sounds like a hang nail very common on dry dehydrated hands/fingers, it would keep coming back as you haven't tackled the cause. try using a hand cream ( atrixo is very good) daily and it should improve, carry on using hand cream and it shouldn't return.
Mrs Woodstock

Wassa hang nail? I clip my nails you see, and this is in the centre of my thumb nail, below the cuticle towards the tip of my thumb. It feels like the skin is too small for my thumb, if that makes any sense! It was like this before I clipped them, which I did so that I could get in with a rusty pen knife and dig the hard skin out!

(Only joking, I used a clean stainless steel penknife which I had just stropped up to beyond razor sharp.)

 

[woodstock]

it sounds like this, click on the link for a picture

www.hooked-on-nails.com/naildisorders.html


Pterygium is the inward advance of skin over the nail plate, usually the result of trauma to the matrix due to a surgical procedure or by a deep cut to the nail plate. Pterygium results in the loss of the nail plate due to the development of scar tissue. Never attempt to remove pterygium -instead, consult a physician for advice and treatment.

NOTE: The 'true cuticle' is often referred to as Pterygium. If you have pterygium, it can only be treated by a physician and should never be removed by a nail technician.

 

[spamel]

it sounds like this, click on the link for a picture

www.hooked-on-nails.com/naildisorders.html


Pterygium is the inward advance of skin over the nail plate, usually the result of trauma to the matrix due to a surgical procedure or by a deep cut to the nail plate. Pterygium results in the loss of the nail plate due to the development of scar tissue. Never attempt to remove pterygium -instead, consult a physician for advice and treatment.

NOTE: The 'true cuticle' is often referred to as Pterygium. If you have pterygium, it can only be treated by a physician and should never be removed by a nail technician.

Yeah, now I'm having nightmares! I strongly advise people not to hit that link if they've just had their tea. If you've just eaten a manky kebab, click away!