Treating an Infected Nail

Video Transcript

"You've got a sore finger. It's probably sore right around the nail bed. The fancy name for that is a paronychia. My name is Beverly Bitterman, ARNP, and I'm here to give you a couple of strategies for how to deal with that. Sometimes you get them because you might have a hang nail and maybe you've pulled the hang nail out and then you developed an infection, and sometimes who knows why you get them. But, you've got a soreness, either on the side or on the base of your nail. The good thing about this, is they're pretty easy to treat. And, what you want to do is apply moist heat, and because it's on a finger, it's really easy to do that. All you have to do is get some hot water, run some hot water into a cup, and then let's pretend it's my index finger that's the one that's hurting, and I'm going to just stick it into the hot water. And, I can even just kind of carry that around with me, I can talk on the phone, I can watch T.V, I can do a variety of things, while my finger is being healed by the hot water in the cup. I suspect that the, keeping it in water frequently also helps clean it, etc. But, generally, you'll find that if you'll do that for two or three days, you can get rid of your infected finger or your paronychia. You can also see your physician and you can get an antibiotic, however, it will still take a little while for that to clear. And, I recommend that you give the hot water a chance to work, and see if that won't help you. If you have any fever, or any other symptoms beyond nail redness, of course, you'll also want to see your physician. My name My name is Beverly Bitterman, ARNP, and I hope that your finger feels great soon."