hard bit of food jammed into fingernail bed. finger swollen now. okay to wait a !

Question: Hard bit of food jammed into fingernail bed. finger swollen now. okay to wait a day or two before seeing Dr?

It's very painful. Started this morning when I was washing a bowl to make breakfast. There was something hard sticking to the bowl so I went to scrape it off with my nail, and I'm a nail biter, so my nails are very short. Needless to say, the hard bit of food from the bowl is now lodged into my nail bed. It hurts very badly (scale of 1-10), it's a 10 hands down. Tried to remove it, but it's very small and almost the same color as my skin, so hard to see too. Couldn't remove it. At work now and finger is swollen and more painful than earlier. Typing is hard to do b/c of it. Don't have sick time available at work right now, so can't leave. Even though finger's swollen, is it okay to ice it every hour or two to keep swelling down and wait it out a day or two to see if it gets better? Or since it's already getting worse, should I go to the Dr? I'm guessing they'll just give me an antibiotic for infection and send me on my way anyway. Any advice?

Answers:

i would think that with time it will fester and pop out, try soaking it in peroxide. you might have to bite the bullet and dig it out(gently) with a needle. but then again I dont go to the doc. unless im in bad bad shape

Sterilise a razor blade and remove the foreign body yourself. After removal wash thoroughly with warm water and soap. After that soak a piece of cotton wool with a strong antiseptic solution and secure it over the wound with surgical tape. Renew the dressing twice a day.

you could try to soak your hands in hot water and then using a nail file to remove the material.

If it continues to swell, your only option is to see a Doctor, if it gets infected you could be in serious trouble.

probably OK for a while. If the swelling/redness starts to spread to your hand and up your arm, you've got blood poisoning and go see someone.

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hard bit of food jammed into fingernail bed. finger swollen now. okay to wait a !

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