Ingrown nail?!?

Question

Hi, All! My left index finger has gone goofy on me over the past several days. It's along one side of the tip of the finger and behind the nail. I have a good bit of redness and swelling and it's REALLY sore. I haven't injured it or anything...

Is this an ingrown nail? Regardless of WHAT it is, anyone have a remedy? I play bass guitar and have HOURS of practice ahead of me for an upcoming show!!!

Help MUCH appreciated! THANKS!

Answer 1

Doesn't really sound like ingrown. An ingrown nail is usually on the feet and it is where the nail actually grows into the skin. You might have got a cut and now it's infected. Or it could be some fungus. Go see you Dr. They can drain the infection and give you meds.
Good luck on your show!

Answer 2

Those are the worst! I've received many tips throughout the years. You've got to be careful, because if you've got infection in there, it could get serious. If the skin bordering your nail gets red and is very painful to the touch, go see your doctor. I've had two very bad ingrown toenails, both of them on the big toe on either feet. Very painful! An ingrown toenail occurs when the nail starts growing inside of the skin bordering your toe, where the name comes from. What you need to do is start cutting your nails square - don't round down the edges of the nail. Clean the edges of your nails regularly, all kinds of poop gets stuck in there - sock lint, dirt, whatever. Every day, take a cuticle remover (a small tool you can get at a pharmacy, looks like a sewing tool used to remove stitches), and gently move out the gunk found between your nail and the skin surrounding it. It's important to push it from the beginning of your toenail to the end of your toenail - if you go from end to beginning, you could push something inside and create an infection. Clean your cuticle remover tool with alcohol after every use - use TP or a cotton ball, put some rubbing alcohol on that, and rub the tool a few times. Sometimes you'll feel some calloused skin between your nail and the skin surrounding your nail. Usually this hard skin needs to be removed, because it kind of grabs onto your nail, and you need to let your nail grow out without getting snagged. If the nail gets snagged, it'll turn inwards, and grow inwards, exacerbating your problem. I hope this helps - keep doing this until your nail grows out and you can see the edges of each side of your nail. If it gets worse, go see your doctor!

Answer 3

If it is puffy,red and very tender it could be an ingrown nail getting infected, the best way to treat it is not to cut the nail down to bare skin, which will defiantly cause an infection, cut the nail back a little and cut a slit in the very middle of the nail, the nail will then begin to grow differently, it will start growing toward each other towards the split than normal and grow into the skin, if it gets much worse you must go see a specialist.

Answer 4

Nothing will work that quick, but you could try and ask your pharmacist for a drawing sauve like Iccthymmol oint or Epsol oint.Both are over the counter. Not sure if they still make or not, ask pharmacist. Then put it on with a bandaid over it and your finger will kind of shrivel up like when you have it in dishwater too long. The drawing sauve draws out the infection. See a doctor if it is really bad.

Answer 5

soak it in some epsom salts

Answer 6

you have picked up some kind of disease and even worst you are playing the guitar which irritates it even more. seek medical help fast!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *********************

Answer 7

put a bandaid over it and go to the doctor duh