“Lao Jin, why are you limping? Did your leg hurt?”

“Hazard! No, Paronychia !”

Old Jin’s paronychia recurring every so often, every time When it recurred, the toe of the big toe was swollen and pus-filled, and there was an unpleasant odor when I took off my shoes. The severe pain in his toes made Lao Jin look like a “mermaid” with legs growing. Every step was like a knife cut. I believe that friends who have suffered from paronychia should have experienced this “sour and refreshing” taste.

The last time it relapsed, Lao Jin heard that he just had to pull off his nails and let it grow back. So Lao Jin was ruthless and went to the hospital to have his toenails pulled out. Unexpectedly, after the new toenails grew out, they embedded in the flesh again, causing this episode of paronychia.

Why does paronychia recur after Lao Jin pulls out his nails? Today we are going to talk about this small but extremely harmful disease.

What you need to know about paronychia

First Know, what is paronychia. Paronychia is a acute or chronic purulent inflammatory reaction caused by the abnormal growth of the nail, which is formed by the skin around the nail. In layman’s terms, the meat next to the nails has a bacterial infection, which eventually leads to suppuration and infection around the nails.

Paronychia doesn’t just happen to the toes, it can happen to the fingers as well. It’s just that compared to bare hands, feet are often wrapped in socks and shoes, and the long-term stuffy and wet environment is more likely to lead to the growth and infection of bacteria. For this reason, toenail paronychia is more common than finger paronychia.

Paronychia is divided into Ingrown, sunken and flat types, of which ingrown is the most common in daily life, which is the nail Having grown into the flesh, this article mainly focuses on the ingrown armour type.

The occurrence of paronychia generally has three stages. The first stage is the inflammatory stage, and the patient will have obvious redness and pain around the nail. strong>, can affect daily walking when it occurs on toenails. As the inflammation develops, abscesses will gradually appear and the pain will increase, this is the second stage. The subsequent repeated infection and recovery will lead to the formation of granulomas, this is the third stage, also known as the granulomatous stage.

And who is more likely to suffer from paronychia? Let’s take a look.

Wearing shoes that are too small can cause paronychia. In pursuit of fashion, many women often wear shoes with narrow toe caps, which will cause the toes to be squeezed by the toe caps for a long time, and the toenails will gradually grow and incarcerate into the surrounding soft tissues, causing paronychia and pain. Especially high-heeled shoes, women’s toes bear most of the pressure of the body when wearing high-heeled shoes, which aggravates the extrusion and deformation of the toenails, and is more likely to cause damage to the nail grooves.

For developmental children and teens, the body is constantly growing and the feet are getting bigger. Choosing the right shoes according to the size of the child’s feet will cause the child’s feet to be squeezed by the shoes during the growth process, resulting in paronychia.

Frequent manicures are prone to paronychia. Nail art for today’s womenIt is said that it is a very daily decoration, but under the premise of pursuing exquisiteness, do not ignore the damage caused by nail art. When doing manicures, the dead skin around the nails will be violently removed. Some manicurists do not “pass the test”, which may cause damage to the nail grooves when exfoliating or trimming the nails, increasing the risk of bacterial infection.

A penchant for biting your nails can also cause paronychia. Many people have the habit of biting their nails, especially when thinking about problems or when they are stressed. Frequent nail biting can affect the normal development of the nails, causing the nails to grow to the sides, causing paronychia.

Nail trimming too short can also cause paronychia. Many people are used to cutting their nails “bald”, which will make the nail grooves on both sides of the nails not covered by the nails, and then the long nails will grow into the nail grooves, thereby causing paronychia .

Trauma can induce paronychia. Some people will not feel special even if a small part of their nails grow into the flesh. If they are suddenly impacted by external forces (such as kicking a football, kicking a toe on a stool, etc.), it may cause the nail groove to suffer. damage, causing paronychia.

Also, some diabetic and immunocompromised people are more likely to develop paronychia than others because they are susceptible to bacterial and viral infections. Usually tall.

Paronychia generally does not go away on its own without treatment, and can get worse over time. Paronychia can seriously affect a person’s normal life, resulting in the inability to wear shoes and walk. It may also cause the nails to fall off and loosen, destroying the nail bed and preventing new nails from growing.

Therefore, in the early stage of paronychia, after the symptoms of redness, swelling and pain appear, it is necessary to seek medical treatment in time, otherwise the nails will be seriously deformed, and even the nails will not grow.

What are the treatments for paronychia?

For acute stage paronychia, effective treatment measures should be taken as soon as possible to prevent nail bed damage. When the infection is relatively limited, incision and drainage can be performed at the purulent site, and then combined with broad-spectrum antibiotics for treatment.

For patients with early paronychia, if there is only local redness and pain without suppuration, iodine can be applied to the affected area, or 75 % concentration of alcohol for soaking to reduce swelling and sterilize. If the inflammation cannot be eliminated, topical antibiotics (such as mupirocin ointment, gentamicin ointment, etc.) can be applied under the guidance of a doctor. In addition, in daily life to ensure the dryness of the affected area, so as not to affect the treatment effect.

For mild ingrown nail paronychia, nail removal treatment has a good effect, but in fact, mild ingrown nails are not suitable for nail removal surgery. For severe ingrown nails, nail removal is not only painful, but also prone to recurrence.

With the advancement of medical technology, nail removal surgery has also improved in recent years. For patients with severe paronychia, only a small part of the nail can be removed. Nails and their corresponding methyl and nail roots, prevent the edge of the nail from growing again. This surgical method is less invasive and quicker to recover, and will not affect the patient’s normal walking.

How to treat paronychia at home

Teach you a little method, you can treat paronychia at home, but it should be noted that this method is only suitable for patients with mild paronychia and no serious purulent infection. (Method source: Happy Seniors Thursday, June 24, 2021)

First, clean your feet or hands, prepare a medical cotton swab and A toothpick.

Then tear off the cotton at the tip of the cotton swab, take out a thin layer and roll it into thin strips.

Next, put the cotton sliver under the nail in the nail groove. Gradually thicken the sliver as the number of times increases.

Use a cotton swab to press the remaining cotton sliver into the nail groove, and then gradually put the cotton sliver in the nail groove under the nail tip. to flatten the nails.

Change the sliver every morning and evening, pay attention For foot or hand cleaning, Wait until the nail tip fully grows out of the nail groove. As long as you pay attention to the way you usually trim your nails, paronychia will basically never recur.

Note: Don’t be too hasty or violent when tamping the sliver. It needs to be gradual and slow to avoid aggravating pain and causing other damage.

The pain caused by paronychia is unbearable for ordinary people. Appear.

How to prevent paronychia

correct Nail trimming is important for both the prevention and treatment of paronychia. Nails that are too long are easy to be injured in sports or labor, and nails that are too short are easy to cause paronychia or damage to the nail bed. The correct way to trim your nails is to square and smooth the edges so that the edges of the nails just go over the flesh next to them so the tips don’t get stuck in. Opportunity in Jiagou.

In addition, usually try to avoid wearing shoes that are too small or too narrow, and avoid repeatedly squeezing the toes, which can lead to paronychia. Wear more light and comfortable flat shoes or sneakers, allow time for your toes when shopping for shoes, and wash your feet to keep your feet clean. If it is found that the nail groove is red, swollen and painful, it should be disinfected in time, and the shoes should be replaced with breathable and comfortable shoes. Slippers are the best.

If you have barbs on your hands or feet, don’t pull them with your bare hands, you can trim them with scissors. Usually pay attention to the care of hands and feet, and pay attention to apply hand cream in the dry season of autumn and winter to prevent the appearance of barbs.

Develop good living habits, get rid of bad habits such as biting your nails and sucking your fingers, you can take a deep breath to divert your attention and relieve tension and anxiety. mood.

Moderate manicures, frequent manicures are not only easy to cause paronychia, but dismantling the manicures will also damage the nails and reduce the protective effect of the nails. Irregular manicure institutions may not be strict enough in the sterilization of nail equipment, which may easily lead to cross-infection among customers. It is recommended to control the frequency of manicures and try to go to regular beauty institutions for manicures.

Doctors recommend

Paronychia is a relatively common Although the disease is not a big problem, it can cause severe pain and seriously affect life. If you have paronychia, don’t go to a pedicure shop for a pedicure, because the pedicure shop’s master can only help you trim the nails embedded in the flesh, and cannot solve the problem fundamentally. If the pedicure tool is not in place, it may also aggravateInfect. Don’t pull out the nails easily, go to the hospital in time, follow the doctor’s advice to choose the appropriate treatment plan.