What is the term for inflammation of the soft tissue around a nail?

What is the term for inflammation of the soft tissue around a nail?

Paronychia is nail inflammation that may result from trauma, irritation or infection. It can affect fingernails or toenails. Paronychia can develop when bacteria enter broken skin near the cuticle and nail fold, causing an infection. The cuticle is the skin at the base of the nail.

What is inflammation of the skin around the nail?

Paronychia (pahr-uh-NIK-ee-uh) is an infection of the skin around a fingernail or toenail. The infected area can become swollen, red, and painful, and a pus-filled blister (abscess) may form. Most of the time, paronychia is not serious and can be treated at home.

What is paronychia?

Paronychia is a skin infection around the fingernails or toenails. It usually affects the skin at the base (cuticle) or up the sides of the nail.

What is a hangnail?

A hangnail is a piece of skin near the root of the nail that appears jagged and torn. Hangnails generally appear on the fingers and not on the toes, though it’s possible to have one around a toenail. A hangnail isn’t the same condition as an infected or ingrown nail.

Can Neosporin help paronychia?

The nail should look normal after three or four days. Dr. Daniel says he recommends Polysporin over Neosporin because the paronychia responds better to the combination of the two components in Polysporin rather than the triple antibiotics of Neosporin.

Does salt water help paronychia?

Minor paronychia, with redness, tenderness, and no fluctuant areas indicating abscess, can be treated with soaks. Epsom’s salts or Burrow’s solution soaks for approximately fifteen minutes three to four times a day may be all that is needed for the condition to heal.

What does a cuticle infection look like?

Infected cuticles redness of the skin around the nail. tenderness. pus-filled blisters. changes in nail shape, color, or texture.

Why is paronychia so painful?

Acute paronychia — This usually appears as a sudden, very painful area of swelling, warmth and redness around a fingernail or toenail, usually after an injury to the area. An acute paronychia typically is caused by an infection with bacteria that invade the skin where it was injured.

What is the fastest way to heal a hangnail?

Follow these steps for home treatment:

1. Soak the infected area in warm water once or twice a day for 20 minutes.
2. After your initial soak, cut the hangnail off.
3. Rub vitamin E oil or cream on the affected area to prevent another hangnail.
4. Use a topical antibiotic cream on the infected hangnail for a few days.

How do you tell if a hangnail is infected?

The following symptoms suggest a hangnail is infected:

1. redness.
2. swelling.
3. pain.
4. a warm feeling.
5. some bleeding.
6. a pus-filled abscess at the nail edge.

What is the fastest way to cure paronychia?

A person with mild, acute paronychia can try soaking the affected finger or toe in warm water three to four times a day. If symptoms do not improve, seek further treatment. When a bacterial infection causes acute paronychia, a doctor may recommend an antibiotic, such as dicloxacillin or clindamycin.

Should I put peroxide on a paronychia?

Wash the area with clean water 2 times a day. Don’t use hydrogen peroxide or alcohol, which can slow healing. You may cover the area with a thin layer of petroleum jelly, such as Vaseline, and a non-stick bandage. Apply more petroleum jelly and replace the bandage as needed.

What causes inflammation of the proximal nail fold?

Chronic paronychia. Commonly it becomes infected, especially with Candida albicans or pseudomonas. Eventually the nail fold retracts and becomes thickened and rounded. There are episodes of painful acute inflammation often due to infection between the proximal nail fold and nail plate from which pus may drain.

What does it mean when your nails are red and swollen?

Paronychia (also known as whitlow) describes localised inflammation of the tissue around a nail. There may be accumulation of pus between the skin and the nail matrix. The area may become swollen, red and tender. If it lasts longer than six weeks, it is termed chronic paronychia.

What is the medical term for nail pitting?

Nail pitting. Nail pitting is associated with alopecia areata as well as with psoriasis. It can sometimes be seen in nail bed ‘oil spot’, distal onycholysis, distal subungual hyperkeratosis, splinter haemorrhages and false nail following spontaneous separation of nail plate.

What is the medical term for pus under the skin?

Medically reviewed by Daniel Murrell, MD on July 9, 2018 — Written by Marjorie Hecht. Phlegmon is a medical term describing an inflammation of soft tissue that spreads under the skin or inside the body. It’s usually caused by an infection and produces pus.