How to relieve nail injury

Nail pinching often occurs in daily life, so it is necessary for people to understand the inspection and relief methods of this injury. The first thing to do is to apply a cold towel to the injured area, then bandage it, and then switch to a hot towel after 24 hours. In serious cases, you need to go to the hospital for disinfection and treatment in time.

1. Reasons

Fingers may be pinched by doors, iron gates, window frames, drawers or car doors.

2. Inspection

In mild cases, the injury may cause bleeding and swelling, while in severe cases, it may cause finger amputation, nail loss or joint bleeding.

3. Differential diagnosis

Deformation and softening of nails: This is the clinical manifestation of onychomycosis. Observing the nails, I found that they became soft and even deformed.

Spoon-shaped nail: The middle of the nail is sunken, and the entire nail becomes flat or spoon-shaped. This type of nails is related to iron deficiency anemia, syphilis, thyroid disorders, rheumatic fever, etc.

Nail bed cyanosis: Cyanosis refers to the diffuse bluish appearance of the skin and mucous membranes. It is generally most obvious in areas with thinner skin, less pigmentation and more blood, such as the nail beds, and also in areas of the lips, tongue, oral mucosa, nose tip, cheeks, earlobes, etc. High altitude heart disease may manifest as clubbing of fingers, cyanosis of lips and nail beds, and is mainly caused by impaired right heart function due to chronic hypoxia.

Nail frostbite: refers to the injury caused by the nails being damaged by freezing. Due to frostbite, the fingernails may shrink or fall off, and the fingernails may turn blue.

In mild cases, the injury may cause bleeding and swelling, while in severe cases, it may cause finger amputation, nail loss or joint bleeding.

4. Mitigation methods

The correct way to deal with a pinched finger is: if there is bloody swelling and pain in the finger, you should immediately apply a cold towel or cold water bag to the injured area to relieve pain and prevent the hematoma from increasing. If the hematoma becomes larger, you can use a bandage or cloth strip to apply slight pressure, but be careful not to bandage for more than 1 hour, and always pay attention to the color of the fingertips. If you notice that the fingertips turn purple and become cold, you should immediately loosen the bandage or cloth. After 24 hours of the injury, you can use a hot towel or hot water bottle for heat compress, but be careful not to burn your fingers. Apply it 2 to 3 times a day, each time for 15 to 20 minutes.

Finally, elevate the arm with gauze to reduce swelling and pain. For those with blood accumulation and obvious pain under the nails, you can use a burned pin to pierce several holes in the nail to allow the blood to flow out and relieve the pain. If there is a wound after the finger is pinched, the local area should be disinfected and bandaged. If your nail falls off or you suspect a phalanx fracture, you can go to the hospital for examination and treatment. Those with obvious pain can take painkillers orally, 3 times a day, 1 tablet each time. The elderly, children or the weak can take anti-inflammatory tablets to prevent infection.