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My thumb

It is swollen and painful, and hot to the touch. It started out as a small "bump" on or around Friday, right where my nail ends and my thumb begins. There is no laceration which might have become infected; the skin is intact (although swollen in the affected area). The swelling and painfulness have spread to pretty much the entire area past the knuckle.

I have no medical insurance, and no money. Anyone have any cheap home remedies they can recommend? I'm thinking I may go get some epsom salts in the morning, but am open to other suggestions.

[ 17 responses ] < Pestilence > < link >

[ posted by ed at 04/02/2008 02:37:04 AM ]
[ trackback ]

Threaded Responses [ bottom ]

craig [email] said at 2:57 AM 04-02-2008:
Sounds like an infected hangnail. Do you bite your nails? Bacteria can get in that way. Also if you work around food a lot. I would stab the infected area and squeeze out all of the gross shit and then soak that shit in hot salty water. When you are done clean it out with alcohol or hydrogen peroxide and maybe finish it off with neosporin. If conditions get worse, or if you get nauseous or a fever, I would go to urgent care.

[Reply To this] [#260538]

ed [email] said at 2:13 PM 04-02-2008:
Nope, not a nail-biter. I have been wearing gloves at work for the past week or so, so maybe there's some bacterial goo going on inside there. I'll lay off the gloves for a while.

[Reply To this] [#260548]

milky [email] said at 8:23 PM 04-02-2008:
I think Craig's correct about the way to handle this. You have an infection to the knuckle...and you need to lance it and get antibotic stuff in there.

[Reply To this] [#260552]

craig [email] said at 2:58 AM 04-02-2008:
If you saw a doctor they would probably prescribe antibiotics.

This is my guess without actually seeing it.

[Reply To this] [#260539]

john [email] said at 10:06 AM 04-02-2008:
The Marines are looking for a few good men. They have good medical insurance.

[Reply To this] [#260540]

brandon [email] said at 10:48 AM 04-02-2008:
My guess is that it's a bott fly - or angina.

[Reply To this] [#260541]

josh [email] said at 11:56 AM 04-02-2008:
staph infection? go to a patient care place, there are many around that are cheaper than an ER

[Reply To this] [#260542]

anthony [email] said at 1:26 PM 04-02-2008:
Soak it in hot water with epsom salt. When I broke two fingers in high school and after they took the cast off, one finger stayed swollen for a while. The doctor told me it was normal and so I just dealt with it, but eventually I was pressing around on it and I unleashed a torrent of pus out of the cuticle of my ring finger. It was one of the more gratifying moments at that point in my life. A+ would do again.

[Reply To this] [#260544]

ed [email] said at 2:11 PM 04-02-2008:
Yeah, I think I'ma go this route for now. It's less painful today (but still swollen and red), so hopefully soaking it'll do the trick. And if I get a huge moneyshot of pus, even better!

[Reply To this] [#260547]

woody [email] said at 5:22 PM 04-02-2008:
There is a woman at work who got a fungal infection under her nail from being in Mexico. Don't know what would happen if that went untreated, but it was starting to swell a bit. She is taking OTC fungicide pills I think?

[Reply To this] [#260549]

anthony [email] said at 5:45 PM 04-02-2008:
Put some Tuff Actin' Tinactin in a gel cap and call me in the morning.

[Reply To this] [#260550]

myriam [email] said at 10:28 PM 04-02-2008:
yeah i was wondering about that... maybe a fungal infection? if so, try putting clotrimazole 1% cream on it (sold for about $9 or so over the counter). i'd keep an eye on the development and make sure it ain't a spider bite, too... otherwise i would agree with instructions above. good luck!!

[Reply To this] [#260554]

josh [email] said at 10:59 PM 04-02-2008:
use that medicine with the commercial where the fungus jumps out from under the nail

[Reply To this] [#260555]

myriam [email] said at 11:22 PM 04-02-2008:
that's lamisil... i wouldn't recommend it in this case

[Reply To this] [#260556]

anthony [email] said at 3:32 AM 04-03-2008:
If you do produce a ton of pus, try to save it and then go up to your lady and pretend you are having the most violent JO session of your life and then mash down on your thumb and howl in pain.

[Reply To this] [#260558]

ed [email] said at 10:05 AM 04-03-2008:
Update: I never did get around to soaking it yesterday, but I did first thing this morning. It hurt quite a bit, but after taking it out, I noticed a discoloration (yellowish) at the edge of my thumbnail. I gave the swollen area a squeeze, and was rewarded with a thick yellowish pus. I "milked it" (for lack of a better word) until the pus was gone and blood started coming out. The swelling is almost completely gone, although the area is still a bit tender to the touch. Looks like I may get to avoid a trip to the ER after all!

[Reply To this] [#260560]

anthony [email] said at 5:31 PM 04-04-2008:
You really did "milk it" if blood started coming out.

[Reply To this] [#260597]