Why is it that Doctors have to have fancy names for any medical condition? A Subungual Hematoma is a perfect example. The term means blood between your fingernail or toenail and the nail bed. Regardless of what you call it, \u2018Nail blood\u2019 at the least look ugly and at worst can be pretty painful. Many people ask ‘What happens if you don’t drain a subungual hematoma?’ They also wonder if there is a subungual hematoma home remedy. We will try to answer those questions in this article.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Although a Subungual Hematoma is much less serious than other conditions our senior communities experience, it\u2019s good to know what to do about them. Seniors can easily have an accident that injures their fingers or toes. Then the injury brings the blood.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Technically a subungual hematoma happens when something injures the blood vessels under the fingernail or toenail. I don\u2019t think though that you will be able to injure the blood vessel without injuring the finger or toe.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
When the blood vessels pop, the blood flows out and under the finger or toenail. That little space between the nail and nail bed can\u2019t fit a whole lot. The pressure builds from the blood pooling. That pressure may cause pain for anyone who experiences this condition.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Subungual Hematomas can result from a bunch of different accidents around the home:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
When one of these accidents occurs, obviously you will feel a large amount of pain. The first thing to do is to make sure your finger or toe is ok. Injuries that cause a subungual hematoma can also cause a fracture in one of your digits. If the pain is intense, it\u2019s worth having a Doctor check it out.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
They call the fracture of the bone at the end of your finger a distal phalanx fracture. I\u2019m not sure that helps you in any way. It\u2019s just to show you again how doctors come up with technical names for everything!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
For mild subungual hematoma pain, a good rule of thumb is to look at how much of your fingernail has blood under it. The blood could be red, maroon, or a bluish-black pigment. If the blood covers \u00bc or less of the nail bed, you can just apply a Subungual Hematoma home remedy. For nail beds that are over half-full of blood, you may want to seek medical attention regardless of the pain level.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Taking care of the problem at home boils mostly down to taking care of the pain. You probably won\u2019t be able to remove the blood at home until the fingernail grows out.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Maybe you already know about pain remedies. Most people have racked up a bunch of accidents by the time they become seniors. The same rules still apply:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Or any other pain remedies you know about. What happens if you don’t drain a Subungual Hematoma? It probably will just mean at worst that you will have a little pain for a while.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
I was once moving furniture with my wife. My wife slid the couch towards me. It caught the nail on my big toe. It felt painful. What really shocked me though was seeing the nail sticking straight up 90 degrees from the toe!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
The pain wasn\u2019t enough to go to the Doctor. We didn\u2019t have the internet back then. Looking back, I should have treated it better. From what I\u2019ve researched since being in the assisted living<\/a> business, it would be good to prevent infection if you lose your nail.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n If you lose your nail, try soaking the nail-less toe or finger in water with anti-bacterial soap for about 15 minutes once or twice a day for a couple of days. After you finish soaking the digit apply some non-prescription antibiotic ointment to the affected area.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Let’s say you’re worried about what happens if you don’t drain a Subungual Hematoma. You decide to go to the Doctor instead of working on a Subungual Hematoma home remedy. Here are some of the things a Doctor can do.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n First of all, the Doctor will want to know if you fractured the finger or toe. They may order X-rays for you to let her know. Obviously the X-rays won\u2019t say much about the blood vessels, but it will help them rule out treating the bone.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n The Doctor will then ask you what you did to injure the finger or toe (she might ask you that before<\/em> the X-ray). Depending on the nature of the injury and the amount of blood under the nail, the Doctor may decide to remove the nail to check how bad the injury is underneath.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n That\u2019s not to say the Doctor will remove the nail every time. Hopefully they will just do it if you have a lot of pain, or there is a high risk of cuts (or lacerations in Doctor-speak). The Doctor may also be able to drain the blood from your nail using a procedure called\u00a0nail trephination<\/a>. Here is a video of how nail trephination works:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nWhat Can Medical People Do?<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
The Next Step \u2013 Nail Trephination<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n