Paronychia

Paronychia is infection of the lateral nail folds. Our nails always interact with the external environment in our life routine activities, therefore they are easily injured. Finger nails injuries are mostly caused by stabbing, pricking, athwart peeling, ripping and so on; while toe injuries are mostly caused by compression, friction and incorrect pedicure, even a small scratch which cannot be seen by our naked eye can caused infection of bacteria along finger or toe nails and resulted in paronychia. If treatment is not in time, it will also spread to the nail bed and became nail abcess. Clinically, the course of disease is acute if it is within 3 weeks and chronic if more than 2 months.
The acute paronychia is mostly caused by staphylococcal infection. This bacteria is human normal microflora on our skin, under usual condition it will only contaminate and will not cause infection, this is due to the local and systemic immune system of our body. When the organism immune system is decreased, the periderm of nail is completely destroyed or increased amount of bacteria or excessive of virulence (epidermolytic toxin), only then it will cause infection. The chronic paronychia is mostly caused by regular dampness, soakage and resulted in infection of bacillus, fungus (candida albicans, aspergillus) and others.
Point of diagnose:
(1) Firstly, redness, swelling and pain at one side of nail.
(2) Next, it will produce pus at side of nail and spread to the nail bed and became semilunar form of nail abcess.
(3) If the treatment is not in time, it will develop into abcess under the nail, it also can progress into chronic paronychia, chronic phalanx osteomyelitis, and appearance of chronic tissue sinus and protruding of the tissue.
Western medical treatment??s principles
(1) In early stage, it is treated by hot compress, physical therapy, external use chinese traditional medicine combined with application of bacteriophage.
(2) After the formation of pus, one must dissect from the side of the nail to release the pus. In case of loop form of abcess, one must dissect two side of the nail and turn over the root of the nail to release out the pus.
(3) Abcess under the nail or chronic paronychia is treated by pulling out the nails.