Contents:
- Medical Video: Fingertip Smashed in Car Door, Subungual Hematoma Relieved with Hot Cautery!
- What is a subungual hematoma?
- Symptoms of subungual hematoma
- Various ways to treat frozen blood in the nail (subungual hematoma)
- Minor injury
- Severe injury
Medical Video: Fingertip Smashed in Car Door, Subungual Hematoma Relieved with Hot Cautery!
Experiencing nail injuries due to heavy objects such as falling bricks on your toes or nails pinned to the door can cause pain that is quite disturbing. Usually, when the nail falls down on a heavy blunt item it will bleed. But unlike other body parts, blood under the nails cannot flow out. As a result, you only see black clots as a sign of frozen blood in the inner nail. In medical terms, this condition is called a subungual hematoma.
What is a subungual hematoma?
Subungual hematoma is a collection of blood under your nails or toenails. This condition occurs when an injury that you experience damages an open blood vessel under the nail. This causes blood to gather and get trapped at one point. In addition, shoes that are too narrow can also cause rupture of blood vessels to make blood pool under the nails.
Symptoms of subungual hematoma
If you experience an injury that results in frozen blood in your nails, you will see and feel various symptoms such as:
- There appears to be a collection of frozen blood in red or purplish nails.
- Your nails will hurt and throb.
- The nails are softened and the injured toes are swollen.
- Pain when touched.
Various ways to treat frozen blood in the nail (subungual hematoma)
Minor injury
For subungual hematomas with less severe injuries, you can treat them with over-the-counter painkillers on the market. This medicine will help you to reduce throbbing pain and also swelling. In addition, you can also do various home treatments to relieve symptoms such as:
- Rest the use of injured toes with not too much movement.
- Compress with ice to reduce swelling and pain.
- Put pressure on the injured area using a package containing ice. The point is to reduce the amount of blood that clots.
- Elevate the affected area to reduce swelling.
Severe injury
However, for injuries that are serious enough these home methods will not have much effect to relieve pain. Serious injuries can damage the nails and break the bones below them. The following are various characteristics of you experiencing serious nail injuries:
- The pain that attacked was no longer bearable.
- Bleeding is not controlled until it flows out.
- There are wounds or tears around the affected area.
- The base of the nail is broken.
To deal with a severe injury, the doctor will likely remove the nails and sew if the wound is deep enough. Sometimes, doctors don't even remove damaged nails and allow them to protect the injured nails. When damaged nails heal, bleeding usually stops and new nails will grow.
Doctors also usually do a nail trephination procedure to drain blood from under the nail. This method can help relieve pain and pressure in the injured part. This procedure is done by making a small hole in the nail with a laser or needle. After that, the perforated area will be wrapped in a bandage because the blood will continue to flow for the next three days.
Severe and untreated injuries can be infected. Various signs of infection that might be indicated such as:
- Liquid or pus flowing from under the nail.
- Pain that continues to increase.
- The appearance of red lines on the skin.
- Fever.
- Hot feeling and throbbing on the toes.
- Redness is quite severe around the affected area.
If one or more of these symptoms appears to you, immediately consult a doctor to get the best treatment.
