What Causes Irritation And Swelling In The Cuticle With Small White Bubbles?

Posted on Mon, 6 Jun 2016

Question: Hello, my cuticle seems to be irritated and a bit swollen on one side. there a small white bubble looking thing and a little red. also the pad of my thumb is hard and almost like no feeling really. I looked online and saw they say to soak it in warm salt water and use like a lotrimin type ointment. Do you have any other opinions i really do not know if i should see a dr or what they could do that im not doing already.i did take a picture of it if thats an option for you to see it

Answered by Dr. Pavan Kumar Gupta (1 hour later)

Brief answer....you seem to be suffering from acute paronychia
Detailed answer....
Hello,
Thanks for the query.
I have read your query and seen the photograph.
It seems to be acute paronychia which is skin infection occuring around nails.
Generally the cause is a bacterial infection or a fungal infection or even mixed one.
Carry on with soaking it in hot water 2-3 times a day and apply lotrimin but take oral antibiotics also. In our clinic practice we generally give a course of a broad spectrum antibiotic like AUGMENTIN 625 mg three times a day for 5 days in such cases.
Sometimes you may need lancing to drain the pus if antibiotics don't make it all right.
Please consult your doctor for the prescription of the antibiotics and clinical examination.
I hope it helps,however you are most welcome to revert to me for any further query.
Best of luck
Thanks

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar