[onyxbearsmom]

i am a 35 year old female with a 2 year old son. shortly after becoming pregnant, my right thumbnail became infected. i now know it was due to constant trauma to the nail bed caused by my shar-pei/lab mix who thinks my thumb is included in the deal when she gets a milkbone. (i throw them to her now by the way!) my ob/gyn couldn't treat it during my pregnancy then it couldn't be treated because i was breastfeeding. shortly after my son was weaned at 14 months, i started lamisil. didn't work. a dermatologist took a nail clipping and it tested negative for fungal. he said it's probably bacterial and i'll have to learn to live with it. so far, i've been to 8 doctors, 3 dermatologists and 1 plastic surgeon and still haven't received proper treatment for this nail. it's often red, swollen and painful and sometimes has pus. it's a lovely shade of puke green and the nail is lumpy and rough. i've been given exelderm, triamcinolone, lamisil tablets, oral antibiotics and used vinegar soaks. i have had this for almost 3 years now and want it treated and gone. i recently went to a regular doctor and requested he remove the thumbnail so i could properly treat the infection but he refused and opted for a more conservative treatment which isn't working. ironically, while sitting in his waiting room i read a paragraph about paula abdul having her right thumbnail removed due to a bad infection caused by a manicure. i wonder if i need to be a celebrity to get the proper treatment for this thumbnail. any ideas and advice would be greatly appreciated. i live in a very small town and sometimes i think that affects our treatment options as we don't have the same facilites as larger cities. thanks so much for your time!
onyxbearsmom

[wfdpage4]

I have an infected nail, and i only talked to a pharmacist since i don's waste peoples time with stupid things. but anyways, when i talked to her, she told me that what it is is a pocket that sits between where your nail meets skin and its common to get an infection their. She told me that what i was doing was making it worse. she told me not to cover it at all with neosporin or antibiotic but to leave it completely unwrapped and let the puss drain. this will releive all pain and would shortly cure it. tried it over night draining it out with epson salt and hot water and so far it works