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• Method 1 of 3: Soak the area in warm water
• Method 2 of 3: Seek medical attention for acute paronychia
• Method 3 of 3: Treating chronic paronychia

Paronychia, or cuticle inflammation, is an infection of the skin around a fingernail or toenail. Symptoms include redness, pain, and swelling around a nail. There are acute and chronic forms of paronychia, and both are almost always easy to treat. In acute paronychia, it usually helps to soak the affected area in warm water several times a day. If the infection doesn't heal within a week, your doctor may prescribe antibiotics. Chronic paronychia is usually caused by fungi and occurs in several places. Your doctor will likely prescribe an anti-fungal ointment in this case and it may take several weeks for the infection to heal.

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Method 1 of 3: Soak the area in warm water

1. Fill a bowl or tub with warm tap water. In most cases, acute paronychia can be treated by soaking the affected area in warm water several times a day. Use a bowl if you want to soak your finger and a tub if you want to soak your feet. The water should be very warm, but not so hot that it causes pain and discomfort.
   • Acute paronychia is short-lived and comes on suddenly. Usually a single finger or toe becomes infected and often it is a bacterial infection. Symptoms include redness, swelling, pus and a throbbing pain around the nail.
2. Add salt or saline solution if your skin is broken. You can only use warm water if you have only one area of ​​red, swollen skin. If you have a cut, you can add a few tablespoons of table salt, Epsom salt, or a saline solution to the warm water.
   • You can also add salt if your skin is not broken. Some people like to soak their feet in a mixture of warm water and Epsom salt.
   • Do not use alcohol and hydrogen peroxide to clean the area, as these substances can slow down the healing process.
3. Soak your finger or toe for 20 minutes three or four times a day. If the water has cooled before 20 minutes have passed, add hot water to warm it up or get a new bowl of warm water. Acute paronychia usually heals after you regularly soak the area in warm water for several days.
   • Warm water stimulates blood flow to the affected area, which helps your body fight the infection.
4. Dry the area and coat it with petroleum jelly if desired and bandage it. After soaking, dry your skin with a clean towel. You do not need to use a bandage for mild inflammation where the skin is not broken. If your skin is broken, you can apply a thin layer of petroleum jelly or antibacterial ointment and then cover the area with a bandage.
   • You don't necessarily have to bandage the area, but it's a good idea to protect your broken skin when working with your hands or exposing them to a germ-rich environment.
   • Remove the dressing before soaking your skin in warm water and change it if it gets wet, such as when you wash your hands and shower.
   • Spread ointment or petroleum jelly over the area with a cotton swab. Discard the cotton swab after use and do not put it back in the package after touching your skin.
5. Keep your hands clean and don't bite or chew your fingers. Wash your hands regularly with soap and hot water (not so hot that you burn your skin). It's a good idea to keep your hands away from your face anyway, but it's especially important not to chew or chew your fingers if you have paronychia.
   • If you are treating an infection in your child and your child is old enough to follow instructions, tell him or her to keep their hands out of their mouth or the sore will not get better.
   • If your child does not yet understand language, try as best you can to prevent him or her from biting and sucking fingers. Your doctor may recommend antibiotics to prevent complications from the bacteria in your child's mouth.

Method 2 of 3: Seek medical attention for acute paronychia

1. Ask your doctor for advice if you have diabetes. If you have diabetes, have your doctor examine your infected nail before attempting to treat the infection yourself. Diabetes may make it harder for your body to fight infections, so your doctor may recommend antibiotics or an anti-fungal medication.
2. Call your doctor if symptoms have not improved after a week. If you've soaked the area in warm water for a week and your symptoms persist or get worse, your doctor may recommend antibiotics or an anti-fungal medication. Make an appointment and have the infected area examined by your doctor. Your doctor can request a culture to determine the best treatment method.
3. Make an appointment if an abscess develops. Call your doctor immediately if you see an abscess, or a painful pouch filled with pus. Your doctor will numb the area, make a small cut to drain the pus from the abscess, then bandage the area with gauze and a bandage. Change the dressing two or three times a day and bandage the area for two days.
   • An abscess looks like a swollen mass and feels tender or painful. Without an abscess, your finger will only look swollen and knock. When you have an abscess, the swelling is more intense and painful and feels like it is filled with something. As the abscess develops, just like a pimple, a cup may form on it and pus may leak out.
   • Never attempt to pierce an abscess yourself. You can expose the area to more germs and cause the infection to spread.
4. Start soaking in warm water two days after you puncture the abscess. If you've had an abscess punctured, keep it bandaged and change the bandage regularly for two days. After two days, remove the bandage and soak the area in warm water for 15 to 20 minutes three or four times a day until your symptoms ease.
   • After two days you should see that the area is healing. You may not need a bandage. If your skin is still open and you want to protect it, bandage the area after soaking. If you wish, you can keep bandaging the area until the wound is closed.
5. Ask your doctor if he or she recommends antibiotics. Your doctor may prescribe antibiotics after popping an abscess or to treat persistent symptoms, depending on the severity of your symptoms and the outcome of the culture. Use prescription medication according to your doctor's instructions. Continue to take the medicine for as long as prescribed, even if you feel better.
   • Stopping a course of antibiotics too early can cause the infection to return.

Method 3 of 3: Treating chronic paronychia

1. Ask your doctor to recommend an anti-fungal medication. Chronic paronychia is usually caused by a fungal infection and often affects several fingers and toes. Symptoms include redness, swelling, pain, and soggy or damp skin. Your doctor will likely order a culture and other tests to make an accurate diagnosis. He or she will then prescribe a drug to treat the infection based on the results of the tests.
   • Doctors usually prescribe a topical anti-fungal medication to apply to affected areas two or three times a day. Always use prescription medications according to your doctor's instructions. It may take several weeks for the fungal infection to heal.
   • You can have a fungal infection and a bacterial infection at the same time, so your doctor may prescribe multiple medications for you.
2. Keep your hands clean and dry. Wash your hands regularly, including before applying an anti-fungal ointment. Dry your hands thoroughly after washing and when they get wet. Try not to let them get wet and damp during your daily activities.
   • Make sure to keep your hands away from your face and mouth.
3. Wear gloves when working with irritants. It is difficult to avoid exposure to water and irritating cleaning agents while standing at the bar, doing the dishes or working as a cleaner. You will need to protect your hands if they are constantly getting wet or exposed to chemicals. If possible, wear two pairs of gloves on top of each other: cotton gloves to absorb moisture and vinyl or rubber gloves over them to repel water and chemicals.
   • You will have to wear gloves while you have symptoms. It is also best to keep wearing the gloves when your hands are exposed to moisture and irritating chemicals for extended periods. This way you can prevent chronic paronychia from now on.
4. If necessary, discuss surgical procedures. You may need minor surgery if the infection has spread under your nail beds or doesn't go away with non-surgical treatments. Your doctor may need to remove all or part of the nail and apply an anti-fungal ointment to the exposed nail bed.
   • After removing the nail, you should rest the affected finger or toe for two days and should not use it. Try to keep the finger or toe above your heart to prevent bleeding and throbbing. Take prescription or over-the-counter pain relievers according to your doctor's instructions.
   • Keep the dressing dry and change after one to seven days. Your doctor will tell you how long to leave the dressing on and how to change it.