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Tag: Nail Bed Injury

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General

How to Handle a Nail Bed Injury

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A nail bed injury often occurs along with damage to other parts of the finger in the same area. This can include fractures of the bones, cuts to the nail bed or fingertip skin, cuts to the tendons of the finger, or damage to the nerve endings themselves. Nail bed injuries can be easily repaired by a skilled professional like those at Arora Hand Surgery.
 
 

What Causes a Nail Bed Injury?

Often, these injuries are a result of getting one’s finger caught in a slamming door. In addition, a cut, crushing injury, or pinch injury to the tip of the finger can also cause an injury to the nail bed.

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This type of crushing injury can lead to an extremely painful buildup of blood underneath the fingernail. Other nail bed injuries can lead to the nail cracking or splitting into pieces, can tear off pieces of the nail, or can lead to injuries to the surrounding area of the finger.

Diagnosing

It is necessary to spend some time talking to the patient to obtain an accurate history of what caused the injury. It’s recommended that you get an X-ray in order to check for any fractures associated with the injury, as they may also require treatment. It may be necessary to give the patient appropriate anesthesia and examine the nail, often with magnification, before one can completely evaluate the injury. Any additional medical issues that could affect wound healing should also be discussed.

Treatment

The goal of treatment is to restore the nail and the finger to their original functional state. A basic hematoma can be drained by poking a small hole in the nail to eliminate the pressure that is building up and by providing the patient with pain medication. If surgical repair is required, the procedure is usually very straightforward. The goal is often to restore alignment of any fractures that have occurred, to repair the nail bed, and to reattach any detached fragments of bone.

The injury itself will partially determine the doctor’s ability to repair the finger and restore the nail bed to its normal state. If the nail bed injury is clean and sharp, it is likely that it can be fully repaired. If the nail bed has experienced severe crushing, there may be more scarring from the injury, and it may be more difficult to repair it fully. It all depends on the unique situation.

Treating Your Nail Bed Injury

For more information about how to handle a nail bed injury, speak with the experts at Arora Hand Surgery in Howell, West Bloomfield, Macomb, and Warren. We can determine the best course of action and help you begin the healing process. Contact us today to schedule a consultation!

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Fingers General

How to Treat a Nail Bed Injury

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A nail bed injury can have multiple causes. Anything that can crush, cut, tear or pinch the fingertip can also injure the nail bed. Consequently, nail bed injuries are often accompanied by other injuries to the finger or hand.

Crushing the fingertip may simply cause a lot of blood to pool under the nail, which is very painful. More severe injuries can cause the nail to break into pieces, or they may cause the nail and/or fingertip to be severed.

Our team will start by taking the patient’s medical history, during which they will ask about the cause of the injury. They will use imaging technology like an X-ray to both check the severity of the nail bed injury and look for any associated injuries like a broken bone. We will choose a treatment based on what we find. Regardless of the techniques used, the treatment’s goals will always be to restore the nail and surrounding area to its normal appearance and function.

If the patient has a hematoma or accumulation of blood under the nail, we can drill a small hole in the nail to release the blood and, thus, relieve the pressure and pain. Hematomas are among the more common nail bed injuries. In many cases, the patient ends up losing the nail, but a new one does grow in. The new nail will look perfectly normal unless the injury involved the germinal matrix or crescent. The nail grows from the germinal matrix, so an injury to it often results in a malformed nail. The nail, however, keeps growing throughout a person’s life. Thus, once the germinal matrix heals, it starts producing a normal nail that will eventually replace the misshapen nail over the following months.

In reconstruction of the nail bed, the surgeon may replace it with grafts taken from other digits. In many such cases, there will also be other injuries like fractures, and the surgeon will have to treat those first. It all depends on the unique situation.

Are you dealing with a nail bed injury? Make an appointment at Arora Hand Surgery right away. Contact us today to schedule a consultation at our office in Howell, Warren, Macomb, or West Bloomfield!

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Fingers General Treatments

Surgical Reconstruction For A Nail Bed Injury

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Nail bed injuries are caused when the nail bed is pinched or crushed. This painful injury is commonly caused by the fingertips being shut in a door or struck with a hard object moving at a high rate of speed. It may feel like you are left to deal with the repercussions of your nail bed injury forever, but an option is surgical reconstruction.

A nail bed injury can include damage to the tissue, tendons, nerve ending, bone, skin, pulp and other structures that are around the nail bed. Common signs of a nail bed injury include a painful collection of blood under the fingernail, a cracked fingernail, or a fingernail that falls off. Once a nail bed injury is diagnosed, surgical reconstruction is one of the most effective ways to treat it.

Should the nail bed be destroyed or lost due to injury, a surgeon can reconstruct part of it or the entire thing by surgically grafting parts taken from the other fingers or toes. This can prevent future problems or deformities as the nail bed heals. A split-thickness graft is the type of graft most commonly used to repair a damaged nail bed through surgical reconstruction. This procedure is often used by surgeons when repairing a nail bed that is missing. This process can help to restore the use of a finger that is badly damaged.

Prior to the nail bed reconstruction surgical procedure being performed, it’s important to have a consultation with a member of our staff. An x-ray will likely be taken to determine how much damage has been done to the nail bed. This will help determine what the best next step for you is.

In most cases, all minor injuries are fully repaired, leaving the finger looking and functioning normally. Our team will help you understand what you should be able to expect from your surgical reconstruction for a nail bed injury.

If you are concerned about a possible nail bed injury, contact us today at Arora Hand Surgery and schedule your consultation. We proudly serve Michigan with offices in Warren, Macomb, Howell, and West Bloomfield. Contact us today and let us give you a hand!

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Fingers General

Determining if You Have a Nail Bed Injury

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You’ve suffered trauma to your nail. Whether it is your fingernail or your toenail, it can make your life miserable. You might have caught your nail in a door, had something dropped on it or broken a bone that caused damage to your nail as well. One of the first things that you are bound to notice is a lot of pain. If it happens to one of your fingers, it makes it very difficult to perform daily tasks that involve your hands. If it happens to your toes, you may be challenging to walk or to have an active lifestyle. Wearing a shoe on the affected foot can be such a struggle that you can only wear shoes with open toes. You have to be extremely careful about banging an injured nail because it is going to be painful for a long time until it heals. You most likely have a nail bed injury.

How Do You Know if You Have a Nail Bed Injury?

If your toenail or fingernail has been damaged in some way or has received a hard blow, you have probably damaged your nail bed. If blood gathers under the nail or if you have bleeding around the nail, you have nail bed damage. If the nail cracks and falls off, your nail bed has been injured. If the nail is torn from your nail bed, there is no doubt that your nail bed has been damaged by the experience. Bleeding, intense pain, sensitivity and evidence of torn skin are all signs that you have injured your nail bed. You can expect a lengthy healing process following your injury.

What Can You Do for a Nail Bed Injury?

Treatment for a nail bed injury will depend on how severe the damage is. If it’s as simple as blood pooling beneath the nail, the blood may be drained away or additional bleeding may be stopped. If there is any of the nail remaining, the nail can be removed. If there are any types of lacerations to the nail bed, these can be stitched. Once your nail bed has been treated, you can wear a splint on that finger or toe to protect it.

When caring for your injured nail bed at home, be sure to rinse it well, keep it clean with antibacterial soap and apply antibacterial ointment. When you are able, expose it to the open air to promote healing. However, when you are out and about, you need to keep your nail bed covered to keep it clean and avoid infection. It typically takes between three and six months before the nail grows back in.

See Our Doctor About Nail Bed Injuries

If you have been the victim of a nail bed injury, make an appointment to see our doctor for an evaluation at Arora Hand Surgery. Be sure to follow instructions and take good care of your injured nail bed while you are home. Contact us at our offices in Warren, Macomb, Howell, or West Bloomfield today to schedule your consultation and learn about your treatment options.

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Dr. Aroras office from my first call to schedule my appointment was friendly. Walking in the first day, I felt like I was in a nice atmosphere. Dr. Arora was EXCELLENT in taking great care of my hand injury. He was gentle and very understanding to the concerns I had about my hand. His expertise was admirable and I would recommend anyone with an injury to their hand to his office to be under his care. Because of him, I have healed faster than expected and will make an 100% recovery! Thank you Dr.

Jackie S.

I first thought I was going to have to have painful injections or surgery, but Dr. Arora suggested physical therapy may do the trick. I was doubtful, but I agreed to do it. Now, my pain is gone, and with the help of an ergonomic keyboard at work to keep my hands in the correct position, I am virtually pain free. The therapy strengthened my wrists and shoulders, and built more flexibility into my wrists.

Jerry T.

My experience with this doctor was positive from the outset. Dr. Arora was kind and spent a great deal of time with me. Staff was friendly. The office was nice and bright.

Ariel G.

Very friendly and helpful Great staff!!! Doctor Arora was very professional and did great work. I was very happy with everything!

L B.