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Question: when you have swelling because of pus, it hurts because your skin is stretched out, is that right?
Pus is usually a sign of infection.
Pus-causing infections can be painful because the body's immune system creates pressure and inflammation to fight the infection.
Is there a general rule of urgent care vs. ER in terms of what insurance they take?
I would guess it's different in every city or hospital.
If I had gone to a doctor, I wonder if they would have drained it, or given me an oral antibiotic or even an injected antibiotic?
One time I had an infected eyelid causing swelling which was annoying but not horrible. The doc just gave me an antibiotic rx, that's all. It took a few days for it to work.
Another time I had a swelling near my eyebrow which caused my eye to be misshapen so I went to an eye doctor. They immediately injected something which resolved it.
ER`s are for emergencies, not for those with little boo-boos. people have serious symptoms going on, and they have to wait because of someone with a sore thumb.
I found out that when you soak your skin in water, the pores become bigger. That's why some pus leaked out.
The area that used to be swollen is now dark red or black, from trauma.
Question: when you have swelling because of pus, it hurts because your skin is stretched out, is that right?
Not quite. When you expose a body part to significant warmth (warmer than 98.6 F...normal body temperature), your pores expand because of the heat. It's part of the body's attempt to cool itself off again.
Pus formation is part of the body's immune response to an invading organism. It's composed of dead white blood cells, tissue residues, and bacteria. It builds up to create an abscess which creates swelling. Swelling puts pressure on surrounding nerves resulting in pain/pressure. It also might cause a bit of bleeding. When the abscess bursts or opened up the pressure is relieved which reduces pain.
I think suzyQ2010's theory of paronychia was right. Sounds as if something, a tiny lick or cut in the cuticle introduced bacteria between the nail and your skin. The body reacted to the invasion and started fighting it off, which produced pus. An abscess formed under the skin, causing swelling and pain. At some point, the abscess burst. There was probably some blood in the abscess so now you're seeing residual bruising.
Unless you had some sort of serious underlying health issues or a weakened immune system you probably wouldn't need an ER visit. An urgent care or your PCP would be able to handle this. If the infection kept spreading to the rest of your thumb or hand or the abscess keeps forming again you may need oral antibiotics.
Last edited by Parnassia; 05-15-2024 at 04:38 PM..
Not quite. When you expose a body part to significant warmth (warmer than 98.6 F...normal body temperature), your pores expand because of the heat.
Pus formation is part of the body's immune response to an invading organism. It's composed of dead white blood cells, tissue residues, and bacteria. It builds up to create an abscess which creates swelling. Swelling puts pressure on surrounding nerves resulting in pain/pressure. It also might cause a bit of bleeding. When the abscess bursts or opened up the pressure is relieved which reduces pain.
I think suzyQ2010's theory of paronychia was right. Sounds as if something, a tiny lick or cut in the cuticle introduced bacteria between the nail and your skin. The body reacted to the invasion and started fighting it off, which produced pus. An abscess formed under the skin, causing swelling and pain. At some point, the abscess burst. There was probably some blood in the abscess so now you're seeing residual bruising.
Unless you had some sort of serious underlying health issues or a weakened immune system you probably wouldn't need an ER visit. An urgent care or your PCP would be able to handle this. If the infection kept spreading to the rest of your thumb or hand or the abscess keeps forming again you may need oral antibiotics.
When I've had infections from hang nails, I would soak my finger (or thumb) in the hottest water I could stand for 20 minutes at a time. It could be so hot that at first I could only dip my finger in the water. But it works. I very seldom had to do it twice.
Yea, SuziQ called it right back on the first page. A new, painful, discolored swelling at the edge of a nail is almost sure to be a paronychia. Other things are lower on the list. The only dangerous thing being metastatic abscess from endocarditis.
Some of the advice above reminds me of an episode when I was an intern on the ICU--
--another intern's pt had just been started on an IV med new to the market (we had no experience with it). Just before the shifts were about to change, the IV Infiltrated and the drug was causing a lot of irritation under the skin. ....I was on call that night and the other intern reported the PT's status to me to deal with it....The next AM that intern asked me what I had done...I told him I started a new IV site and put a cold compress on the inflamed area of skin..."Oh," he said. "You didn't know what to do either then." ..Our rule was "when in doubt, do what your mother would have done."
People who can post here about all the infections they get - are probably more in need of personal hygiene lessons than medical lessons.
Unless there's something SERIOUSLY medically wrong with your body, that you can spontaneously get a random infection under your thumbnail - you're doing something wrong. You need to stop doing whatever that is, and then you'll stop getting random infections. If there's something medically wrong with your system causing all these infections, then ALL of your questions need to be asked to your doctor, not strangers on the internet.
People who can post here about all the infections they get - are probably more in need of personal hygiene lessons than medical lessons.
Unless there's something SERIOUSLY medically wrong with your body, that you can spontaneously get a random infection under your thumbnail - you're doing something wrong. You need to stop doing whatever that is, and then you'll stop getting random infections. If there's something medically wrong with your system causing all these infections, then ALL of your questions need to be asked to your doctor, not strangers on the internet.
More about paronychia here. Injury to the cuticle is a common cause, and people who have their hands in water a lot are at more risk.
I have had one once. At that time I was washing my hands a lot.
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