Myth or medicine: Does hot water help with a nail bed infection?

Myth or medicine: Does hot water help with a nail bed infection?

nail-bed-infection

Nail Bed Infection:

I've heard that you can tap your finger into boiling water three times for a nail bed infection. Is that helpful? 

A single small nail can cause great trouble if it ignites. It swells, becomes red, warm and purulent and hurts terribly. Usually so much that the affected finger is no longer useful for simple everyday activities. The nail bed of the toenails can also be affected. Then even the wearing of casual footwear is agony. What to do?

Mostly bacteria that cause nail bed infection are typically staphylococci. The tiny organisms live constantly on the skin and prefer to settle in humid regions such as hands and feet. Healthy people cannot harm them, they even belong to the skin barrier that protects us from harmful germs. However, if the nail is injured or the skin around it is brittle or irritated, the germs can migrate over the nail fold into the nail bed and trigger inflammation there.

Your mother-in-law swallows overpriced omega-3 capsules after eating, are you skeptical? You like dripping calf rolls, but do not know if they also lower your fever? Mail us your questions to medizinmythen@spiegel.de SPIEGEL ONLINE researches what is really behind home remedies, tips, and tricks.

It seems natural to kill the runaways with boiling water - but that does not make sense. "The idea behind this measure is indeed plausible," writes Axel Mechlin, senior physician of the Department of Dermatology at the Nuremberg Hospital, on request. "But if you type in three times, it will not be effective and will be dangerous if you stay in contact for a long time because of scalding." The bacteria survive a short hot water attack just like the body's own cells.

Water bath instead of kettle

The inflammation can be combated more effectively and with less risk with antiseptic baths or envelopes. There are also ingredients in the household for both. Warm baths with curd soap, salt or chamomile tea can relieve the inflammation. Onion skins also have an antiseptic effect. To make the bacteria as uncomfortable as possible, you should dry the irritated parts after hand or foot bath well.

"Chamomile tea, curd soap or salt and onions have an antibacterial effect," says Mechlin. "However, this is not very strong." The home remedies therefore usually help only at the onset of inflammation, when the nail is slightly red and slightly sensitive. In addition or as an alternative, there are antiseptic solutions in the pharmacy, creams or gels, which can be lubricated on the finger or toe. Even ointments are suitable. If the inflammation does not recede after about three days of treatment, the nail swells up and pounding, forming pus or getting a fever, should a doctor look at the inflammation.

The inflammation can be dangerous to fingers and toes

Because nail, nail bed and finger bone are closely together, painful pressure quickly builds up there. "The doctor can puncture pus," said Mechlin. "In case of deep nail bed inflammation, taking an antibiotic may be necessary." If a deep-lying nail bed infection remains untreated permanently, this may jeopardize your finger or toe.

In the worst case, the germs migrate from the nail bed into other tissues and infest tendons and bones. Inflammation of the lymphatics is also possible. It is noticeable by a red stripe under the skin. Harmless, but still ugly and usually painful is inflammation with so-called wild flesh. The nail pushes into the nail bed and grows. This occurs especially in pronounced and recurrent nail bed inflammation, explains Mechlin.

Beware of the manicure

Usually, a nail bed infection begins with small cracks in the nail, which arise during the manicure or pedicure when you cut or file right and left in the nail. It is also unfavorable to push the cuticle back strong or cut off. Particularly susceptible to a nail bed infection are people who deal a lot with detergents and disinfectants or fight eczema.

Pre-existing conditions such as diabetes also favor the inflammation. This is then usually caused by sugar-loving yeasts. Also, drugs such as retinoids, which are used to treat pimples, for example, or chemotherapeutic agents make it easier for fungi and bacteria to penetrate through the protective barrier of the skin into the tissue under the nail plate.

Conclusion: Boiling water as a treatment against nail bed infection is dangerous and useless. Antiseptic baths, creams or gels are more suitable for which one finds ingredients in the household or the pharmacy. If the inflammation does not go back, the doctor has to get it.