Better Health: Smart Health Commentary Better Health (TM): smart health commentary

Latest Posts

Emergency Contacts In Your Mobile Phone: Let ICE Speak For You When You Can’t

A good friend and fellow physician sent me this notice. This is an important public service announcement.

An individual citizen, not the government, initiated the program.  If adoption of the program becomes a national standard, it will demonstrate people power and individual responsibility.

The key to Repairing the Healthcare System is individual responsibility. This program represents an opportunity for every individual to assume responsibility for themselves and alert everyone they know to be responsible for themselves.

A paramedic conceived ICE.  At the scene of accidents he found cell phones on an unconscious victim but he could not find whom to notify.

He thought it would be a good idea if there was a nationally recognized symbol to find a victim’s contact person In Case of an Emergency in the victims cell phone directory.

The ICE cell phone number could be Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Repairing the Healthcare System*

Blood Under The Nail – What To Do

The following is a message that I received from a reader:

“Professor Auerbach – I am an avid reader of your blog ‘Medicine for the Outdoors.’ Your two posts about foot blisters are really interesting. In my hiking experience there is another foot related issue, that is the subungual hematoma in the toenail. I think it could be an interesting subject in one of your blog posts. Thank you very much for the attention.”

Well, it just so happens that I have been a sufferer myself, so I’m happy to write a bit about this. Subungual hematoma refers to blood under a toenail or fingernail. In the fingers, this usually occurs from a blow or pinch, such as catching a finger in a door or striking it with a hammer. In the foot, it is commonly caused by repetitive blows in a confined space, such as hiking in a boot with a toe-box that is too small and/or too stiff. The photo above is my foot after a 10 mile hike over rocky terrain in hiking shoes that didn’t fit quite right. They were broken in, but they weren’t sufficiently flexible for that type of hike. A couple of hours in, I knew I was in trouble because of the pain, but there was no turning back. No surprise, when I took off my sock, I saw the blue color and knew that eventually that particular toenail was a goner.

What can be done about this condition? When it first happens, applying an ice pack might relieve the pain. Certainly, you should trade out the poorly fitted shoes for ones that provide greater room and comfort. If possible, curtail hiking activities for a day or two, and let the situation settle, or the blood collection might increase.

When a fingertip is smashed between two objects, there is frequently a rapid blue discoloration of the fingernail, which is caused by a collection of blood underneath the nail. Pain from the pressure may be quite severe. If the pain is intolerable, it is necessary to create a small hole in the nail directly over the collection of blood, to allow the blood to drain and thus relieve the pressure. This can be done during the first 24 to 48 hours following the injury by heating a paper clip or similar-diameter metal wire to red-hot temperature in a flame (taking care not to burn your fingers while holding the other end of the wire; use a needle-nose pliers, if available) and quickly pressing it through the nail. Another technique is to drill a small hole in the nail by twirling a scalpel blade, sharp knife, or needle. As soon as the nail is penetrated, blood will spurt out, and the pain will be considerably lessened. Before and after the procedure, the finger should be washed carefully. If the procedure was not performed under sterile conditions, administer an antibiotic (such as dicloxacillin, erythromycin or cephalexin) for 3 days.

In the case of my toe (above), the pain subsided with a day’s rest from hiking, so there was no benefit to be obtained by draining the blood. A new nail grew in underneath the one shown in the picture, with the entire process taking a full nine months from injury to nail replacement.

This post, Blood Under The Nail – What To Do, was originally published on Healthine.com by Paul Auerbach, M.D..

Latest Interviews

IDEA Labs: Medical Students Take The Lead In Healthcare Innovation

It’s no secret that doctors are disappointed with the way that the U.S. healthcare system is evolving. Most feel helpless about improving their work conditions or solving technical problems in patient care. Fortunately one young medical student was undeterred by the mountain of disappointment carried by his senior clinician mentors…

Read more »

How To Be A Successful Patient: Young Doctors Offer Some Advice

I am proud to be a part of the American Resident Project an initiative that promotes the writing of medical students residents and new physicians as they explore ideas for transforming American health care delivery. I recently had the opportunity to interview three of the writing fellows about how to…

Read more »

See all interviews »

Latest Cartoon

See all cartoons »

Latest Book Reviews

Book Review: Is Empathy Learned By Faking It Till It’s Real?

I m often asked to do book reviews on my blog and I rarely agree to them. This is because it takes me a long time to read a book and then if I don t enjoy it I figure the author would rather me remain silent than publish my…

Read more »

The Spirit Of The Place: Samuel Shem’s New Book May Depress You

When I was in medical school I read Samuel Shem s House Of God as a right of passage. At the time I found it to be a cynical yet eerily accurate portrayal of the underbelly of academic medicine. I gained comfort from its gallows humor and it made me…

Read more »

Eat To Save Your Life: Another Half-True Diet Book

I am hesitant to review diet books because they are so often a tangled mess of fact and fiction. Teasing out their truth from falsehood is about as exhausting as delousing a long-haired elementary school student. However after being approached by the authors’ PR agency with the promise of a…

Read more »

See all book reviews »

Commented - Most Popular Articles