Wednesday 3 May 2017

Not a whitlow!

First of all, welcome to Janet Emery via Bloglovin.

For years, I had thought that those little painful splits you get near a fingernail were called whitlow's. Well, I found out the other day they weren't.

I had one forming on my thumb and went off to see what, if anything, could be done to alleviate it and came across this video: here.

You just have to get through the adverts etc - most annoying. Anyhow, it is one of the best explanations of what causes them and how to treat them, not using fingernail polish as some people suggest!

I duly found some Vaseline, smeared it into the painful cut, applied a plaster, both morning and night. By the second night, the pain had gone and the crack was closing. On the third morning the skin had sealed shut - wonderful.

He expalins if you do this asap, before the skin gets really open, you should be able to stop it in its tracks. Now I know the answer, I shall do it as soon as I notice it happening rather than when the crack is deep and painful.

Hope you find this information useful.


8 comments:

  1. Very helpful, thank you - and no ads either. :-)
    J x

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  2. I like you thought they were called whitlows. Nice to know how to treat them now.

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  3. I seem to get cracks on my thumb all winter long. It is so cold and the air is so dry here that it isn't unusual for people to have cracked skin. I do exactly as you said except I use polysporin-an antibiotic ointment- instead of vaseline. I've tried the liquid bandage but it doesn't work as well.

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    1. As these cracks are the end result of long term dry hands, maybe we both need to moisturise more, who knows.

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  4. Whitlow.......that's a word from the past. I seem to remember some sort of wart? I shall have to look it up. People always used to get boils too, don't hear about them now

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    1. An abscess caused by the cold virus sore apparently. Maybe its like shiver instead of splinter?

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  5. I thought the same about whitlows. Great tip about the Vaseline, I must admit I don't take as much care as I ought to of my nails. I can't remember the last time they got painted x

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