How dangerous is nail bed inflammation in babies?

Nail bed inflammation in babies is usually not dangerous, as it is a small, localized inflammation.However, it should be treated carefully and consistently, as nail bed inflammation can be very unpleasant and painful for babies – anyone who has had one knows that it hurts a lot if you bump your inflamed nail just slightly. It only becomes dangerous when the inflammation spreads and is not treated properly. However, this happens only very rarely and is definitely an exceptional situation.

One needs antibiotics only when it is a really persistent nail bed inflammation and all other therapy possibilities, like household remedies and the care with disinfectants containing iodine, are exhausted. This means that the use of antibiotics should only be considered after about two weeks, because the body needs that much time anyway to heal a small open area by itself. Antibiotics are also needed if the inflammation spreads and, for example, an inflammation of the surrounding lymph vessels, colloquially also blood poisoning, occurs. Fortunately, this only happens very rarely. If a nail bed inflammation does not improve noticeably after two weeks, a pediatrician should be consulted.

Duration

How long a nail bed inflammation lasts depends on many different factors. In general, the body needs twelve days to allow smaller wounds to heal themselves. So if it is a simple nail bed inflammation, it should have subsided after about two weeks. However, if it is not treated properly or the cause, such as a pressure point caused by a shoe that is too small, is not eliminated, an inflammation of the nail bed can drag on for several weeks.

Diagnosis

Often the clinical picture alone, such as pus under the nail, overheating and reddening of the affected finger, provides the diagnosis of a nail bed inflammation. Of course, the inflammation parameters in the blood can also be taken. These are values such as the blood sedimentation rate (BSG), which is increased in the presence of an existing inflammation; or such as the C-reactive protein, which is also greatly increased in the presence of an inflammation. It is advisable to refrain from x-ray examinations of babies or infants, as the symptoms are usually very clear, while the radiation exposure of x-rays is simply too high for small people.