How to Draw Infection Out of Hangnail

Learning how to draw infection out of hangnail is very important to your health. An infection in hangnails are common and highly treatable. You should try to draw infection out of hangnail as soon as possible. A hangnail can become infected if exposed to bacteria or fungus. Oftentimes, the infection can be successfully treated at home. If the infection doesn’t clear up within a week, you should consult your doctor.

Before we show you how to draw infection out of hangnail let’s consider the causes of the infection. The best way to avoid infected hangnail is to prevent the hangnail. Your hangnail can get infected through minor injury like biting your nails, pulling on the hangnail, trying to bite a hangnail, or any type of trauma that introduces bacteria into the fleshy part of your finger. And it should be noted that the dirtiest bites originate from the human mouth. The human mouth is filled with bacteria on our teeth and gums. Chief among these bacteria are the species of staph and strep. So it’s important to avoid at all cost biting your hangnail.

An infection between the nail and the skin is called paronychia. This type of bacteria will cause your hangnail to turn red, swollen or even filled with pus. Although an infected hangnail may seem minor, the amount of movement required form fingers makes me very cautious about infections around the nail. Ignoring an infected hangnail can make your condition worse. A prolonged infection may result in a discolored nail or an infection that spreads to other parts of the body.

How To Soothe A Hang Nail

How to Draw Infection Out of Hangnail

1. Protect Your Nail

Do not remove any part of the nail and if an artificial nail is on an infected finger, remove it. Never use your nails as tools. No scratching off price tags, picking off wax, or using nails in place of tweezers. If you have to wash dishes, use gloves.

2. Reduce Swelling and Pain

Warm water for pain relief is one of the oldest, most effective natural remedies. Use warm water to it. You can dip it in warm water or use warm, wet cloths. Soak the affected foot or hand 3 to 4 times daily for 20 minutes in warm water. You can add hydrogen peroxide to the soak as well to help draw infection out. Be sure to apply a lotion with low alcohol and water content. Alcohol will dry the skin out more making it harder to the skin to heal.

3. Treat Inflammation and Pain

An inflamed hangnail isn’t necessarily an infected hangnail you should treat is as such during treatment. Treat inflamed hangnails with ice and over the counter pain medication to help with the pain. Ice works by reducing blood flow to a particular area, which can significantly reduce inflammation and swelling that causes pain. If the hangnail hasn’t reached far into being infected an over the counter antibiotic ointment can help prevent an infection from developing.

4. Use Essential Oils to Draw Infection Out of Hangnail

Essential oils are antimicrobial, antibacterial, and antifungal plants that are distilled into even more potent oils that can be used to draw infection out of hangnail. It is recommended to apply 2 to 3 drops of high-quality tea tree essential oil directly onto the hangnail to draw infection out (it will burn). Tea tree essential oil has strong antibacterial and antiseptic properties, which can help to treat the bacterial infections. This should be done 2 to 3 times a day in tandem with applying soaking your hand (add a little salt)s, which will help the puss inside the infection come to the surface and drain.

5. Salt Water Soak

As mentioned above salt can help dray infection out of hangnail. Dissolve salt into warm water and soak the infected hangnail in it, which acts as an antibacterial agent. Salt water soaks also help alleviate the pain caused by the infection. Salt kills bacteria it also kills healthy cells that are necessary for wound healing.

Nail Care Hacks EVERYONE Should Know!

Hangnails are common, especially if your hands are dry. Infected hangnails need appropriate treatment, many of which can be done at home. If your hangnail develops an abscess or starts producing pus, there is a chance it will need to be drained to stop the infection from spreading. This procedure should be done by a medical professional. Preventing hangnails is one of the best ways to avoid infected hangnails.