Help please- child infected finger with photo

[dahliasdarling]

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My 7 year old DD's finger is infected, I only saw it with this abscess this morning but she said it was red yesterday.

Does anyone have any experience of this? Do I need to take her to see a doctor to have it lanced?

Thanks!

I would see a doctor asap, my dd had this and it spread down the whole finger.

Btw they didn't lance it, she had medication and before the next appointment it went on its own.

It needs to be seen by someone. Do you have a walk in centre or minor injuries unit? It's not really an a and e thing, but there should be something open today.

www.nhs.uk/Service-Search/Minor-injuries-unit/LocationSearch/551

My son had this, we went to the walk in and the gp pierced it with a needle and squeezed the puss out, then he was given a course of antibiotics.

He said it was throbbing which stopped quite soon after it was squeezed out.

www.nhs.uk/Service-Search/Walk-in-centre/LocationSearch/663

My son had this. Just got given antibiotics. Didn't get it lanced

Thank you all so much! We are in Ireland so no walk in clinic, there's A&E which seems over to top or out of hours GP, which is hard to get hold of and not sure they will see her for this. The other option is to try to see regular GP tomorrow.
DH wants to "do it himself" but I have told him definitely not. It seems so minor to be chasing a doctor for today and yet what if it gets worse?!

I'd lance it with a sterilised needle and disinfect it using disinfectant and lots of warm water.
I am a child of the 70s-80s though and not a medical professional!

Son is medic and home on leave . He says don't fiddle with it yourself. Draw around the swelling and try to get to a walk in centre today. If none local, call 111 and they will direct you with next steps.
Good Luck Cornish

In the mean time, soak it in warm salt water. (Actually as hot as he can bear) do this every hour or so. Then as suggested, pierce with a sterile needle. Squeeze it a bit while doing it. Duck-likely to shoot out-sorry. Keep bathing it. But-keep an eye on the redness, if there is a line that is moving, get him to a&e sharpish.

Thank you so much Cornish. I just phoned out of hours doctor and am waiting for triage nurse to call me back. I wouldn't take the chance of touching it myself in case I made it worse.

I would have lanced that with a sterilised pin a long time ago.

I'd then clean with cooled boiled salt water and go to gp on Monday. Don't leave all that puss in there it needs to come out.

Just seen your update. Next suggestion is clean and dress it. Clean with saline solution (salt and coolish boiled water) and cover with soft dressing. He has said again don't try to do it yourself

I've had two finger infections, had cream for both and was also told to put it in a mug of (cooled) boiled water with some sea salt. It helps the pain a bit and can draw out the infection, I'd do that today once every few hours and then go to the regular GP tomorrow. I wouldn't try and fiddle with it yourself.

My dh had that the gp sent him to a&e to be lanced. Dh opted not to have anaesthetic because they do a full finger block which can hurt more than the actual lancing procedure

Phone the out of hours GP, with sepsis making headlines at the moment I'd say you'd get a pretty quick appointment and a prescription for antibiotics.

Update- they rang me back and he has an appointment in an hour! I'm impressed with the service. I will let you know how it goes, thanks again

I had a smaller version of this earlier in the week and I read up on it - its called whitlow - and apparently it does need medical attention. However, I soaked mine in fairly hot/warm salt water twice a day and it disappeared so I got away with it. That does look a bit worse though, so you have done the right thing to call and check.

Definitely use salt water soaks before and after though. Hope its all sorted later.

I would soak in hot salty water,that will soften it and drain it. Otherwise I'd use a sterilised needle and what some Savlon on it.

I'd watch it like a hawk in case it spreads.

I would consider myself a failure if I needed antibiotics

Have him soak his finger in hot water for 10-15 minutes. You should be able to easily squeeze all the pus out after that. You could also sterilize a needle and poke a hole in it if doesn't come out after soaking, but unlikely looking at it.

Yes, it will hurt a bit as you make sure you get all the pus out, but should otherwise be just fine after that.

We soak everything in salted boiled water several times a day. Give it a prod with something clean- (cotton bud dipped in antiseptic?) often if you lift a little at the cuticle it will all escape there.

I know sepsis and further infection can be a risk, but most of these kinds of problems used to be dealt with at home routinely. Then off to the GP if it doesn't clear quickly or gets worse.

Glad you're being seen shortly. At my first aid refresher course recently, we were told a very worrying story about someone who left a papercut that had got infected.

Infections need to be properly assessed & treated. Always.

Hope the appointment goes well :)

Thanks everyone. The GP saw her on time and he was very nice about it all, said we did right thing to come in. He lanced it and prescribed antibiotics and DD wasn't in too much pain. Glad it's all been sorted so fast and thanks for all your comments. If it was my own finger I would have tried a bit of DIY first but wasn't prepared to risk making it worse with a young child.