DS has just jammed his thumb in a door, nail already v black

[HairyMaclary]

And he's in a lot of pain. I've iced it, do I need to do anything else. I have a vague feeli g that sometimes you need to relieve the pressure under the nail and a trip to a and e is needed. Is that right or over the top. Anyone know?

If you're going to do it yourself, DO NOT use a needle. Use an unfolded paperclip. The sharp point of the needle will hit the nailbed before a big enough hole is made in the nail for the blood to escape.

But the blood does need to be released to relieve the throbbing pain. It will feel much better afterwards.

Needs to be checked in a minor injuries unit with xray facility (or A&E) as there may be an underlying fracture of the tip of the thumb. I would also leave it to do the trefining (releasing the blood) it can be a bit tricky!

hmm 2 of my children have done this and had black fingernails. I took both to hospital but neither of them had a pin or anything else stuck in!!!

ds3 had fractured his thumb, but there is nothing they can really do about that.

it will hurt though, has he had calpol etc?

Oh for the love of God, I really wouldn't do it yourself

A&E = you really won't have to wait that long, IME they see and treat children very quickly.

Hope he's ok, poor love.

Thanks all, couln't get back to computer very easily. After a dose of ibuprofen he fell asleep quite quickly but I might take him to the
Minor injuries unit tomorrow when I've had another look at it.

It was a bit nasty and he was very brave.

you've jinxed us hairy!!! ds3 has just trapped his finger in car door and now has a black finger nail again!!

hope your DS is ok now?

My DS2 trapped his little finger just last week and had to have a surgery to fix nail bed. His old nail will come off and the new one will grow... very painful experience indeed.
We now put door safety things on all inside doors to prevent this happen again!

confused, yes we did that after the second door incident! we have the hinge covers on all the upstairs doors (which are the ones that get slammed/played with most)

hope your DS2 is ok and his finger heals well.
my ds2 had his shut in the hinge side of the door (door completely closed!)... it was all flat when i got it out but amazingly nothing was broken! the nail came off and a new one has grown now and you can't even tell anything ever happened to it

I am an ex A&E nurse and the advice to xray is the right one. The reasons are that an underlying fracture is at high risk of becoming infected if the bleeding under the nail becomes infected - it is after all a wound. If this were to happen osteomylitis (infection of the bone) could occur and this is a very very serious infection as its not easily treatable with antibiotics. Most injuries are not serious but its a risk we did not take.

We went to a and e after school today where they x rayed it and said it wasn't broken and they wouldn't release the pressure as no need. I was quite pleased about that! He's still in pain and it's very swollen and he will lose the nail but it should be ok. I hope so anyway as he has a major op in a month that's already been cancelled once due to his ill health!

Sneezecakesmum - I have had osteomyelitis in my foot, on the heel pad area and was very, very I'll for a while. Took me a good 6 months to recover.