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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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What Does Black Discoloration On The Thumb Nail Indicate?

I noticed under my fingernail - thumb - that it was black towards the actual thumb - I have fairly long nails - for quite a while. I thought it was just something like dirt and have been trying to get it clean until one day I hand my hand close to my face and notice a fowl smell. It is coming from under my fingernail. I clipped that nail last nite as far down as I could and since I always wear policy I now notice it is a green/black color on the dail and I can raise the nail up away from the finger. The tip of the thmb is dry and crusty and I pulled some out but from what I can see it stills dark farther down and think the skin is actually coming off. The last 2 days have been putting peroxide on it and it bubbles a LOT. The green color of the nail is scaring me and the foul odor. What can I do to get rid of what I am guessing is a really bad infection?
Mon, 26 Mar 2018
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  Anonymous's Response
's  Response
Hello,
thank you for choosing HCM.

From the despription of your thumb nail, I can suppose that there is an infection under your nail (the bubbles after the peroxide, the green color and the bad smell are suspected of an infection).
These kind of infection are treated with an antibiotic oral therapy and sometimes also with surgery (removal of the nail).
So my advice would be that:
- go to your GP for evaluation and antibiotic therapy
- if the symptoms don't improve after antibiotic therapy, consider to ask for a surgical evaluation.
Regards
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What Does Black Discoloration On The Thumb Nail Indicate?

Hello, thank you for choosing HCM. From the despription of your thumb nail, I can suppose that there is an infection under your nail (the bubbles after the peroxide, the green color and the bad smell are suspected of an infection). These kind of infection are treated with an antibiotic oral therapy and sometimes also with surgery (removal of the nail). So my advice would be that: - go to your GP for evaluation and antibiotic therapy - if the symptoms don t improve after antibiotic therapy, consider to ask for a surgical evaluation. Regards