Ignoring that little sharp bit of finger nail is NEVER a very good idea. If you have eczema or psoriasis it’s a good idea to keep finger nails short and trim. If one breaks, tears or becomes jagged, always, always get out the nail file to smooth it over, or tidy it with the nail scissors.
And if you find that you do lots of damage at night when itching is always worse, keep your nails very short all the time. And I mean REALLY short so that you CAN’T scratch properly. It feels horrible at first, when there is no release from the scratch, but it reduces the amount of damage done massively.
This is very quick blog post about the dangers of ignoring that little snaggy bit on your nail. Yesterday my arm looked like this in the morning.
Yowch! It was painful. Like someone had got a knife and made the cuts.
Like a cat had scratched me.
Like I’d had a fight with a dragon in my dreams.
It wasn’t me you know.
I never scratch. Of course not.
No. Who? Me?
Rip my skin until it’s livid, swollen and looking really angry and nasty?
Well, one little slip up and my body was peppered with these unsightly gashes. Believe me when I say it hurts. Even clothing over it hurts.
How am I able to do this in the night without even knowing?
Anyway I would like to share the photograph taken the following day, which maybe would have been the same no matter what I did, but I’m not so sure.
I put shea butter on the scratch, and all the others, and what would normally remain nasty, angry and possibly begin to look a bit infected no matter how clean I kept it and what I put on it.
This morning, the scratch is pain free. It looks a fraction of its former size, like it’s healing nicely and also far less angry and swollen.
You’ll have to excuse the dreadful photography and bad lighting but you get the picture. So here is my advice this week.
- ONE – get a nailfile and smooth that jagged edge off your fingernail. NOW! Not in the morning, or later, but when you see it.
- Alwasy carry a nile file with you – don’t put of smoothing that nail – the consequences of ignoring it or nibbling it are painful.
- TWO – soothe it with some shea butter and just watch it shrink, heal and disappear.
You know it’s impossible to avoid scratching completely and cotton gloves can help but I find I have usually removed these in the night with no recollection of doing so.
Keeping nails short is very important.
It can save an awful lot of pain and suffering.
Hi, I’ve just found your blog and am steadily working my way through it : ) I have a son with multiple allergies , asthma and eczma. Although his eczma is pretty much in control atm he can still wake up covered in scratches! So yes we keep his nails very short!
I am on this website because I decided to cut my nails as short as I can stand it..To help me at night if I scratch in my sleep and also to have more self control in scratching during the day .I am hoping this is going to cure a lot of my rash and it will. at least clear up!
I had wrote a comment about cutting my nails really short..its allready written out. .I under the comment Sherry
I do this too. It really does help, but be careful to always have the nail file on hand. I find that even really short nails can sometimes get really sharp bits that can do lots of damage. Keep filing those edges and good luck.