Paronychia (Child)

Home care

To keep the infection from coming back, don't cut the nails too short. Never cut or push the cuticles.

Your child’s health care provider may prescribe an oral antibiotic to treat the infection. Follow all instructions for using it. Don’t stop giving your child this medicine until it's gone. Antibiotics must be taken as a full course. Give your child pain medicine as directed by the provider. Don’t give your child aspirin or any over-the-counter medicine unless told to by the provider. They may prescribe other creams, including topical steroid creams.

Teach your child to stop biting their nails and sucking their fingers until the infection is gone.

Help your child to avoid trauma to their fingernails and toenails.

General care

• For the first 3 days, help your child clean and soak the toe or finger. Soak the area in warm (not hot) water or antiseptic solutions for 10 to 15 minutes several times a day or as instructed by your child's health care provider. Clean away any crust with soap and water using a cotton-tipped swab. Make sure that you test the water first. This is to prevent burn injuries.

• Change the dressing daily, or when it gets wet or dirty.

• Keep infected areas clean and dry.

• If the infection is on your child’s toe, don't put shoes on that foot until the toe has healed. Or make sure that your child wears open-toed shoes or comfortable shoes with plenty of room. If your child must wear closed-toe shoes, make sure the shoe is loose.

Follow-up care

Follow up with your child’s health care provider, or as advised.

When to get medical advice

Contact your child’s health care provider right away if your child has:

• A fever (see "Fever and children" below).

• Redness or swelling that gets worse.

• Fussiness or crying that can’t be soothed.

• Pain that gets worse.

• Red streaks in the skin leading away from the wound.

• Warmth, redness, or swelling.

• Foul-smelling fluid leaking from the skin.

Fever and children

Use a digital thermometer to check your child’s temperature. Don’t use a mercury thermometer. There are different kinds and uses of digital thermometers. They include:

• Rectal. For children younger than 3 years, a rectal temperature is the most accurate.

• Forehead (temporal). This works for children age 3 months and older. If a child under 3 months old has signs of illness, this can be used for a first pass. The health care provider may want to confirm with a rectal temperature.

• Ear (tympanic). Ear temperatures are accurate after 6 months of age, but not before.

• Armpit (axillary). This is the least reliable, but it may be used for a first pass to check a child of any age with signs of illness. The provider may want to confirm with a rectal temperature.

• Mouth (oral). Don’t use a thermometer in your child’s mouth until they are at least 4 years old.

Use the rectal thermometer with care. Follow the product maker’s directions for correct use. Insert it gently. Label it, and make sure it’s not used in the mouth. It may pass on germs from the stool. If you don’t feel okay using a rectal thermometer, ask the provider what type to use instead. When you talk with any health care provider about your child’s fever, tell them which type you used.

Below are guidelines to know if your young child has a fever. Your child’s provider may give you different numbers for your child. Follow your provider’s specific instructions.

Fever readings for a baby under 3 months old:

• First, ask your child’s health care provider how you should take the temperature.

• Rectal or forehead: 100.4°F (38°C) or higher

• Armpit: 99°F (37.2°C) or higher

Fever readings for a child age 3 months to 36 months (3 years):

• Rectal, forehead, or ear: 102°F (38.9°C) or higher

• Armpit: 101°F (38.3°C) or higher

Call the healthcare provider in these cases:

• Repeated temperature of 104°F (40°C) or higher in a child of any age

• Fever of 100.4° (38°C) or higher in baby younger than 3 months

• Fever that lasts more than 24 hours in a child under age 2

• Fever that lasts for 3 days in a child age 2 or older