Hi,
I've had this recurring thing for a few years and it's never been much of a problem, aside from looking unsightly and growing out to leave a small indentation in the nail bed, just under the edge of the nail, which grows out just fine and all becomes normal again.
This whole thing went away for nigh on a year, until it randomly appeared again a few months ago. Well, it was a lot worse this time and actually caused pain, as well as a much bigger 'wake', which was of blood colour and shade. Imagine a rock sitting just above the water in a stream and the wake it would cause in the water; that's the kind of shape it was. Whenever I applied any kind of pressure to any part of the nail, including gently pinching my finger or the kind of pressure you'd expect on the end of the nail when typing, I would experience a nasty, almost bruise like pain, which got worse as the lump grew.
The lump has always emerged around 1mm from the cuticle, almost exactly central between the left and right sides of the nail and continued until it's completely exposed, on the underside edge of the nail. The lump is made up of either soft nail or hard skin; almost wart like, but more dense.
This time, it was much worse and ended up bringing the skin under my nail out with it, which has resulted in a 1 1/2mm wide lump of skin bulging from under my nail, which keeps getting caught and ends up bleeding. This lump of skin was very tender, but has gotten to the point where I can scratch it and squeeze it without feeling much at all, although it is still alive and pink, for the most part.
I consulted my GP the last time it grew out and literally all he said was "No idea, but if it keeps growing out, what's the problem?" and that was it! Well, now, the problem is that I can't cut my nail any shorter than 1mm in length and this bit of skin keeps getting caught. If it will end up shrinking back in then I'm happy to wear finger bandages until it does, but if not, something's got to be done.
Can anyone advise, please? When things in my life got much better for me, the whole thing disappeared, but when I began to get more stressed again, back it came; not sure if this is related, but I just thought I'd mention it.
Is it a wart? A nail growth? How do I make this skin shrink back to where it's meant to be? I'm a bit worried now.
Thankyou.
