Fingertip, cuticle, & nail bed infections with Morgellons

[beverlybdmd]

Diabetics and Morgellonites get fingertip infections that doctors call "Paronychia." That simply means 'infection around the cuticles of the fingernails' in either Latin (most likely) or Greek. Well, I got the double whammy, so I had to figure out some ways to treat it, or I would be typing this with bloody raw stumps, or worse yet, amputated clubs...

It often occurs when a tiny foreign particle or bacteria gets under the edge of where the cuticle meets the nail plate, and then festers along the pocket of the nail bed and cuticle until it forms an abscess. Of course, with Morgellons, it is a little different. We often seem to have a burrow, or chronic parasite residing along that cuticle edge; or even underneath the nail-bed and extruding out from the beneath the fingernail tip end. Diabetics heal these problems poorly due to bad circulation in their extremities, and difficulty fighting infections when their sugars aren't well controlled, while Morgellonites have trouble clearing these infections, due to an on-going infestation, and re-infection of the same site, and also a weakened ability to fight this infection.

Complications from having this continue in your fingers, without any treatment:

(1) The finger infestation will become MORE well established, chronic, and nearly impossible to eradicate. I have one in my thumb that has been there for nearly 6 years. All the others, I can eliminate--at least for some periods of time.

(2) It causes permanently deformed nails.

(3) It creates a free and easy access route for your parasites to spread eggs, and to come and go, to any area of your body and your environment, that you touch with your bare hands.

(4) It can become easily infected with by other bacteria, fungi, herpes, etc, because your hands constantly touch doorknobs, washroom handles, peoples hands, all types of surfaces. I have had difficulties with numerous staph infections, that confused the picture for me.

(5) It is difficult to do the most simple and basic tasks when your thumb or index finger is swollen, painful, raw, oozing, or bleeding.

Of course,we can all think of a million good reasons to get well. But frankly, this is probably just more fussy, palliative (feel better, NOT cure) treatment--which is why I bothered to explain the reasons to do it.

THE TREATMENT:

(A) You will need an effective cream, ointment or liquid that draws out or kills your parasites, such as DSP, Eco Vie, or any other preferred therapy that has worked WELL elsewhere for you.

(B) You will need a stack of 2"X2" non-sterile gauze dressing pads
( http://www.metromedicalonline.com/wo...e-sponges.html )

(C) You will need some Micropore 3M tape ( http://www.nextag.com/3m-micropore-tape/search-html )

(D) And then some Vitamin E oil, 56,000 IU. OR simple Zinc Oxide cream from Walgreen's.

First wash your hands completely with a regular soap and dry well, so that if you have a lot of cream or lotion on, you will remove some, so that tape will stick.

Next, figure out how many of your fingers are involved enough, that you are willing to wear bandages on them. Then you want to figure out if each finger will need a dressing over one side of the nail, the tip of the finger, or most of the end of the whole finger. Take a scissor and open the 2"x2" and then cut the gauze pad in half and fold it down smaller to size, if you are doing less than the whole finger tip. Set out all the gauze pads that you will need on the table.

If you are using a liquid solution for treatment, you will need to use the Vitamin E oil (NOT the zinc oxide) and TWO thicknesses of gauze pads.

If you are using a cream or ointment, you can use the zinc oxide and one gauze pad, OR vit E oil, with 1-2 thicknesses. (read on)

After you have laid out the gauze's, then start cutting strips of 1" micropore tape, and laying about 8" lengths down along the edge of the table 1-2 for each finger. (It comes in a nice tan color that is very much like band-aides.) The 2" size tears down the middle easily and can be used for larger ulcers and overnight dressings with these same instructions anywhere on the body--like underneath your clothes where it has been rubbing.

When everything is set out, you are ready. Do all the bandages on your dominant hand first, because THAT hand will be able to still do some bandaging on the other, even WITH it's bandages in place. Or try bandaging all the minor fingers before you do your thumbs.

The liquid treatment is soaked onto your first folded gauze sponge, then that is placed against the affected area of the finger, then you take the second folded gauze and you hold it to the Vitamin E oil bottle's open mouth, and tip the bottle a little back & forth to moisten the gauze. Put the wet side down on top of the first wet gauze. Hold with one hand while you grab a tape and wrap this around the entire fingertip, COMPLETELY covering both gauzes. Use 2 tapes if gauze is not covered. Wipe off hands & be sure they aren't too oily for the next dressing applications.

If you are using the cream, or ointment, treatments these are applied in a small blob directly to the sore areas of the finger. The zinc oxide paste/cream is then applied like a thin coating to a single dry gauze pad. The pad is placed over the sore finger area, zinc oxide side down and then taped into place with a circular taping to fully occlude and cover it as before.

An alternative covering can be made with the moist Vitamin E oil pad over the cream or ointment. If the Vit E oil pad is VERY moist, then one can always place an extra dry gauze pad over that one--otherwise the tape adhesive becomes very gooey and sticky/tacky on the outside of the whole dressing. Obviously, on the ends of the fingers, one wants to keep the size down to a minium, however.

For maximal healing, change these dressings in the morning and evening/afternoon (2Xday.) For simply avoiding worse infection, scratching, picking, and pain; you can go up to two days with one of these dressings as long as you don't keep getting it wet, use it to wipe yourself (wear a disposible glove), or otherwise soil it in a majorly unsanitory fashion.

This type of dressing works GREAT on feet, legs, back, neck, chin, & buttocks. I am fond of the DSP & zinc Oxide combo myself, but I have used several others, depending on the depth and appearence of the ulcerations. It seems to speed the healing to keep them covered, so that the parasites cannot just come & go freely, and I think that keeping them smothered in the healing creams & salves is a good idea, too. As most of you have found, we can't usually tolerate the coverings, or dressings alone, However, by KEEPING them MOIST with the zinc oxide or Vit E oil, I have found that they become soothing and actually help relieve some of the pain that occurs when the sores dry, scab or crack.

Good luck to all of you that try these techniques, I hope they help you as much as they have helped me. If you have questions about how to tape different body areas (such as buttocks- -that took me a LOT of trial & error!) , or what size tapes to use, you can either post it here or private mail me.

[deluded]

Thank you so much, Dr. Beverly, for that very helpful post...I was actually just looking for some validation that this was a Morgellon's thing, and not just a winter problem...I must have missed your other post about it...but thank you for including all the how to's...I will have to get some and try to get the soreness out of it...not to mention how bad they look....Kentucky haze

[MELISSAJ]

Thank you so much for that post. I believe I was first infected in my hands, but it is unbearably painful and I have been getting swolen finger joints on the affected finger. I can actually see a "dot" on the edge of the nail (toe or finger) and I had tried to ignore it until it didn't let me. I now believe that my big toe was probably infected for quite awhile and it just took time for me to get real sick. This stinks. I'm so over this. I'm not the type of person "to be living with....fill in the blank". I know that sounds pretentious, but I am so over it and I am not so good at this.. I was good at room parent, soccer coach, play date mom, meet you at the gym or bible study gal....I still haven't fill out my paperwork for the doctor's appointment. I have so many things to do every day and now that I'm not out of my mind dying, I come last....

I will do my paperwork. I need to put the new ink cartridge in. This is getting very pricey.

I'm barely smiling. I keep craving carbs not salt and vitamin c.

I think my kids are ready to trade me in They're only 4 and 6. Pretty scary. I've been monstrous this past 2 months, but the house is clean - not.

Lots of love,
Melissa

[deluded]

Melissa...I don't know where you are getting that you are not so good at this...I have been reading all your posts and wondering where all that energy was coming from, and discipline...I admire how diligent you have been at all of this...I was thinking that I am awful, because I sure haven't done the cleaning and throwing away that I needed to do...I am a bad packrat...and I guess someone else will just have to come and throw away my things for it to be gone...what can I tell you, I just am afraid that I may need "that" someday...and because I am so poor all the time, I guess I just can't stand to think about having to buy "that" again...anyway, I think you are doing great...I wish I could do the stuff you have been doing....Every time you say that you cleaned something, I am thinking to myself...you need to get up and do the same thing...but I can't find the strength or energy to do it...anyway, my son is gone off to college and I miss him badly....however, if he was young and at home, like yours are, I would have absolutely not been able to do it all...not the way I feel now...if I had the energy I had then, maybe, but not now...but u have 2 boys and have been doing great with all that you have had to do....just thought I would let you know the way I see it....Kentucky haze

[MELISSAJ]

You are so cute. I always read you posts and laugh to myself that you are writing exactly how I think and speak!! It's this darned illness and if you were quirky to begin with (which I am in a good way) this just takes you over the top. I drink coffee. I also bottom out every few days and get scared to go to sleep because i am concerned about the next day not being a get out of bed day.

The thing is that I'm sick and I am still having trouble admitting it completely because most people think I'm okay and my doc said I look much better and should go for a run.

I'm afraid to ask for help because I don't want anyone to take my children away from me and on the other hand, I question my ability to care for them on the bad days. Honestly, it has been truly the MOST difficult time of my life. Especially as a parent who is fighting for her kids' health and at the same time questioning if I am projecting...I do not want them to hate me as the crazy clean/sick/bug mom now and later as the mom who didn't help them when they were first sick with this. They are very over this as am I and want nothing to do with eco-vie or DSP. Bathing was usually fun and games for them. I keep tellling them that it's because of mom's allergies due to Lymes. They want to know when we are going back to NY to see Grandpa and I'm thinking hysterically NEVER. This is a man who I love more than anyone besides my kids (sometimes more!) and I have spent every vacation with my kids visiting him so we will have those memories. So, I need to send him Eco-vie or get better so I can go this summer and clean his house....MORE CLEANING!! I would go on a cruise for my 40th, but I hear bed bugs and viruses are running rampant. I think I'll buy a tent and spray it with Eco-vie and drive to Key West with my boys!!

That's all for tonight. I'm procrastinating. I have laundry and paperwork.

PS - throw it out. I am POOR financially and my apt went condo for 200k in oct 2005 and I wiped myself out and bought it. Now I'm poor and have Morgellons but I'm rich in spirit and in family. God will provide. I have lots of cute stuff with bleach stains all over them from my initial phase of killilng invisible bugs. My NY stuff is too fancy and not weather appropriate. I hit the outlets when they clear out for the season. I buy my boys' pants for 1 dollar when they are 35 at Nordstoms. If I only had time to bargain shop....the good old days. I'm looking for a steam cleaner right now.