does a hard black subungual hematoma beyond the nail edges require treatment?

[Ahmad_M]

2 weeks ago a door closed over my thumb, it injured the cuticle and caused a subungual hematoma as the GP said. He said it will heal alone without treatment. This hematoma continued to enlarge for around 8 days and reached beyond the nail edges from front, sides and behind.

Recently, it stopped growing in size, the finger swelling and the pain both decreased significantly, but the black skin around the nail became more dark in color and VERY HARD.

I am not sure if this black hard tissue will heal without treatment as the doctor said and it is a normal thing to happen or I should revisit him.

THANK YOU.

[jefelex]

I'm surprized that the doctor did not relieve the pressure under the nail - using a paper clip and alcohol flame lamp (or blowtorch)  you can do it yourself if you want - it is totally painless. I couldn't believe it (I'm Canadian) - I had a bad bleed under my thumbnail from a door issue, and it was clear that it was black and bleeding underneath (and as hard as a nail) - he reached into his drawer, brought out a paper clip and straigtened it out, then left for a min to get an alchohol burner - lit the burner and heated the paper clip until red hot, (with a hemostat), put my hand on the table and stuck it into my thumbnail! Some blood gushed out and instantly, no pressure, no pain, eventually the nail will fall off and the blackness will fade away - probably take about 6 weeks - the nail is toast anyway, so don't worry about the hole - it will drain for a day or two, then put a bandaid on it.  I asked him about it - he just said that was always how they did it (but he was a former British army doctor - :)