Two weeks ago I poked a pin underneath my left index fingernail, painful, but a common occurrence. I thought nothing of it. Then a week later my finger had become progressively more painful to the touch. I was away from home and didn’t have any antiseptic with me so hoped it would calm down. However the side of the nail went black and the top of my finger – above the last knuckle – became red, swollen and began to throb. ‘Uh oh’, I thought, that looks, and feels, infected.

Once home I applied Magnesium Sulphate, but eventually needed antibiotics to bring it under control. Now my finger has drained and is on the mend, but it was a silly thing I could have avoided. I did the same into my thumb over the weekend, so I was straight to the TCP antiseptic this time.

So learn from my mistake, and remember that it was only a tiny pin prick that led to all that.

Don’t scroll down if you don’t want to see the repairing finger. The bandaged appendage severely hampered my hand knitting and sewing activities and it still catches fibres when knitting as it heals.

Annoyingly this catches on everything, but I am trying hard not to pick at it.