I’m going to do a few articles on unicycling injuries, but I thought I would I would start with a subungual haematoma, after sustaining one at yesterdays Karapoti Classic mountainbike race.

A subungual haematoma is basically a collection of blood underneath a toenail or fingernail. They are sustained from trauma to the nail- usually stubbing the toe or dropping something on it.  They are painful because of the pressure exerted by the haematoma.

A subungual haematoma should be drained to:

-alleviate pain

-prevent the nail from coming off (due to pressure)

-help the nail grow smoothly.  If left undrained, the nail often grows over it in a ridge pattern, because of the irregular nail bed

Here is a little instructional video I made on draining a subungual haematoma with the paperclip method.  It’s a useful bit of first aid which will save you  a trip to the emergency dept.