finger nail biting

Hi,
I am almost 20years old and i had this habit of biting my finger nails from when i was a child
but now i kind of stopped but that's not all.
about 8months ago i realized that the side of my middle finger on my right hand near my nail was starting to get swollen but i didn't care about it
these last 2months one of my friends told me that my finger is infected so he suggested that i make pressure on it to clean it from the puss
i did but no progress puss is still coming out when i press it but after 2weeks it occurs again
i've noticed that the side of my middle finger is like thorn and badly bruised and i have a hole in there that i can see the inside of the finger just underneath the nail
i don't know what to do and to be honest i'm a bit embarrassed to go to a doctor
any suggestion's on what i can do anyone it will be a really big help for me
thnx

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi!
If you are biting your nails then bacteria from your mouth can enter the tender skin beneath the nail that usually gets exposed and abraded or bruised by repeated biting. If the infection is not going away, you will need to apply an antibiotic cream and take anti-inflammatory drugs and maybe oral antibiotics. Also, you may need to get blood sugar tested as diabetes also makes healing difficult. You should ideally consult a doctor to see how deep is the infection because if the bone beneath gets infected then this will be very difficult to treat. Hope this helps. Take care!

The medical advice given should not be considered a substitute for medical care provided by a doctor who can examine you. The advice may not be completely correct for you as the doctor cannot examine you and does not know your complete medical history. Hence this reply to your post should only be considered as a guiding line and you must consult your doctor at the earliest for your medical problem.