Panaritium / Whitlow

It started small. A tiny crack at the nail. A splinter you barely noticed. A torn cuticle you perhaps gnawed off yourself. Nothing that should occupy a person. Until out of nowhere a throbbing, hot pain appears. The finger swells. The skin pulls tight. The spot turns red, then dark red, then glassy. Pus gathers beneath the skin. Every heartbeat pounds into that one point. You can no longer move the finger without the pain shooting up to your shoulder. And at night, when you lie down and cannot lower your hand far enough, it keeps throbbing as if it had a life of its own.