Acute Paronychia

The big debate s not what it is (paronychia) but whether it is acute or chronic.  Chronic paronychia, as we have seen previously, is a condition that is much like a guerilla war.  Little bit here, little bit there, but no great battles take place.  That is a result of the pathogenic, but not very pathogenic organism which causes chronic paronychia most of the time, and that is Candida sp.  

On the other hand (pun intended) we have acute paronychia.  It is a much more dramatic presentation (YIKES!!), hurts much more and may or may not shoot pus out of the side of the person's finger.  This demands intervention, in a big way.  So, for those of you who have read this far, what IS the intervention for acute paronychia?  One point.  Finally, the name of the organism which most commonly causes acute paronychia is Staph aureus, the golden staph, so named because of its appearance in culture.