Featured Image Credit: TikTok/@gabbyswierzewski_
Topics: Health, Social Media, TikTok, Hospital
Poppy Bilderbeck
Topics: Health, Social Media, TikTok, Hospital
A TikToker has spoken out online to share an 'important message' after nearly 'losing her finger'.
On February 16, Gabby Swierzewski took to her social media channel to share an urgent warning with followers.
Her video shows her lying in a hospital bed, mask covering her face and the caption read: "I'm going to lose my finger or nail (hope it's my nail)."
In conversation with Tyla, the 21-year-old reveals the issue with her finger first began when she started experiencing a build-up of 'swelling' by February 7.
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By the next day, she kept finding herself getting her finger 'jammed' and realised just how 'big it really was'.
Gabby quickly reached out to her primary doctor and was put on antibiotics and 'an ointment'.
Worryingly her finger only got worse and despite a trip to urgent care with more antibiotics prescribed, she was struck by 'the worst pain' she 'had ever experienced' by mid-February.
But what had caused it in the first place?
Well, Gabby reveals her habit of biting her finger nails led to her finger getting infected.
And it became so badly infected, she ended up feeling the pain all the way to her arm, detailing a 'throbbing' sensation.
Gabby decided to drive herself to the emergency room and had multiple cyst-like abscesses drained from her finger.
The TikToker was then referred to a specialist and had to undergo urgent irrigation and debridement procedure under general anesthesia to full clear the infection.
She reflects: "The scalpel treatments before the surgery to try and fix the infection were tough, both the urgent care and the emergency care put me on local anaesthesia, but I felt the blade cut into my finger and underneath my nail bed which was extremely painful and uncomfortable, as well as the pain afterwards."
However, the incident wasn't over just yet, with tissue and blood samples then being sent to a lab to figure out whether Gabby's infection had spread to the bone.
Gabby recalls: "The uncertainty of not knowing whether or not I would lose my finger was also tough mentally."
Thankfully, Gabby didn't end up needing another surgery or amputation.
However, she explains she was left with 'nerve damage due to the stress that [her] finger had gone through'.
"I could not feel anything other than stretching when I bent down, my finger also began to peel due to the extent of the damage, it also presented a purplish/blackish tint for two weeks after the procedure," she explains.
Gabby details she's been biting her nails since she was eight years old and she's only been able to stop since going through the ordeal.
And it's left Gabby desperate to warn others too.
She admits she still gets 'the urge' to bite her nails and has to 'catch' herself to 'stop it,' but she certainly doesn't 'bite hard anymore'.
Gabby has since realised her nail biting could've been making her sick in the past too.
The TikToker recalls: "I had gotten sick a lot when I was in grade school, and I truly believe it was due to the fact that your nail beds hold a lot of bacteria, when you bite your nails, you’re also ingesting germs or your germs from your mouth are going underneath your nail bed."
Her best advice? "Find a healthier habit instead or maybe a remedy to stop," she says.
Gabby urges: "The most important message I have for fellow nail biters is to try and stop. I believe it’s a compulsive behavioural habit, one needs to begin with finding out the root cause and trying to pick up a healthier habit instead. This is serious stuff."