Foreign body beneath a fingernail

Dear Ask The Doctor: I got a piece of metal or plastic under my fingernail about a year ago now it is shaped funny and turned green and smelling

Dear Brad: Your problem now is that the piece of metal or plastic under your fingernail is acting as a “foreign body” and producing a reaction beneath the nail in which the debris are leading to a nailbed infection. I strongly recommend you to go to the Hand Surgeon specialist before the infection gets worse.