A foreign body, such as a paint chip or sliver, lodged beneath the fingernail can be removed by first shaving off the overlying nail with a scalpel blade. For a sliver, small scissors can be used to cut out a wedge of nail after applying a digital block for anesthesia. The nailbed should then be cleaned and dressed with antibiotic ointment until healed. Simply pulling on the foreign body is unwise as debris left behind could cause infection.