My poor big toe… after yesterday’s grocery shopping, it was red and throbbing with pain. It reminds me a lot of the pain you feel from an ingrowing toenail, but it was more at the bottom right part of the toe where it hurt the most. Not sure how a toenail gets ingrown there… It was also somewhat swollen over the top of the toe at the base of the nail.
I tried putting Neosporin on it, but that didn’t help with the throbbing. Once I’d ate dinner and showered, I decided it was time to butcher my toenail and see if I could alleviate the pain. I do believe it is an ingrown toenail since lifting up on the nail on that side of my toe really increased the sharpness of the pain. This isn’t good because I can’t cut that part of my nail out. I might have to go to the doctor if it gets worse. I have had 2 or 3 ingrown toenails cut out when I was younger, but now I usually cut the edge of the nail out at the first sign of an issue. This toe hurt one day last week in that area, but the next day, it was gone.
I suppose this toenail will never be normal again. 🙁 Back in 2005, I tripped going down my parents’ steps on my way to work one morning (wearing sandals), and it knocked the nail loose from the nail bed. For years, I was able to cut half of that toenail off without it hurting because the nail would not reattach to the nail bed. I should have went to the doctor in hopes it wouldn’t be such an issue later, but I had no idea the troubles it would give me. I would have acrylic put on the nail when getting pedicures so it would look somewhat normal. Fungus started growing under and in the nail, and I thought I was doomed with never being able to have a French pedicure again. I even went to a podiatrist a few years ago and was given an oral medication to take for 3 months, along with a topical solution for the nail. That didn’t work.
Several months ago, I was at my wit’s end and did a little research online. Listerine was one of the suggestions for getting rid of fungus in nails. So, on 3 different occasions over 2 weeks, I dabbed Listerine on my toenail. It worked! The fungus cleared up (I don’t have a picture to show how bad it was at that time), and my nail was attaching to the nail bed for the first time in over 7 years. Unfortunately, it’s not completely cleared up.
I removed my nail polish so I could have a better look last night, and I guess the fungus is partially back on that side of the nail. The nail was also soft enough that I was able to cut more of the side of the nail away. After butchering it, I dripped Listerine on the toenail again, put a dab of Neosporin on it, and went to bed. By then, the throbbing had stopped. This morning, it feels much better, but we’ll see if the pain returns again. The picture below was taken this morning.
It almost looks like the right side of the nail bed at the base of the toe is bruised. I don’t know if that’s fungus taking over again or a bruise. I don’t remember hitting my toe on anything, but I am the forgetful one. Just the fact that I was able to cut away that much nail without it hurting tells me the fungus is not completely gone, so I’ll dab some Listerine on it once or twice a day and see how it turns out in a week or so.
I’m also concerned with ingrowing toenails on the top left part of my toe because the skin in that area isn’t flat. Therefore, when the nail starts to grow out, it doesn’t seem to want to go over the skin, but rather into the skin. *sigh* I will eventually figure out a permanent solution to this issue.