Big Toe Nail infection?
 

Ok so right before X-mas I went to get a pedicure. Not my usual place but it was the holidays and I was rushed.

That woman dug deep and I thought did a good job. And after that since we went back east and it was cold I wore a lot of boots once in particular where my toes are a little jammed up at the front of the boot. But hey they look good :D


But within the last couple of months the left big toe nail stopped growing. The skin around it from the side to the bottom was sore and puffy.

Fast forward to this weekend. I went back to my usual palce for a pedicure before vacation and my gal said 1. it looked like I had a ingrown toe nail. 2. She did not see a fungal infection but she coudl see that the skin around was sore and pffy and unlike the other normal toe where you could see the edges and the cuticle here you could not.

So she cleaned up the ingrown toe. And told me to treat with Neosporin for 2 months twice a day or tree tea oil.

Any other suggestions anyone? I dont really want to see a podriatrist but will if necessary. It is better after the ingrown toenail was fixed.

Thanks
Shelley

Suggestions?

Ummmmm, if I were you I wouldn't do ballet practice for at least a week. Those toe shoes can be murder on ingrown toenails. ;) Good luck, Shelley! :D

Hahahahhahaha Twinkle. Ok no toe shoes for me!

since when
 

do manicure technicians fix ingrown toenails?

Pour some hydrogen peroxide antiseptic 3% over your nail...does it bubble up?

People who wear tight shoes, compress the toenail, and it can cause the bone underneath to make a spur. Then with further tight situations, this spur stabs upwards, and causes great problems. Being in a job with 13 hr days for decades on my feet I have had many foot issues. An Xray will show this. Last time my toe flared up, I thought I had an infection, went to the podiatrist, and bingo..there was this nasty spur. She wanted to remove my nail. FOREVER. Well, I couldn't part with it LOL and kept it, and just bought wide shoes from then on. It never happened again.

But you know a poor hygiene manicure can introduce crap for you to deal with later. Even podiatrists can do this to you. I had an ingrown nail and went to a podiatrist and he insisted on foot baths (after the second one I caught on that this was a billing fraud to insurance and left). But both of my big toes got plantar's warts under the nails from HIM. I cured them myself, (long story),
but I am always very vigilant about anyone working on MY FEET now.

So Shelley you could have an infection there, bacterial, fungal, or viral (plantars warts)... or a big nasty spur that you never thought you had!

I bet you are sorry you asked now? :yikes:

Thanks Mrsd.

I will say the boots I was wearing were awfully tight and that toe often hit the front of the boot.

I will do the hydrogen peroxide test and see if I bubble. Although sometimes I am very bubbly :D:p

Thanks for the info.

Now how did you cure the bone spur?

spurs are for life...
 

and they are nasty buggers. Lying in wait to stab you and create agony.

They don't go away to the best of my knowledge.

The next invention, to cure spurs, will make some drug company very
rich! :p

Shelley...I'm sorry that you are going through this. It is something that has been of concern to me actually.

I have heard that it is a good idea to buy your own pedicure kit and when going to get a pedicure, take the kit with you and insist on them using it. Then, when you get home...wash it well (alcohol, etc.) and put it away for next time. Still no guarantees, since there is almost always a foot bath involved. I suppose one could rinse their feet off with peroxide when they got home for extra good measure.

I used to be a nail technician and we were taught to sterilize everything very carefully, but some places might not always do it properly, depends on the place, but I got out of it because of hair chemical fumes getting to me. Anyway, that idea sounds smart to me Vowel Lady. Good call. :D

Oh Yeah!!
 

I had a pedicure last year and we used one of those big whirlpool chairs. Beautiful job and I watched it verrrddddy carefully. But then about a month later I noticed the nails were turning black under the polish. Went back and we took the polish off and both tonails were black. Nasty fungus we think and both big toenails came off. But I have neuropathy and can't feel my big toes. We don't think it was shoes that were too small because I wear sandals most of the time.

But another thing thrown into the mixing pot was the public swimming pool and locker room. Even tho I tried to be very careful and stand on my own towel to change clothes, ...who knows. I'm inclined to think it was the whirlpool chair. Even tho I watched the tech pour pure bleach into the chair and toss her tools into it after working on me. She was such a sweet little thing and married to a State Trooper. She said they are required to do this and let it soak for a set period of time. But I think those chairs can breed stuff that nothing will kill. Plus my immune system is terrible.

We use bleach in our showers here now and also spray Lysol on the floor of the shower after my husband's shower. He has athletes foot compliments of the U.S. navy.

Now I take my own footbath (plain wash basin plastic tub) and my own tools also......my own nail polishes. The podiatrist said it was possible to catch fungus from a nail brush used on someone who has the fungus and then used on you. It's been a year and I've got one big Toenail back and the other one is halfway back. I've got my fingers ...and toes crossed. :p

Billye

Do the Hydrogren Perioxide and also soak your foot in epsom salt. It will help! Make sure you keep air circulating on the toe....no tight shoes or closed toed shoes, if you can. Neosporin is a good antibiotic to help clear it up.

Good luck.