Advice re VERY painful toenail please!

Hello all,

Never posted in here before. In fact never even been in this forum as Ultras frighten me....

Anyway, I did the Adidas 24 Hour Thunder Run thing at the weekend. Ran it as a pair, and I managed to run 15 laps so racked up 93 miles (very pleased with that). All ok afterwards too, except for a problem with my big toe nails. Both feet, but right one is killing me. I smacked my foot very hard and my nail will def come off in time, but not for a while. The bruising is starting to come out a bit but it's right at the base of my nail - at the very bottom. It's very very painful, as in can't walk properly painful. Can't even get my work shoes on either. I had a go at sliding a needle underneath the nail earlier and a load of liquidy stuff came out - helped a bit but not much. The real problem is further down than the needle will go.

Is there anything specific I can do to alleviate the symptoms, or is it a case of just being patient and letting the bruising come out? If it wasn't for this I'd be good to go again i think, so hoping to get it sorted. As much to take the pain away to be honest - it's killing me! I was going to carry on with the needle thing, but not sure if I'm best just leaving it?

I thought someone on here may have had a similar problem before, so just looking for any advice really.

Cheers image

Comments

  • "or is it a case of just being patient and letting the bruising come out?"

    yes - the most painful period is in the week following the cause of the bruising. then it will all calm down and the bruising will gradually come out and the nail will start the process of dropping off which takes months

    I'm not sure using a needle is a wise move as unless the needle is very sterile you could compound matters with an infection.

    best bet? go see a podiatrist or at least the GP to get a professional opinion. and take some painkillers!

    oh - and well done on the Thunder run
  • it's probably too late now as the blood will have clotted so no point doing the pin thing  as it won't move - you could try and gently file the nail on top, as in not the end of the nail but the surface, until you go through it, and then put a sterile dressing - commonly known as a plaster  - on it.  i have never actually tried this BTW image

    next time before you run - cut your nails short and then file them with the file going straight over the top of the nail - so away from your body rather then left to right along the nail until it feels completely smooth.  this will make it less of a lever with no nail to hit the end of your shoes.  might stop it happening again - i do do this, all the time image

  • if it's really bad - go to your GP/minor injuries unit/podiatrist (check first that they have a  local anaesthetic cert, not everyone does) and have the nail removed

  • LS21LS21 ✭✭✭

    Cheers all - some good advice there.

    I think I'm going to go with the 'leave well alone' advice and hope it sorts itself out in a few days. If I don't I'll make it worse, cos I'm a bit heavy handed!

    Some useful advice for next time though - cheers image

  • you can pop the cheque in the post

    image

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