i think my left big toe may be infected

[Malibu, CA]

the left side of the left big toe is yellow and swollen. are there any home remedies?

(srry no pictures)

[Canadia142]

delete+ban the toe. No more worries

[Raistlin Majere]

the left side of the left big toe is yellow and swollen. are there any home remedies?

(srry no pictures)

Is it around the edge of a nail?

Does it hurt when it is touched?

It sounds like an ingrown toenail. Pour some peroxide onit and let it fizz while you schedual a doctors appointment, you might need it removed.

[{KOW}Spazed]

If it is more of a cut then you could soak it in epsom salts and warm water.


Sounds like an ingrown toenail though, chop it off, it is the only way to go.

[Raistlin Majere]

If it is more of a cut then you could soak it in epsom salts and warm water.


Sounds like an ingrown toenail though, chop it off, it is the only way to go.

No, NO, NO! go to the doctor, you at least get DRUGS!!!

[th5418]

Maybe your nail is rotting.....

[faultless wonderboy]

If it is more of a cut then you could soak it in epsom salts and warm water.


Sounds like an ingrown toenail though, chop it off, it is the only way to go.
Yeah, yellow puss + great pain when you look at it too hard (not to mention touching it) sounds like an ingrown nail. The salts and peroxide works to slow it down, but it wont stop coming...you need the doctor. I had to have one remove, it sucked at the time, but the pain was unbearable. I had a small surgery and Im good as new.

[piff]

My left big toe is for me too, I think. It's yellowish and the nail is weak and brittle. The underside of the toe is crusty and pealing. I'm pretty sure that's sign of infection.

[adamfgt78]

the left side of the left big toe is yellow and swollen. are there any home remedies?

(srry no pictures)

As others have stated, it might be an in-grown toenail. Though in my experience, they have always been on the outer side of the toenail, not the inside. Do you get a real sharp pain when you press down on your toenail? If so, then it is ingrown. It will likely not heal on its own since the wound constantly has something poking into it (the toenail). You can use anti-bacterial stuff, but the wound won't heal until you actually stop the toenail from stabbing into the flesh.

I've found a trick for it to be able to heal. Tear off a bit of cotton from a cotton ball and roll it into a cylinder type shape that is maybe 1" by 1/8 - 1/16". Tuck part of it under under the toenail on the affected side and then tuck the other end between the flesh and side of the toenail. Try to tuck the middle of the cotton under the corner of the toenail. This will lift up the toenail a bit and allow a buffer between the toenail and the wound so it can heal. The relief from the pain will also be immediate. If this doesn't work or if you think the infection is too bad, I would see a doctor. Before I learned this trick, I had to have two minor surgeries to remove half my toenail and also get oral antibiotics because the infection was so bad.

If you don't think its an ingrown toenail, are there any other wounds or is the skin intact?

piff, that sounds like you've got a fungii thing going on there.

[Canadia142]

holy crap surgery for ingrown toe nails? Was it just one of those where they give you some novacain(or whatever they use) to numb the toe then chop it up or do they acually put you out?

[adamfgt78]

holy crap surgery for ingrown toe nails? Was it just one of those where they give you some novacain(or whatever they use) to numb the toe then chop it up or do they acually put you out?

They just numb it with novacain and then cut/rip out that side of the toenail. I purposefully didn't watch it, but I could see he was mopping up quite a bit of blood. And have you ever gotten a shot in the toe? Quite painful since there is virtually no flesh or fat to inject into.

[SomeCanadianGuy]

They just numb it with novacain and then cut/rip out that side of the toenail. I purposefully didn't watch it, but I could see he was mopping up quite a bit of blood. And have you ever gotten a shot in the toe? Quite painful since there is virtually no flesh or fat to inject into.
I got lucky... My nail grew in such a way that I knew it was ingrown and infected, but it caused me no pain whatsoever, unless I intentionally pushed inward from the side. So, considering it didn't bother me unless I tried to cause myself pain, I let it be.

After about 6 months, I decided it was time to get it out. After 6 months of having that problem, though, my toe had changed to accomodate the different pressure being set upon it, so it had grown more fleshy. It's still a bit larger, but it's fine. :lol: Anyways, fact is, after 6 months, the nail was pretty much rotten, but still growing. The doc just cut it down the middle, saving half my toe nail, and yanked out the ingrown half. No blood came from the ingrown part because the nail was essentially dead. And afterwards, there was very minimal pain. I apparently got lucky with respects to that.

Only problem is I got screwed. A few months later, the other half of the nail became ingrown.... :rant: So that was kinda crappy... :lol:

Anyways, best of luck to ya with your toe problem, and I'd say get it looked at as fast as you can. It'll only hurt more the longer you wait.

[Malibu, CA]

I've found a trick for it to be able to heal. Tear off a bit of cotton from a cotton ball and roll it into a cylinder type shape that is maybe 1" by 1/8 - 1/16". Tuck part of it under under the toenail on the affected side and then tuck the other end between the flesh and side of the toenail. Try to tuck the middle of the cotton under the corner of the toenail. This will lift up the toenail a bit and allow a buffer between the toenail and the wound so it can heal.
i cant seem to get that piece of cotton under my nail

[adamfgt78]

i cant seem to get that piece of cotton under my nail

Is your toenail too short perhaps? I guess just do your best to tuck it in along the side. That should at least help a bit.

They say that to prevent ingrown toenails you're supposed to cut your nail straight across and not curved and short, which is a bit counter-intuitive and tends to snag your socks.

[piff]

I remember my ingrown toenail. I thought it was kinda cool to see my toe covered in blood but not actually feel it. But I'm a weird kinda kid, too.

Next time I see the doctor I do plan on having him look at my toe, but it's not causing any pain, so it must not be all that bad.

EDIT: Cutting straight across doesn't do a damn thing. I've been cutting straight across since my last ingrown, and I'm developing two more. I cut straight across anyway, just incase it does something, but it really doesn't seem to. And I solved the problem of them catching on your socks and such. Use a nail file. It smells some unless you just washed, but it works incredibly well.

[Raistlin Majere]

They can cut around it and pull the stabbing part out, and if that does not work, they will follow the very edge all the way to the growth nerves and cripple a small section of the nails ability to regenerate. I had it done. The nail will over time will fix its appearance and look as if there was never an infection.

If the infection is fungual, DO NOT use salts, the water will add to its growth.

the worse part of both surgeries is the injection of painkillers. After that, all you feel is slight pressure, reading can distract you, or some music to get adrinaline going.

[theBlackKnight]

Knaw your foot off.

[Raistlin Majere]

Knaw your foot off.

Works for animals :thumbsup:

[ZeppelinAngel]

grow a set and just cut your damn toe off.. it's the only real solution

anyway.. i prevent the insides of my big toes from becomming ingrown by being careful of cutting my nail too short and by running either a small nail file or my fingernail under the edge of the nail/between my skin every so often, keeps it seperated nicely

[Raistlin Majere]

Mine got infected when I cutted my own toenail with surgical scissiors. Guess I did not clean them good enough...

[Malibu, CA]

Is your toenail too short perhaps? I guess just do your best to tuck it in along the side. That should at least help a bit.

They say that to prevent ingrown toenails you're supposed to cut your nail straight across and not curved and short, which is a bit counter-intuitive and tends to snag your socks.
nvm i got the piece of cotton into the corner of the nail.

[theBlackKnight]

So you didnt take my non professional advice and chew off your own foot? Darn.

[Jimmeh]

ive got it again, same place as you but ive had it like 3 times over the last 5 years..
best way ive found to get it out is to bend a paperclip and insert it into the left part of your toe and scoop all the **** out then dig along the front to the bit of nail so it sticks out, then jus rip out the stabbing bit..
only works if its been there for like a week

[Madness]

I get it quite alot.
Usually in the inner side of my big toes.
I never got any surgery. Instead, I cut them out myself. Sure it hurts a bit, but its not that horrible.
You need to lift the part of the nail thats ingrown, find a way to keep it up while you cut it.
You know you got it all out because theres a great relief in the pain. After that, it might take a while to heal, since theres a wound there, but after a day or three its all fine.

[Anakha1]

I had an ingrown toenail the other day. I just pulled it out.

[theBlackKnight]

Savages! Play it humane and chew off your feet!

Actually, I cut out the 1 and only ingrown toenail I had just as it was even beginning to hurt.