busted my toe

[biblobaggins23]

i tripped and busted my toe. my toenail hurts, and i'm afraid to pick at it because the pedicurist said it was loose and could fall off. its the second toe next to the big one. it hurts and at work i'm always on my feet. what should i do? its gonna grow back right?

 

[sunkist]

Ouch! it gives me shivers thinking about it, but sure it will grow back. Don''t worry! But if it''s loose and just sitting there be careful, you don''t want to accidently snag it and have it tear off! Now that would kill! If it really is loose and about to fall off, I might just carefully snip it off myself. But i''m not a Dr. so... don''t listen to me

 

[strmrdr]

http://walking.about.com/od/blisterfoot/a/blacktoenail.htm

 

[movie zombie]

did you bust the whole toe or just the nail? i''ve done both......

when you can keep your foot up and do things to get the swelling down. if its the nail only and its black with swelling, what you can do and i''ve done this but its best done right at the time of injury: sterilize a very sharp and thin pin/needle to puncture through the nail. it relieves the presssure from swelling. i learned this trick from the wife of a chief doctor at stanford ER. be careful as you will also hit the tender flesh beneath the nail. it hurts! but if its been hours already, it might not help. however, this was better than the time a doctor tried it and it didn''t work, then he ripped the nail off. my whole foot was swollen though and immediately after the initial pain shock the toe started to hurt less.

if you actually broke the toe, you can splint it to the toe next to it, not the big toe though. i''ve done this and was told that''s all ER would do for it anyway.

don''t envy you....good luck.

movie zombie

 

[Mara]

your toenail will definitely grow back but i dont know about leaving it on there? you might want to call and ask an advice nurse at your doctor or your hospital?

also, interesting factoid but i read that you can easily break a toe on the foot and walk around with it broken and not even know it''s BROKEN. you might just think it hurts. i guess our feet are pretty resilient...so now whenever i stub a toe i am all paranoid it''s broken and i don''t know it and i''m going to end up with a crooked toe. so far not...but hehee...it doesn''t keep me from worrying. if it continues to hurt i''d get it checked out for sure.

 

[Tybee]

If the nail is black and painful, I would definitely take moviezombie''s advice and drain it with a needle. I''ve done it before. I usually soak the toe in really warm water. I''ve only doneit when the ache in the toe is way worse than the fear of the needle. There will be tremendous relief once the build up of blood underneath is drained.. (yuck, right?)

A friend of mine is a doctor, she says that you should try to keep the nail on as long as possible to protect the nail bed, but it WILL eventually come off.

I lost my BIG toe nail just a few months before my wedding last summer (I actually had a thread about it.) Let me tell you honestly, it will grow back, but it takes a really long time. My wedding was in July, and my big toe nail is just growing back.

Having spent a lot of time on athletic fields in cleats... I have lost a lot of toe nails. It''s always a painful experience! Good luck to you!

 

[biblobaggins23]

my nail hurts...the pedicurist didn''t touch it cause she said if she did it would fall off. do you think i should go get it removed? its wearing the shoes and standing all day thats the painful part.

 

[TravelingGal]

why don''t you try asking a doctor?

 

[aussiegirl23]

Date: 12/19/2006 9:04:34 PM
Author: TravelingGal
why don''t you try asking a doctor?

TG... remember this is the girl who started a thread about "Should bridesmaids complain about the dresses" before even talking to those bridesmaids, having already made up her mind about certain (perhaps very pricey) dresses...

Asking THE APPROPRIATE person... at the appropriate time doesn''t seem to be her style

Not trying to be a bitch -- but we''ve suggested ways of dealing with this without a doctor... it still hurts. we can''t fix it, or pre-emptively keep your bridesmaids from complaining...

VISIT a doctor : )

Aussie : p

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 12/19/2006 9:11:56 PM
Author: aussiegirl23

Date: 12/19/2006 9:04:34 PM
Author: TravelingGal
why don''t you try asking a doctor?

TG... remember this is the girl who started a thread about ''Should bridesmaids complain about the dresses'' before even talking to those bridesmaids, having already made up her mind about certain (perhaps very pricey) dresses...

Asking THE APPROPRIATE person... at the appropriate time doesn''t seem to be her style

Not trying to be a bitch -- but we''ve suggested ways of dealing with this without a doctor... it still hurts. we can''t fix it, or pre-emptively keep your bridesmaids from complaining...

VISIT a doctor : )

Aussie : p

LOL...

Well, my thoughts were more like, stop wearing shoes and standing if it hurts. People who employ her should understand she''s in pain and be understanding. But really, going to the doctor would be the best bet.

Now if I had an injured toe, my live in boyfriend would be able to take care of me.

 

[aussiegirl23]

okay, trying to be nicer...

-try (at least after work) to elevate your foot as much as possible to reduce some swelling/pain

-wear looser-fitting shoes... or sandals if possible (yes, I know it''s December)

-make sure the area is clean -- possibly put a bandaid on it loosely...

-take some Advil, aspirin, etc... lots of water

-DON''T pick at it by yourself (or let your pedicure lady do it)

-call your doctor/health plan/clinic/ nurse advice line in the morning

-cheer up... they grow back just fine, and only take a few months... it hurts like hell now, I''m sure, but once you seek some medical help, they''ll be able to make it feel better.... I promise

sending good toe-nail vibes!

Aussie : p

 

[Kaleigh]

I''d call your doc in the AM, I''m sure it will grow back. In the meantime just flush it with some hydrogen peroxide and wrap some gauze around it loosely. Good luck!!

 

[coda72]

Well, I had a black toenail that I got when I was training for a half marathon, and I have to admit I didn''t ever go to the doctor for it. If it''s loose, I would probably try to cut it off then disinfect it and wrap a bandage around it. My toenail never became loose and wasn''t really painful either. So I let a new toenail grow out, but the only problem was it started to grow over top of the black nail. So I ended up having to cut almost my entire nail off if I didn''t want to have a black toenail forever. Toenails do take a long time to grow back. I cut my nail off a few months ago, and I still only have half of a nail.

 

[TravelingGal]

Coda, I have been meaning to dig through the WWTs to see how your half marathon went. Did you post about it and can you note the link? I really wanted to know if you liked it!

 

[coda72]

TG, I posted about the half marathon here:

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/weekly-workout-thread-18th-sept-till-24th-sept.50979/=

It was a great experience, but I can''t say I liked it! It was something I wanted to do, and I did it, but at times it was very painful. I''m going to set myself up for double the punishment next year by running a marathon!

 

[Tybee]

NOt to threadjack, but WOW girl, that was a great 1/2 marathon time! I''m jealous! We couldn''t break two hours on ours. DH slowed me down (LOL!-- just kidding, there''s no way I could have run it faster.) Guess I need to train a little harder for our second one together! Thanks for giving me a goal.

 

[IrishAngel7982]

I broke two toes in high school...hurt like hell and both toenails fell off, but they grew back. Most of the time, the top of the nail will just fall off leaving the nail bed in tact, so when your nail comes off your toe isn''t an open sore (usually, I hope this is the case for you.) I actually ripped one of them off because it got so annoying. If your toe is broken, which it probably is if it hurts so badly, tape it up for a while. That''s really all you can do. Definitely call the doctor to make sure there isn''t damage to any bones in your foot, but I broke the same toe you did and it''ll take a while to heal (especially if you''re stubborn like me and decide to get through pointe routines while in pain!)

 

[TravelingGal]

Wow Coda, that is AWESOME! What a time to finish! I never did a half but wish I did that before my full. I finished the halfway point in a bit under 2.5 hours, which was great for me because I wanted to finish the full in about 5 hours (didn't quite happen that way). Got love those shorter asian legs...

Congrats!!!

ETA, not sure if anyone told you, but it's worse than double the punishment...more like quadruple.

When you train for that full, you'll find that the first 13-16 miles is actually kind of fun (but I was trotting along). Can't wait to hear you you do for your full...if you run in Hawaii you'll have double the people to run with!

 

[asscherisme]

I would be taking advice from a doctor not someone who gives pedicures no matter how great those pedicures may be. Unless she has a medical degree I would not be taking her word for it.

 

[Cheekyprincess]

I have just lost and regrown both of my big toe nails (due to wearing ill fitting shoes). One of the got infected because I cut it where it had lifted up, then it started to become ingrown. Youch! it was painful- but almost all regrown now, just in time for my wedding.

If it is black, throbbing, painful and hot and swollen. You should take above advice of piercing with a needle. Soak your toe in warm water containing disinfectant. Sterilise the needle, when you are piercing the nail, slowly drill the needle (turining it) into the nail- it is much better to do it yourself, as you can judge when the needle is through the nail. Seriously it wont hurt if the needle is sharp, your screw it in, and you go slowly.

If the nail is loose/falling off- go to the Dr or face the horrible infection/ingrown nail like I had. (Painful and ugly)

 

[biblobaggins23]

thanks guys! seeing the doc in the midday!

 

[coda72]

Thanks, TG and Tybee. I honestly wanted to finish a little faster, but I just didn''t train enough to do that. But really anyone who can complete 13 miles and especially 26 miles, should be proud of themselves.

TG, I know that the marathon is really, really hard. I''ve been reading about it for a while, and I''ve read that the first 20 miles is not bad, but the last 6 are extremely difficult. Did you find that to be the case? I was going to do the Maui Marathon, but I think I''ll end up doing one closer to where I live 99% of the time, either the Baltimore one or the Erie one. I start training in April, and I would like to do one long run of at least 23 miles, so I know what it feels like after the 20 mile mark. So, hopefully my training will go well enough to allow me to do that.

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 12/21/2006 6:42:49 AM
Author: coda72
Thanks, TG and Tybee. I honestly wanted to finish a little faster, but I just didn''t train enough to do that. But really anyone who can complete 13 miles and especially 26 miles, should be proud of themselves.

TG, I know that the marathon is really, really hard. I''ve been reading about it for a while, and I''ve read that the first 20 miles is not bad, but the last 6 are extremely difficult. Did you find that to be the case? I was going to do the Maui Marathon, but I think I''ll end up doing one closer to where I live 99% of the time, either the Baltimore one or the Erie one. I start training in April, and I would like to do one long run of at least 23 miles, so I know what it feels like after the 20 mile mark. So, hopefully my training will go well enough to allow me to do that.

Yes, they say that the last 6 are very very hard...which is precisely what made miles 18-20 tough for me...knowing I''d be facing the hardest 6 when I was already pooped anyway.

My first marathon I ran in 90 degree heat. My body did very strange things due to the heat and it was horrible. Still I managed to run the first 13 on track...but because of such high water intake, I had to take a bathroom break at 13, which was the death of me. I think I had to walk on and off about 3-4 miles in the next half but managed to run the entire last mile or mile and a half of the marathon to the finish.

Second one was perfect weather. I ran slower and enjoyed myself and the first 16 were a breeze. We walked a half mile breather at 16 (I did this one with a cousin of mine). Walked another very short mental breather at 20 then powered through to about 23, where my cousin''s knee gave out. Another half mile walk there and then powered through to the finish line. It was a much more fun race.

If you run to beat a time (which is hard not to do as we are so used to looking at the clock in training) it''s hard and a bit stressful. The second time I never looked at my watch...just enjoyed the fact that I was running a marathon...something I did not do the first time.

BTW, I only ran a 20 in practice...2 more miles than the recommended 18. If you can do a 23, that would put you in great shape!