Toe-rrific!

Prior to going to Tampa on vacation March 3rd. I had a pedicure Wednesday night (March 2nd) at Pinkie's Nail Salon. My toe was a little sore that night and I didn't want to have any issues with it so I went out to Walgreen's and bought a travel peroxide spray and packed some Neosporin ointment and Bandaids.

I cleaned and dressed it twice a day on vacation. When I returned home on Sunday night..I left it alone and Monday morning I was working so didn't do anything with it. BIG MISTAKE!  By Monday night by toe was so sore and inflamed I could hardly walk on it. I soaked it in epsom salts and dressed it up for the night. Wednesday morning it looked even worse. I called my podiatrist, Robert Taylor @ Stonebriar Foot & Ankle. That office happened to be closed for spring break so I called Jackie to get a referral of the person she saw a year ago. I called the office of Dr Sandra Gold and was able to get it on Wednesday afternoon due to a cancellation.This podiatrist, performed some surgery on my foot - removed part of my nail, drained the infection and put silver nitrate in there to prevent the two from growing in that spot. She also cultured the drainage to check for type of infection.

Thursday morning I removed the dressing and it still looked awful. Friday night was girls wreath making but I did manage to soak it and dress it.  Saturday/Sunday I soaked and dressed it  The following Monday it was still sore and oozing infection. I had an appt with my usual podiatrist. He confirmed it was not good! He gave me a steroid shot in the toe and gave me oral steroids to take. After a week, the toe was still red next to the toe nail and swollen and pain continued in to the joint of the toe.

 On March 23rd, I went back to Dr Gold for my 2 week check-up. The toe was still painful. She did another debridement, applied more silver nitrate (which makes that area turn black). She states my culture was negative but that the drainage doesn't always grow something in 24-48 hours as toe bacteria takes longer to show up on a culture. She prescribed Dicloxicillin for continued infection.

 

It's been another week - March 30th. The swelling and redness have subsided.

The area that was red/swollen has now peeled with fresh skin below.
The toe is no longer painful.

 I have no idea how long it will take the black part of the nail to go away. Probably will have to wait until the nail grows out. YIKES!!

I will not be getting a pedicure anytime soon.