If your toe hurts near the nail, then remember if you hit it recently. If not, it could be a sign of infection or developing nail fungus.
From the moment Homo sapiens began to walk upright, the heaviest load always falls on the legs. Due to certain reasons, we are faced with a number of unpleasant moments that prevent us from moving freely and doing our usual things. One of these unpleasant moments is pain in the nails of the big toes. It is almost impossible to independently understand the reasons why your thumbnail hurts; this can only be done by a competent specialist with the help of special equipment and experience. Let's try to make a few assumptions regarding what could cause pain in the big toe and the area around the nail.
If your toe hurts near the nail, then most likely this condition was caused by injury or mechanical damage to the skin. Sometimes this happens due to wearing tight shoes. The cause may also be ingrown nails. If the irritating factor is not eliminated in time, the pain will intensify and recur, as a result, an inflammatory process may begin and suppuration may appear.
Very often, female representatives of the big toe hurt, especially those who love high heels. As a rule, arthritis and arthrosis are caused by this factor. Due to constant curvature, the thumb begins to become deformed and hurt. If we talk about the male population, pain in the leg near the nail can be caused by gout. This is a very serious disease that requires immediate diagnosis and quality treatment.
Another cause of toe pain can be nail fungus. The easiest way to catch this infection is to wear wet socks, walk in someone else's shoes, or stand barefoot in a public pool or sauna. Fortunately, modern medicine can fight this infection and offers a huge number of antifungal drugs that can be bought at every pharmacy.
Regular exercise can also cause pain in the thumb area. The calf raise is one of the main exercises in almost all sports. With regular physical activity, a person may not even notice how negatively it affects his feet, in particular his toes.
In the summer, a common reason why your toe may hurt near the nail is failure to comply with personal hygiene rules. If you do not constantly remove the rough skin and soften it on the side of the nails, it will begin to harden. Due to awkward movements, the skin near the nail may crack and bleed. This will cause pain first. The second point concerns infections that can be contracted if a crack in the thumb comes into contact with dirt or dust. If your toe is swollen, red, or pus is coming out of your toe, you can be sure that you have an infection and should see a doctor immediately.
The nail on the big toe can become painful due to an improperly performed pedicure. Beauty salons do not always sterilize objects, and by cutting the cuticle on the big toe, an inexperienced specialist can damage the surrounding tissue and cause infection. In principle, at home you yourself may accidentally encounter this problem by cutting your nails incorrectly.
As for diagnostic procedures, a qualified and experienced doctor will not need them, since the symptoms of the disease speak for themselves. In addition to his assumptions, the doctor may ask you to donate blood for a general and biochemical analysis to rule out systemic diseases. A person may feel a number of symptoms, which should be reported to the doctor, as a specialist will help choose the right treatment regimen. Among the symptoms that accompany the presence of pain around the toenail are:
Further treatment will be aimed at eliminating the cause that is causing the pain in the toe. If you stop only the pain syndrome, then after a few days it will appear again. Based on the cause, the doctor will prescribe treatment, and it can be different:
If the big toe hurts, especially near the nail, then this is usually accompanied by suppuration, and the main goal of treatment will be to remove the pus.
If you do not suffer from diabetes, you can try the cleansing procedure at home. Take a small vessel into which you pour boiling water and salt. When the water is at a tolerable temperature, dip your painful toe into it. The longer you keep your fingers in the water, the better. This will soften the rough skin on your legs, and it will be easier to remove the purulent masses that have accumulated during inflammation. When the skin turns white and softens, you can lightly press on the area of suppuration and the abscess will burst. If this does not happen, there is no need to make special efforts; you need to repeat the same procedure until this happens. If the pus comes out, treat your finger with iodine, alcohol, brilliant green or other antiseptic. If the abscess has not broken through, then after the bath you should apply Vishnevsky ointment or ichthyol ointment to your finger. These medications can draw out suppuration. It is very important to change bandages with ointments on time, which will draw out the pus, so as not to steam the nail and not to infect even more areas of healthy skin with infection.
I would also like to note that, as a result of the inflammatory process, certain areas of the skin begin to gradually die and the nail plate is rejected. The nail will eventually fall off and a new one will take several months to form. Such a situation will cause not only physical pain, but also aesthetic discomfort, because by wearing shoes with open toes, you will attract the attention of others and feel awkward because of this defect.
If after such procedures your toe still hurts, then all you can do is visit a doctor. It is impossible to cope with this situation without qualified help. If the disease is left to chance, inflammation of the leg bones may develop. Since this disease is difficult to treat, doctors often have to remove the inflamed area of bone. An even more serious consequence of not treating swollen and painful fingers around the nails is inflammation of the tendons of the lower extremities. That is why, if you cannot remove the abscess and pus on your own, consult a doctor: he will use a scalpel to open the affected area and clean the area around the nail. There is no need to be afraid: there are a huge number of painkillers available to prevent you from feeling pain.
Under no circumstances should you pierce the purulent sac with a needle or try to open the wound yourself with sharp scissors. Not only will you cause yourself a lot of pain, but you will also complicate the situation even more. It is precisely such rash actions that lead to urgent hospitalization and partial disability. Be prudent, do not put your health at even greater risk and trust your treatment to people who understand this.
What to do when your toenail hurts? Many people have faced a similar situation. We will talk to you about the causes of such pain. Nails are protective formations on the fingers that are designed to protect the fingers from various mechanical damage. These plates, despite the strength intended for them by nature, are susceptible to many diseases. Let's try to identify some of the causes of pain in the nail plate.
From an anatomical point of view, the legs are considered the most vulnerable place of a person. Pain in the nail is often accompanied by bleeding and inflammation of soft tissues. Pain increases when walking, especially in a situation where the shoes are narrow and uncomfortable. Tissue damage can lead to purulent discharge and swelling.
The nail most often grows on the big toe, and this disorder is accompanied by very severe pain. The swollen and reddened skin surrounding an ingrown toenail is easily susceptible to infection. Ingrown toenails are especially dangerous for people with arthritis, diabetes and poor circulation in the lower extremities. In this case, the absence of treatment is fraught with gangrene.
Since the nails perform a protective function, they take on the full force of the load during mechanical impact on the toes. Often, prolonged pain is caused by a pinched phalanx or a torn nail. Once damaged, the nail may darken and later break off. Complete replacement of the plate occurs only after a few months.
If, due to the type of work a person does, he spends a long time on his feet, his toenails are at risk of becoming loose. Wearing shoes that are larger than necessary especially affects loosening. Sliding when walking, the foot slips, as a result of which the tips of the nail plate are damaged. This creates pain. If your toenail hurts , the problem may be caused by a heavy object falling on your foot. With a minor injury, the pain goes away on its own after a few days. If the bruise affects more than a third of the nail plate, only a specialist can provide the necessary assistance.
Onychocryptosis - ingrown nails - is the most common situation. It is characterized by ingrowth of the nail plate into the lateral edge of the nail fold.
The toenail may also hurt after an improperly done pedicure or when wearing tight shoes. In addition, the causes of pain can be flat feet, nail fungus, orthopedic pathology of the feet, or congenital predisposition.
One of the signs of arthritis is periodic pain that occurs at night. At the same time, with a specific type of such disease, the pain is concentrated in one finger. This allows us to analyze the nature of the disease. For example, pain in the thumb indicates the presence of reactive or psoriatic arthritis.
Pay attention to toenail pain in a timely manner, identify the causes, and, if necessary, consult a doctor.
Any pain in the legs causes a lot of inconvenience and disappointment. It is especially unpleasant if the nail on your big toe hurts. It would seem that such a small part of the body cannot cause many problems. However, pain not only causes discomfort, but can also be very dangerous. The slightest nail damage should be treated quickly and efficiently, and this is best done by qualified doctors.
Nails protect fingers from possible damage, but they themselves are sometimes exposed to various types of injuries and diseases. They hurt for various reasons: from a sedentary lifestyle, from too much stress on the feet, and even from uncomfortable shoes:
Whatever the cause of pain in the big toes, only a doctor can identify the problem, make a correct diagnosis and prescribe adequate treatment.
You should not treat yourself; homemade lotions may not only not help, but also cause harm. And it is very easy to start inflammation under the nail. The consequences can be the most dire.
If your toenail is damaged and painful, you need to start treating it as soon as possible. Pain in the nail is not as bad as its further consequences. Damaged skin, be it swelling or redness, is much easier to penetrate into infection than healthy skin. This can lead to serious problems on the legs, including gangrene and bone inflammation. Such infections are especially dangerous for people suffering from:
Who would have thought that nails could be such a vulnerable part of the human body? They can withstand heavy walking loads. Any shoe affects them, and damage to the nail tissue can seriously affect the condition of the entire foot.
Ingrown toenails can be cured on your own in the early stages of the disease. To do this, you need to cut off the ingrown part from the big toe or other affected finger, and periodically treat it with water and antibacterial solutions. If your nails still hurt after this, you should go to the doctor. He can prescribe medications, procedures, and even surgery.
If your toenails have a fungal infection, they are trimmed and filed down, and the fungi are dissolved. In some cases, even surgery is possible. To avoid unnecessary injury to the foot, doctors may prescribe medications that should be taken until the toenail becomes healthy.
The problem of ingrown toenails is solved by removing the “wrong” nails. Complete removal of the nail plate is rarely attempted because it is very painful, and the new plate does not always grow back even and smooth, and it is not always possible to completely get rid of the disease. A more effective method is considered to be one in which the root of the damaged nail is partially removed.
Having gotten rid of the problem of pain, in the future more attention should be paid to disease prevention.
To protect yourself from injury and not wonder why this or that toenail hurts, you need to follow simple rules. This will ensure the hygiene of your feet and nails and prevent any inflammation on your big toes.
It turns out that keeping your toenails healthy isn't that hard. You need to keep your feet clean, choose comfortable shoes, ensure complete drying throughout the day, trim your nails in a straight line and wear only clean socks. And if the nail plate changes its color, shape, texture and even hurts, it is better to immediately contact a specialist.
The B/S plate for an ingrown toenail will be a complete replacement for surgical intervention for this pathology. Everyone has heard about such a disease as an ingrown toenail, and many have even experienced it themselves. The nail prevents you from living a full life; it causes a lot of inconvenience and discomfort. But that's not all. It not only brings pain, but also leads to sad consequences in the form of suppuration. Therefore, if pain begins in the area of the nail plate, inflammation of the finger appears in this area, and even more so pus appears, be sure to consult a specialist.
Treatment methods for onychopricosis depend on when you go to the doctor.
An ingrown toenail is medically called “onychopricosis.” Why does it arise?
The causes of onychopricosis are genetic predisposition, consequences of injuries, fungal diseases of the foot and uncomfortable or tight shoes.
If you do experience the corresponding symptoms: inflammation, unpleasant odor, pain around the nail, you need to see a doctor as soon as possible. If treatment is not started on time, the nail grows deep, becomes inflamed and causes pain.
To prevent ingrown toenails:
Naturally, an ingrown toenail can be treated using several methods:
This is stress for a person, plus physical trauma. Then a period of rehabilitation with sterile dressings, antibiotics, and other aspects related to treatment. Usually, patients with an ingrown toenail go to the doctor in an advanced case, when the finger is severely inflamed and festered.
In this situation, there is only one way out - removing the ingrown part of the nail plate and applying acid to the root of the nail. The acid is needed as an antiseptic to stop ingrown nails.
The treatment is physically gentle, but more expensive financially. Recommended for onychopricosis, consequences of foot fungus. With this treatment, a laser cleans the surface of the finger under the nail of infection.
Treatment of an ingrown toenail with folk remedies will only help at the beginning of the disease. When suppuration, bleeding, and pain begin, surgical intervention is indispensable.
At the first signs of onychopricosis of an ingrown nail, you can use the following folk remedies.
Take a piece of gauze or bandage, moisten it with hydrogen peroxide, and clean the nail from dirt and infection. This way you will not allow it to become inflamed and fester.
Take a slice of lemon and rub the juice on your nails before going to bed. Put your socks on immediately and go to bed. You can bandage a piece of lemon to your nail. Lemon juice will destroy the infection and relieve swelling.
You can moisten a piece of cotton wool with olive oil and place it under the corner of the nail. Every day you need to cut your nails a little until the affected area is cut off.
If your finger is inflamed and festered, home medicine is powerless.
You can try to “deceive” the nail. To do this, use a manicure file to make a cut in the center of the nail, almost at the edge. The nail will begin to thicken at the cut site, but not on the sides.
Children can also have the problem of ingrown toenails. Modern technologies are used for therapy to provide maximum pain relief during the treatment procedure.
The most effective and painless method of treatment is to correct an ingrown toenail using a plate. The gold plate allows you to correct an ingrown toenail painlessly and without surgery. Moreover, it will be successfully installed in the salon by a pedicurist. Moreover, this procedure is called “medical pedicure”.
What kind of miracle plates are these? The production of gold plates is put on a conveyor belt, on a production line; they are not made individually. The design of the plate is elegant, thin and elastic. It does not affect your normal life, you can dance and play sports. It is a decoration for the nail, it can even be coated with varnish.
The plate is made of hypoallergenic material and has no contraindications. It does not come into contact with the diseased area of the finger - and the finger will not fester.
The principle of operation of the B/S plate is that its strip is a substrate for an ingrown nail, which slightly raises the nail plate above the periungual fold.
The pain goes away, and the process of straightening the nail deformity and its recovery begins. The plate is reinforced, so it does not have excessive flexibility, and the top layer is springy, the pressure is adjustable.
BS plate is a product made of duroplast and fiberglass. It is glued to the nail. It acts on the principle of a spring - it lifts the ingrown corner of the nail and relieves pressure on the finger. Gradually the nail takes on a normal appearance, without ingrowth.
The plate is selected according to the size of the nail. Correcting a defect is a long process that can last up to six months. In this case, the plate is changed once a month. Installed on the nail, it is almost invisible.
As soon as you notice signs of an ingrown toenail, immediately go to the doctor, who will determine the cause of the ingrown toenail.
Most often, ingrown toenails are inherited. All that is needed here is a correction. And, in addition, you should not wear narrow-toed shoes and high heels. You can show off in them on holidays. Most lovers of stiletto heels suffer from ingrown toenails.
As soon as itching appears, you need to apply an antifungal ointment. Before going to bed, take baths with sea salt. You can buy sea salt at any pharmacy.
Baths with a decoction of medicinal herbs: St. John's wort, chamomile, calendula have a good effect.
Some people think that an ingrown toenail is nothing, but they are very mistaken. There are no trifles for health.
Shin pain can be caused by many factors. If the disease is caused by bone pathology, then the periosteum of the leg, which is supplied with a huge number of nerve endings, hurts. Therefore, any pathological process that occurs with the involvement of the periosteum will be accompanied by pain.
If pain in the lower leg is associated with bone pathology, then most often the periosteum will become inflamed (periostitis). Periostitis can be caused by the following reasons:
If a person notices that some time after intense work in the gym there is pain in the lower leg, then this indicates an incorrectly selected load. In this case, the shin hurts more often in the front. This is due to the fact that the muscles have a direct connection with the periosteum.
With tension and intensive work of the muscles and ligaments of the lower leg, the bone and periosteum in front and behind are also involved in the process. When overloaded, the periosteum is susceptible to microtrauma. Therefore, after training, an athlete may notice pain in the lower leg when walking.
Professional runners immediately feel the change in ground and shoes. Such changes provoke pain in the lower leg, since “muscle memory,” which characterizes the muscles’ adaptability to certain conditions, will respond to changes in these conditions. Therefore, changing the conditions for performing physical activity will lead to injury to the muscles and periosteum, causing aching pain.
Any injury to the lower leg that leads to a violation of the integrity of the bone will cause inflammation of the periosteum. Even if the bone is intact, periostitis may occur when the tibia is injured on the outer medial side, since in this area the tibia is not protected by a muscle layer. This is especially true for beginners in combat sports.
Surgical interventions to restore bone integrity using metal structures will cause local periostitis, and, consequently, pain in the lower leg. Unlike inflammation of the periosteum during overexertion, traumatic and postoperative periostitis in most cases is infected, and without complex treatment and the necessary prevention, purulent complications can occur.
Osteomyelitis is a serious disease affecting the bone, periosteum and bone marrow. Pain in the lower leg is the first sign of osteomyelitis. Pain in the leg develops against the background of a severe general condition with febrile temperature and weakness. The place where purulent inflammation develops can be detected by severe pain, swelling, and redness. By palpation, infiltration and swelling of the periosteum can be determined.
The following symptoms are also characteristic of osteomyelitis:
Nonspecific infections mean an inflammatory process in which the clinical picture of damage by nonspecific microflora has the same signs of purulent inflammation, regardless of the pathogen. With such inflammation, granulomas do not develop, and the causative agent can be staphylococcus, streptococcus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus and other bacteria.
The development of periostitis during a nonspecific infection is associated with the entry of the pathogen into the blood from other parts of the body where there was an inflammatory process. Such a site could be:
If inflammation of the periosteum of the leg develops against the background of bacteremia, this means that the body’s immune response is very weakened. Such a weakening of the immune system can occur with chronic untreated inflammation, long-term use of immunosuppressants, nutrition without the proper amount of necessary substances, metabolic diseases (diabetes mellitus).
Specific inflammation of the periosteum develops when there is a source of granulomatous inflammation in the body. This source may be the following infections:
Such periostitis occurs against the background of the underlying pathology caused by the pathogen. For example, pulmonary tuberculosis is accompanied by the development of respiratory failure, and bone tuberculosis can deprive a person of the ability to move.
Methods for eliminating pain in the leg coming from the periosteum depend on its cause. If the pain is associated with increased stress, professional sports, or injuries, then they need to be eliminated in the following ways:
If the causes of inflammation of the periosteum are associated with infection, treatment is carried out in a hospital setting. Strong antibacterial agents must be prescribed, and detoxification and restorative therapy is carried out.
For osteomyelitis, surgical treatment is used, in which the purulent focus is opened, followed by washing and draining the wound. The same is done with the development of fistula tracts. After achieving the desired effect in treatment, the wound on the leg is closed, plastic surgery is performed, after which only a barely noticeable reminder of the disease remains.
Regardless of the cause of pain in the leg, if it persists for a long time and your general health deteriorates, you should consult a specialist.
As you probably already guessed, we will talk about a fracture of the tibia, in which the broken bone is fastened with a plate. There are several methods for how to apply the plate to the shin. Each fracture is individual, so the surgeon (traumatologist) chooses the appropriate technique each time. By the way, fastening bones with metal structures is called osteosynthesis .
Of course, as with any complex operation, osteosynthesis with a plate is always done under general anesthesia. There are, of course, exceptions if the patient cannot tolerate general anesthesia, but even in this case good pain relief is provided.
Metal plates for osteosynthesis are produced from various metals. Titanium plates are considered the best, because titanium in air instantly forms a film that does not interact in any way with the tissues of the body. Metallosis never develops in such cases (if you don’t know what metallosis is, I underlined the link). Therefore, such plates are sometimes left for life without being removed.
However, such plates are expensive, so they often choose a simpler metal after consulting with the attending surgeon.
There are several methods for such operations. One of them is this: the skin, muscles, periosteum are cut, soft tissues are moved apart, the surfaces of the broken bone are cleaned of blood clots and pieces of muscle.
The ends of the tibia are then aligned to restore its full shape, and a plate with holes for the bolts is placed directly over the bone. It is tightly attached to the bone with a special clamp. Next, the surgeon drills holes into which the bolts are then screwed. Sew up in reverse order - periosteum, muscles, fatty tissue and skin.
To prevent the seam from being disfiguring, sew very carefully, with small stitches. This lengthens the operation time, but the scar on the skin is not so bad.
In some cases, after such an operation, plaster is also applied to ensure better immobilization (immobilization) of the bones for the first time until they grow together. Then the plaster is removed, and the patient begins rehabilitation exercises after the fracture. There is a whole set of exercises that help develop the ankle joint after prolonged immobility.
In each individual case, the issue is resolved individually. If there is a titanium plate on the shin, in principle, you don’t have to remove it, especially in older people. But every traumatologist has his own opinion on this matter. Some believe that a foreign body in the body is bad in any case, especially since after 6 months it no longer has any function, the bone has grown together.
This is done 8-10 months after surgery. In this case, there is no need to delay removal; after 10 months, removing the plate becomes more difficult.
A bruised little toe happens to almost every person. This injury is more common than others among all injuries of the lower extremities. It is not specific and can be related to everyday life. A bruised little finger cannot be ignored, as this can lead to long-term pain and complications.
The little toe, located in the extreme position on the feet, is injured more often than other fingers, receiving accidental blows to furniture, hard objects, while playing football, or while playing other sports. The little finger can easily become injured, dislocated or even fractured if someone steps on it. At the slightest bruise of this finger, a person feels severe pain.
A bruise of the extreme toe is a mechanical injury, closed by a violation of the subcutaneous tissue or skin. The toe is characterized by a complex structure, although it is similar to the structure of other toes. The little finger also has tendons, with the help of which it bends and extends, joints, ligaments, capsules and skin. The difference is that the size of the bones of this finger is very small, so their integrity can easily be damaged by mechanical stress.
A bruised little toe is considered one of the most common toe injuries. It may be accompanied by concomitant injuries in the form of fractures. In case of a bruise, first aid is necessary; if the injury is severe, the doctor should examine it and indicate what to do to treat the little finger.
A bruised little toe has its own distinctive signs. The main one is severe pain. But you need to know the symptoms of a bruise in order to distinguish such damage from other injuries.
Main symptoms of bruise:
In addition to these symptoms, a person may feel a loss of strength, headache, and generally be in a state of shock.
After receiving an injury, timely primary care is necessary, and only after that you can decide what to do next. For a bruised finger, both medicinal treatment methods and the use of folk remedies are used.
A bruised little toe can be aggravated by complications that depend on how hard the foot was hit when injured.
Possible complications often include the following:
If it was not possible to avoid a bruise on the little finger, the first thing you need to do is examine the damaged finger and make sure that it is a bruise and not a dislocation or fracture. To do this, you need to make a few movements with your little finger. If the finger bends, then it has been bruised. If your mobility is impaired, you should go to the hospital immediately, as this indicates a serious injury.
To prevent bleeding, it is necessary to cool the stubbed finger. Cold is applied to the injury site, which will constrict the blood vessels, reduce pain and prevent the formation of a hematoma. The cold compress should be kept on the injured area of the little finger for 10 minutes, then put aside for 20 minutes, and then returned again if the pain continues.
If the skin is broken due to a bruise, there are cuts or scratches, then any antiseptic should be applied to them in order to avoid infection. In case of serious injury, a sterile tight bandage will protect the wound from contamination.
If the pain is too intense and strong, the use of painkillers is allowed. You need to rest your leg and seek help from a doctor.
A traumatologist who knows what to do in such cases will examine and treat a bruise. Treatment of injury is carried out through a number of procedures, which include the use of medications, physical therapy and, if necessary, surgery. Medical medications for the treatment of bruises are ointments and creams with anti-edematous, anti-inflammatory, and analgesic effects. Physiotherapy is used if it is necessary to treat swelling or hematoma at the site of injury to the little finger. Electrophoresis, UHF devices and magnetic therapy are used. Excessive hematomas require surgical intervention.
To do this, you should use a fixing bandage, wear shoes that have thick, hard soles and loose, wide toes. If the patient feels that walking causes him pain, then he is prescribed orthopedic insoles. It is also recommended to use a special pad that protects the forefoot.
To restore the functionality of the last toe, it is recommended to use warm baths with sea salt during the recovery period. They are done 2 times a day. The bruised finger is massaged by slowly bending and straightening the little finger.
During treatment, the little finger should feel minimal stress, especially in the first days after the injury. A bruised little toe usually takes a week or two to heal, depending on the severity of the injury.