# Damaged my toe.



## Metal Man (Jul 29, 2011)

As the title says, I've damaged my toe. As the title forgot to mention, was that it's BADLY damaged.

On my birthday a few days back, I was carrying two 12-packs, and one split in half. Three cans and the box hit me right on my left 2nd toe (from the big one). The nail turned black, then purple, then bright blue over the span of an hour or two. Yesterday, it turned dark blue, until I showered. Then it became bright blue, and minutes later, it started bleeding. I rinsed it thoroughly and disinfected it, and it turned bright blue again. Then today, it started getting darker again. So I showered, and this time, I decided to try something. I did my cleaning routine, only instead of disinfectant, I started sucking the blood right out from the nail. In about an hour of work, I made the nail go from blue to purple.

Now, judging from my research, this means there's less blood stuck under the nail. Blood shows up as blue when seen through skin or nails, so the closer to red, the less blood there is.

There are no fractures, the nail isn't broken or loose, and it only hurts if I touch near the end.

Here's the color cycle.
Day 1: Black, purple, bright blue.
Day 2: Bright blue, dark blue, bright blue, dark blue, bright blue.
Day 3: Bright blue, dark blue, bright blue, purple.

I find this all pretty fascinating.


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## DeeperUnderstanding (May 19, 2007)

Sucking your own toe? Eww?

Anyway, go to the emergency room. This sounds pretty serious, it's not something we can diagnose here.


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## Metal Man (Jul 29, 2011)

I disinfect it regularly, so there's a bit less of the squick factor.

I'm not worried for it, chances are it'll just revert back to normal in a few weeks. I just find a disaster like so to be interesting. For instance, it's proof that blood isn't really blue.


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## millenniumman75 (Feb 4, 2005)

I would still go have it checked, man. It can cause bigger problems.

gangrene, etc.


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## Sunshine009 (Sep 21, 2008)

I had a black toenail, completely black and raised. It took 6 years to get that way. I tried a natural techinque: to take two drops of distilled vinegar at the base of the nail using a dropper, (I used an empty tincture bottle), 2x a day, change socks, and it would grow out. In 2 weeks, I saw new growth of pink nail at the bottom, but it took a whole year to grow out. Exactly a year, to look like nothing was ever wrong with it. As it grew out, the nail grew out thick and I would clip it with a nail clipper. This did not hurt either, it was just a thick nail with a lot of stuff under it that fell off too. My mom however decided to soak her whole foot in a water vinegar mixture thinking it would be faster better, but no results at all. I told her that wasn't how she was supposed to do it. It may be that the 2 drops at the base of the nail stimulates the nail to grow in the direction it should. I don't know if this applies. But right now your nail is infected and though mine got that way from nail polish originally, perhaps the end result may be the same with the color turning black, because from infection too. I hope that you keep your good attitude and that your nail heals up. See a doctor if things are not improving.


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## Akane (Jan 2, 2008)

Unless there is lots of pain and it needs drained the doctor can't do anything and it doesn't sound infected at all to me. You bruised it badly which is why blood is collected and if enough blood collects it will look black. The bruising just has to heal. The fact the blood is coming out is a good thing and will actually prevent complications require an ER visit. There is a slight chance the nail will fall off if too little of it is connected underneath and it does take a long time to regrow. Make sure you dry your feet completely between showering and putting on socks or shoes and change your socks frequently if you sweat in them to lessen the chance of infection taking over the damaged areas but if it's draining out normal blood and going back to blue it doesn't sound infected. Toe injuries are something I've dealt with a lot since I grew up with horses. Damaged toe nails, cracked metasarsals, dislocated toes... I also cleanly sliced a toe nail in half once while moving some stuff and somehow did not damage the skin underneath. That took about 2 years to fix itself.


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## Metal Man (Jul 29, 2011)

Well, you wanted a picture, here's one. I tried to get the best lighting possible, and the quality is a bit lacking (very bit), but...

http://i45.servimg.com/u/f45/15/05/68/72/dsc00510.jpg

Physical Rundown
Far left edge is normal colored
Right and top edges have some dried blood
Color of nail seems blue today
There's an unrelated wound on the lower right
Nail isn't loose and is at the right elevation

When I shower later, it WILL bleed. Now, I'm not sure if I should drink some of the blood again, or just clean and disinfect it. I mean, the nail turned closer to red when I did last, which should mean there's less blood under the nail. I'm not certain, though.


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## Metal Man (Jul 29, 2011)

Not so much anymore. As long as I don't catch the nail on fabric, I'm good.


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## Neptunus (Oct 29, 2007)

Keep it clean, protect it with a band-aid, which you should change daily. Be sure to let it air out periodically so the wound can properly scab over and dry out. Try not to squeeze it, as that will only irritate the tissue and impede healing. If it bleeds after your shower, pat it dry with a paper towel. Watch for infection -- if it turns red, feels hot, stays swollen, and (of course) if it starts oozing pus, and/or if you have an increase in pain (like throbbing) or if there's an odor, then you should see a doctor asap. Expect to have a multi-colored toe for a good month or longer. The change in color is normal. You will probably lose your toenail too. Not to worry, it should grow back.


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## Akane (Jan 2, 2008)

So long as there isn't enough pressure build up to cause serious pain you should leave it alone. The old blood will help keep the damage closed so that it can heal. The more times you break it open the more damage you will do to the skin and the more of the connection to the nail you might pull away. Just because the nail is still attached doesn't mean it's going to live. Sometimes these things fall off weeks later after the underneath is healing unattached to the nail.


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## Metal Man (Jul 29, 2011)

So basically, since it's painless now and there's dried blood there, I'm in the clear?

I guess I'll just put a band-aid on the thing once I need to wear socks again. Considering it hurts bad to put on tight sandals when the nail gets caught...


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## Keuroket (Aug 14, 2011)

I have no idea how you can find any of this fascinating. Please stop sucking it and get it checked instead!!


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