Infected ingrown toenail + 10k in 3 days!

Yikes! I lose a toenail (or two...and one time even three) after every major race that I do. Mine have never been infected though...just pretty much about two weeks after the race, i notice that it has totally separated from the toe and a new nail grows. There isn't pain, but it does feel "wrong" until then. Is the nail coming off? That might end the infection. Not sure if this is even advice. Sorry. Mostly I just wanted to tell you that i feel your pain and hope it gets better.

Do NOT use Hydrogen Peroxide. It destroys new tissue growth aka HEALING.

Go to WebMD.com for advice to treat it at home.

Try a nail salon. They were able help my wth mines and it has not return. But it was not infected.

What worked for mine was soaking in Epsom salts for 20min/day... Helped it heal!

You need an oral antibiotic. If it's not getting better with topical treatments, you're at risk for it spreading into your blood stream... (one of my family members spent a week in ICU for staph last year after letting a skin rash go untreated for too long). Thankfully, antibiotics are relatively inexpensive out of pocket, but you will have to fork over money for an office visit or clinic. If you have a Kroger near you, they have "Little Clinics" in their pharmacy departments that are very reasonable. Better to get treatment for it and pay $100-$200 now, than to let it go on and risk getting much worse and paying thousands.

I've had ingrowns a million times (give or take a few, lol) and I just get my cuticle nippers out, cut the corners down into the skin, and then use my fingernail or a cuticle stick (clean of course) to feel around the edge to make sure I dug it out. A bit gross yes but effective. I do use peroxide because it clears the infections so it can heal, but once there is no more foaming I just stick with neosporin. Usually all better in a few days.

Call a podiatrist (foot doctor) and see what they charge. Probably will be cheaper.

I agree on the Epsom salts.

I had 6 nails with ingrown issues, I ended up going to a podiatrist and got surgery to permanently keep the nail sides short. It was over $1000 but I'm Canadian so it was free. All 6 nails fell off and it took over a year before they looked remotely healed.

I'd talk to a pharmacist and ask for advice for an antibacterial over-the-counter remedy. Unfortunately this can be a big issue that does need medical care. I would not run with it like this. Also, I would not follow the advice about cutting your nail shorter, that can just make it worse when it grows back.

You can go to your local drug store like Walgreens or CVS and get a little kit from Sally Hanson-its called ingrown be gone. You will need to cut the piece of nail out if you want to run that race. I had a similar problem and the relief was almost immediate. But wash your hands, wash your feet, and don't go digging into your toe like a maniac. Nice and slow and get the nail out.

I have no advice, but sounds like you're running the Perfect 10 - I'll be doing the 10 mile, so see you then

Just took my daughter to the doctor for this very thing last week. She's on a strong antibiotic, but the doctor also told us to have her soak her foot in hot water with epsom salt 3x per day for 15 to 20 minutes each time. We also put polysporin or neosporin on it and wrap it in gauze. Also, she is supposed to wear looser fitting shoes. Hope some of this info helps you. Just be careful!

believe it or not, a pedicure may help. You likely need to slice out a very slim vertical sliver of nail that is stuck into the nail bed, and the pedicurists (is that a word?) have a little tool that can do that -- you can also buy that tool yourself, but I'm not sure what it's called. (cuticle nipper)!

It will be painful to try and get at it yourself, but what you can do to prepare is take the tiniest (I really mean tiny) smidge of cotton and push it up under the edge of the nail to hold it away from the nail bed -- use a tiny tiny bit at a time; you just want to lift the nail, not create more pressure. Applying diluted tea tree oil can be helpful (put it on the cotton), as well as taking oral Olive Leaf Extract and/or Oil of Oregano (both are available in capsules). Those are both natural antibiotics, and are available at health food stores, fairly inexpensively (btw Olive Leaf is ALSO an anti-viral and is fantastic to take when you feel you are coming down with a cold -- 2 capsules at bedtime will knock it right out.

good luck.