Numbness in my big toe
by Lena Flagel
Ten days ago I was getting into the driver’s side of the car and caught the tip of my toenail on the brake. It ripped my toenail up and I had to have the rest of the nail removed. The toe became swollen and was very painful for more than a week. Now that that he swelling is down and the nail bed has healed I have noticed that my toe joint is very tender, achy and now my big toe is numb from the top of the toe down the outside edge of the toe. It tingles and stings when I walk. I cannot fully bend my toe, but do not have excruciating pain when I walk, just some soreness—like it was sprained well. I can drive and walk (almost normally) but am concerned that I have caused some nerve damage to this toe. Since the accident I have iced the toe 2-3 times a day, soaked the nail in Epsom Salts 2 times a day and keep the toe bandaged. The nail bed has healed very well, but now the joint is my issue along with the strange numbness. Should I seek more medical treatment or will this eventually work itself out? I leave in 6 days for a 10 day trip to Florida which means a lot of walking and standing in lines at Disney. Do you have any suggestions for what to do about this numbness and occasional pain? Thank you for your help! Hi Lena, Depending on the severity of the trauma, you could have caused some nerve damage and you might have even irritated the joint, both of which should subside and improve over a short period of time. If you can tolerate anti-inflammatory medication you could try two weeks of that to see if it improves the toe; if not, you may have to seek additional medical treatment including an xray to make sure you did not break anything. Marc Mitnick DPM
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