Podiatrist Questions Podiatrist

“Losing big toenail?”

I am an athletic 70 year old male: 6’2” 190lbs. Hiking downhill here in Colorado often turns some toenails black and blue. Today, while showering I actually lifted up my entire toenail without pain. It is still “attached” beneath the cuticle at the base. Should I soak it in Epsom salts/ warm water and then pull it loose?; or give it more time to “die” beneath the cuticle and then soak and remove it?; or seek professional medical removal? I have a high pain threshold and lean towards doing these things myself but don’t want to risk infection.

Male | 70 years old
Complaint duration: 24 hours
Medications: Carriage XT ER Calcium 240/day; Rosuvastatin 10 mg/day
Conditions: High blood pressure and Cholesterol - both Well controlled with medication

10 Answers

Definitely have a podiatrist remove it, for the reason that if you remove them and damage the nail root, the nail will be permanently be deformed.
This could be a fungal infection in the nail bed. There is a special tincture to get rid of the fungus in which it is applied to the nail itself and absorbed into the fibroid nail bed.
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That kind of thing is not uncommon as far as hiking or running. You can do either, whatever you are comfortable with. You can wait for it to fall off or can soak it and take the rest of it off.
No need to soak. Let the nail come off naturally. Tape across the nail to stop further trauma.
Hello,

You can try pulling the nail off yourself. If it doesn’t come off easily, then seek professional help.
The trauma you described is related to wearing shoes that are too small. However, once it has occurred, you can trim the nail back as far as you can without causing it to bleed or hurt. Then, use a band aid if necessary to prevent the nail from inadvertently getting pulled off. Eventually, the remaining nail will continue to grow off creating further opportunity to cut loose nail off, or it may fall off on its own. If at any point you don’t want to wait for this to occur on its own, seek medical care. Although you can yank it off and treat the bleeding with compression and topical antibiotics, I don’t recommend it as it may result in more than you may want to deal with. That’s the way I deal with it. If you go to the doctor, he or she can numb it up, remove it painlessly, and apply a sterile dressing and prescribe medication for pain and infection, if necessary, and it’s all done and you don’t have to deal with it any longer.
Your choice.

Jan David Tepper, DPM, FACFAS
You can clip off what is loose and allow the rest to slough off. Using peroxide on it may help. If becomes painful, see a podiatrist.
I highly recommend medical attention for proper avulsion if the toenail and avoid further damage to the nail bed.
PULL IT, DO AS YOU SAID AND PULL IT
Pull it. Go up one size to prevent the black toenails.

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