A toe death

I blogged a little while ago about the imminent demise of my ski-induced black toenail. It is now on its last legs - or is that toes? The grey/white patches that are now visible are where the dead toenail has lifted away from the nail bed underneath. The black patches are dried blood, and they are where the nail is still firmly affixed to the nail bed.

The thing that I have to watch for now is the white patches coming to totally dominate the nail. When that happens, it starts to lift up at the front and it will catch on anything, such as a sock (as you pull it on) or the inside of a shoe (if worn without socks) or even a sheet whilst having a snooze. When it catches, it simply rips away from the nail bed and ends up standing completely upright, attached only at the base of the toenail. At that point, the only solution is to rip it off.

I hate doing that.



You can also see a white line running across the toenail about 25% up from the base of the toenail. That is the new nail growing out underneath. I'd prefer it if it had made more progress, because once the nail comes off, 75% of the nail bed will be exposed, and it is quite sensitive. I normally have to wrap a band aid around the toe for a month or two until the bed hardens up and the nail grows out a bit more.

It's particularly uncomfortable when going for a swim - especially with flippers. The biggest impediment to me swimming is not the cold - it's a 25% toe nail. The flippers push onto the exposed nail bed with each downward "flip" and it's a horrible feeling.

Just wait for the next photo - the one that shows the nail mostly off and flapping by a hinge of skin across the bottom of the nail.

The worst part about it is the way the flies love to feast on the nail bed. They sit on the nail and suck away at the little trough between the bottom of the nail and the skin - like pigs with their snouts in the trough. Or they stick their probiscus under the nail at the front and gulp away at the black goo that is stuck in there.