Ok, I'll warn you this isn't a pleasant post and most likely will not add any value to your life today.
Following last weeks 33 mile epic adventure I developed a painful blister under my big toenail. It would fill up with fluid and try to push my nail off my foot and was generally very painful. I eventually popped it with a needle and have repeated this several times a day for over a week. In fact, I could actually stick the needle under my nail almost 1/2 way down my nail, like some sort of Chinese torture technique or something (or was that bamboo shoots?). I was doing it to myself and it was creeping me out!
At times, there was so much pressure on my toenail that I couldn't even put weight on my foot. Ever try to walk without using your big toe? Exactly. In the last week I ran 3 painful miles, all because of my toe. Every runner is familiar with black toenail, but have you ever had white toenail?
I finally went to the doctors on Friday to make sure it wasn't infected and see if there was something I could do to speed up recovery. She said as long as it was draining it was fine but she could do something to help it along - drill a hole in my toenail to let it drain. Are you kidding me? Of course I said no but then reluctantly agreed when she said it wouldn't hurt too much. It wasn't the pain I was worried about, it was the idea of someone sticking something through my toenail. Certain things just creep me out. This happened to be one of them. Anyways, I had it done, it didn't hurt but I was never comfortable during. The nurse tried to relax me by telling a blond joke but totally botched it (no, she wasn't blond but could have been).
Now when I push on my toenail fluid bubbles out the end of my toenail and through the little hole in the top of my nail, like a mini volcano....you know, sort of like KrakaTOEa (sorry, I couldn't resist). So far I haven't seen much relief. It still hurts and I still can't run, but I can bike (for now).
