warning Disgusting PIP of my toe but I need some advice stat

[anonnamus]

My big toe is mortifying me and I am sorry to post this picture but I don't know what is going on. About 2 months ago, I went with a friend for a pedicure. I was less than impressed with it and it was my first time at this particular establishment. About a week went by, and my big toe-nail started flaking. Literally flaking away. I have never had that sort of issue before. The nail polish came off, and so did a lot of the middle of the nail. Freaky and weird, but I thought maybe it was some sort of fluke.

In order to hide it as much as possible, I put on another nail polish to cover it up (the middle was all white, thinner than the rest of the nail). I just removed the nail polish, hoping the problem would go away and it hasn't.

Any idea what this is? A fungal infection of some sort? Or an indicator that I have some serious medical problem? After removing the polish I noticed that my other big toe is looking a little like my other big toe, but not nearly to the same degree. I'm freaked and grossed out, but I'm going out of town tomorrow and won't be back for 2 weeks.

What is going on!?! (The red is remnants of the polish I just took off) What can I do about this!? Help!!!!

[Jalapeñomel]

I would guess fungal infection, but I am not a doctor and I have no idea.

[Deleted]

Go see a doctor?

Covering that up with nail polish probably isn't doing you any favors.

[Bernadine]

It looks like fungus. Get to a doc. Sorry

[pooh8402]

Looks fungal to me

Sent from my SPH-L710 using proboards

[snickers]

I would definitely be going to the doctor.

[mellymel]

Sorry, this happened to me before. Definitely looks fungal. 5 years later and my toenail still isn't right. I am super sad that I can probably never get a pedi again, because 1) I don't want to pass this to anyone else, and 2) I don't want it to happen again. Get to a dr so that maybe you can nip it in the bud right away!

[Deleted]

.

[Deleted]

Definitely get it checked out just in case. It could also be damage. Did you notice them doing any aggressive buffing?

[speckledfrog]

I had a fungal infection on my big toe many years ago and it looks similar. Make an appointment with a dermatologist to get it checked out. FYI, they are going to tell you to stop putting nail polish on it, especially until it heals. It takes forever for a new toenail to grow in, so start looking for some cute closed toed flats. My toe was fine once the nail grew back in.

[anonnamus]

FML

To add insult to injury, the friend I went with loves this pedicure place so much and says it's the only place she will go. So for my birthday, she got me a gift certificate to this place. If that freaking place gave me an infection, I don't ever want to go there again! How do I tell her that? She still goes there regularly and loves it. We're newer friends, so I don't have a long history with her where I feel I could tell her "your nail place is disgusting and gave me a fungal infection. here's your gift certificate back." I don't want to throw the gift certificate away, because it was so thoughtful of her... but I don't want that place touching my toes ever again. What would you do in my situation? Being tactful is sometimes a challenge for me. 

[Deleted]

AND THROW AWAY YOUR NAIL POLISH. At least the red you used as cover up.

[Kore]

Jul 6, 2013 16:02:30 GMT -5 anonnamus said:

FML

To add insult to injury, the friend I went with loves this pedicure place so much and says it's the only place she will go. So for my birthday, she got me a gift certificate to this place. If that freaking place gave me an infection, I don't ever want to go there again! How do I tell her that? She still goes there regularly and loves it. We're newer friends, so I don't have a long history with her where I feel I could tell her "your nail place is disgusting and gave me a fungal infection. here's your gift certificate back." I don't want to throw the gift certificate away, because it was so thoughtful of her... but I don't want that place touching my toes ever again. What would you do in my situation? Being tactful is sometimes a challenge for me. 

Is it for a dollar amount? Maybe you could spend it on products (polish, or whatever) instead of services?

[Deleted]

Don't mention the gift certificate? Or just be honest. She will understand, unless she is a disgusting bitch.

[MixedBerryJam]

I concur with everyone that it looks like a fungal infection and have a doctor check it out. But I will tell you my experience with a fungal infection: He wouldn't prescribe the antifungal meds because they are phenomenally expensive and have about a zillion side effects and he said unless it spread to multiple nails (it didn't) it simply wasn't worth treating because it would eventually go away on its own. He warned me to be patient because it would take a while, and it did take over two years to completely grow out, but it eventually did go away on its own. I tried lots of home remedies along the way and I kept my feet scrupulously clean and dry. I was fanatical about that.HOnestly, though, as far as I could tell, nothing had any effect whatsoever except just letting the nail grow out.

[gault]

I think I have this, too, on my big toes. I'm scurred to take the polish off in the middle of fucking summer to let the infection grow out of my nail. eek.

[bluefish]

There may be a much simpler answer, but only your Dr. could tell you for sure. What kind of polish did you have on your nails? If it wasn't a 3-free one, that could be the cause of the white spots. This happened to me before, the podiatrist buffed the top of my nail (fortunately it wasn't too damaged.) HTH

[TrudyCampbell]

I worked in Derm for a while and it looks like fungus to me.