Subungual Hematoma

Okay, so I have a situation. Maybe minor, maybe not so minor. It all begins with the City of Oaks Half Marathon.

A couple of weeks ago, I ran my first half-marathon. It was great. But the day before, when I removed my toenail polish, i realized that my second toe was completely blue and black. Yikes. In a panic I went to Doc in A Box- an emergency place located down the street from my house. And I spent $200 for the doctor on call to tell me there wasn’t anything that could be done, that the nail would probably grow out, yada, yada, yada. So I went home, ran the half marathon and bought a new pair of shoes to begin training for my first full marathon.

This is where it gets a little hairy. One subungual hematoma can be caused by just about anything- dropping something on your toe, trauma, whatever. But I noticed that the second toe of my left foot now has the exact same issue. And the craziest part? They no longer hurt. Which actually worries me more than it would if they did hurt. At least if it did hurt I would know that I was still feeling it.

Anyway, today I did what any normal American does when something is wrong medically. Consult a doctor? Oh no, I consulted Google. And what I found were horrific tales of burning paper clips used to drill a hole in the nail, toes falling off, infections that ended with gangrene and amputation and images that I will not be including- I’ll stick one on here but it won’t be anywhere near what it could be. Trust me. Try googling “Subungual Hematoma” and see what happens.

But the main thing I got, over and over and over, is seek medical attention. Really? Because I thought I did and I only got advice that my mother gave me- for free. So when I went looking for advice I found this crazy link to a message board that was insane. And made me feel much more sane. Considering I’m not going to drill anything through my nail at this point, thanks very much. Check it out by clicking the link here…