Via2010
Active Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- 06/07 & 12 Camino Francés, 08-10 Via de la Plata, 13/14 & 17 Camino Portugués, 18 Camino Primitivo
Hi,
as a result of my last camino I lost a toe nail. Now, 5 months later it has grown again.
But it was weird: Only a little blister at the bottom of the nail, nothing painful. I opened the Blister, desinfected it and thought it was okay. But after two or three days the nail turned grey and the toe felt a bit numb. Back home I asked I friend, who is a surgeon, to have a look at it. He advised me to bathe the toe in desinfectant liquid twice a day to prevent a possible infection from spreading. The numbness ceased quickly. After 4 weeks the nail fell off.
On the camino I worried more about my right big toe. The nail bed was red, inflamed - probably because of the shoes rubbing as the lining of the shoes had become worn. I would rather have expected to loose this toe nail as it was very painful. I even attempted to see the health service in Negreira on this issue, but gave up after waiting more than 2 hours in a crowded ambulance with new more urgent cases coming in every couple of minutes. As I was determined to continue to Fisterra and Muxia I did not want to hear that I should not walk with that any longer. However, Walking the next day did neither cause more pain nor make the appearance of the toe worse. So I continued and taped my toe for protection. I took off the tape and the walking shoes as soon as I reached my daily destination, allowed the toe air and freee space by walking about in my flip-flops. Back from my camino this toe healed quickly without any remarkable consequence.
From this experience I have learnt to watch my toes carefully and to take numbness as a sign of a severe injury.
BC
Alexandra
as a result of my last camino I lost a toe nail. Now, 5 months later it has grown again.
But it was weird: Only a little blister at the bottom of the nail, nothing painful. I opened the Blister, desinfected it and thought it was okay. But after two or three days the nail turned grey and the toe felt a bit numb. Back home I asked I friend, who is a surgeon, to have a look at it. He advised me to bathe the toe in desinfectant liquid twice a day to prevent a possible infection from spreading. The numbness ceased quickly. After 4 weeks the nail fell off.
On the camino I worried more about my right big toe. The nail bed was red, inflamed - probably because of the shoes rubbing as the lining of the shoes had become worn. I would rather have expected to loose this toe nail as it was very painful. I even attempted to see the health service in Negreira on this issue, but gave up after waiting more than 2 hours in a crowded ambulance with new more urgent cases coming in every couple of minutes. As I was determined to continue to Fisterra and Muxia I did not want to hear that I should not walk with that any longer. However, Walking the next day did neither cause more pain nor make the appearance of the toe worse. So I continued and taped my toe for protection. I took off the tape and the walking shoes as soon as I reached my daily destination, allowed the toe air and freee space by walking about in my flip-flops. Back from my camino this toe healed quickly without any remarkable consequence.
From this experience I have learnt to watch my toes carefully and to take numbness as a sign of a severe injury.
BC
Alexandra