About two months ago, I was standing in the bus next to a pretty big guy. We were both holding onto the metal railings when the bus jerked to a sudden stop. I managed to stay on my feet but the guy lost his balance and flailed in my direction.
Unfortunately, when he landed, he also stomped right on my big toe. I was wearing covered shoes that day but they were soft so they didn’t offer any protection whatsoever. Getting stomped hurt like hell so my reflexive “OW!” came out pretty loud. (In fact, I might have yelled it out. ) Anyway, he apologized like the decent guy he was and I went on my merry way when it was my stop. Merrily limping, that is.
The pain was pretty bad, but still I was surprised to find fresh blood pooling under the toenail when I got home. It looked pretty gross, so of course I showed it off to a few friends the next day.
Two months since that bus ride and the blood is still there. Mocking me. Its brown and dried and will stay under my toenail until it grows out. Of course, I did a quick search online, to discover that this “growing out process” might take one year. If you’ve stumbled onto this post looking for helpful tips because you’ve also got dried blood under your toenail, then I am sorry. Because there aren’t any solutions.
My advice is simple, learn to love that brown smudge under your toenail. It’s a part of you now, and will be for some time. That bit of desiccated hemoglobin tells a story. And it sets you apart from the people who have no blood under their nails. You are unique, my friend, so learn to like it.
(If not, try nail polish. )
Thanks for sharing, very interesting, funny and explained what i have going on. Summer is right around the corner…bloody toe nail and flip flops….i shall be bringing sexy back…
haha i agree, someone stood on my toe with football boots on sop i don’t have the fun story to tell! flip flops here we come!
haha i got runners toe and my 2nd toe is bruised!
some how, it was seperating from the nail bed, and now i have half a nail. nasty party is that the half i cut off, there was dried blood there and it came rite off when i wiped it… gross
The same happened to me twice, dried blood under my large toe. Like Kim, the nail separated from the nail bed. I used nail clippers to cut off the part of the nail that was no longer attached to the bed, applied antiobiotic and was good to go. There was no pain during or after the cutting of the nail.
I got my big toe stomped on by a girl wearing heels. It cracked the base of my toe and took about 2 months to grow the slightest bit. 8 months later and I still have dry blood under my toenail about half the size the nail itself. The crack is also growing with the toenail and is at the mid way point so I’ve got a long way to go… bitch
Also – I went to get it checked out by the doctor. She said that there’s nothing I could do about it but she did say that if I got it checked out ASAP when it happened then they could’ve poked a hole in the nail to release the blood before it dried. If this happens make sure you get it checked out asap or else you’ll have an unattractive toenail for a VERY long time
That makes sense, thanks for sharing. And I definitely feel for u!
Yes, my solution has been nail polish. I was hoping there was another way.
I loved this post. thanks for the story and info. I was helping my 3yr old put his shoes on and he was sitting on the wooden kitchen table bench that came with my dining room set. I was trying to adjust him so I could help him and the whole thing, including him (and he is heavy!!) fell on BOTH my big toes. I was blind with pain. I sat down and was in a daze for a while. I limped for weeks. I thought they were broken but shortly after it happened, I could wiggle them.
The right toe was fine but the left toe still has the pooled blood under it. The nail has not separated from the toe but the blood is there. it has reduced over time (this happened in april, it’s now september) but there is still a lot of darkness there. maybe half the nail now. when I clip my nails as they grow, I scrape out a little of the blood gradually. now that I know it will take at least a year (probably more for me since there was so much blood) I can relax a bit. I hardly wear sandals with my toes out but perhaps will now and be proud of the brown lol
Yes the pain is really something, isn’t it! And you got it in both toes too. Good lord. I feel for you.
Btw, I don’t know how true this is… but I’d read somewhere that you can use a drill to carefully drill a hole in the nail when the wound is fresh, and this will let some of the blood out (and relieve pressure if there’s swelling). This sounds both logical and crazy to me, but then again, I’m a big chicken and would never do it. Just wanted to share 🙂
Yeah Im much too chicken for that. but since i commented last, i have noticed that the nail is lifting 🙂 im not that happy about being without a nail soon but I would rather have no nail than a diseased looking one lol
and I would also be MUCH too chicken to drill a hole in my nail. and I am also happy only one nail turned brown/black. Ill update you if/when it comes off lol
Jut found this site…and I LOVE it. Especially grateful for the fun, witty writing.
😀