Is my pekin bantam male or female?

[Ain't Nobody Here]

YS's big toe has been sore for a day or so but he only showed me it for the first time last night. The nailbed is looking swollen and red and there was quite a lot of pus . Our doctors don't do a Saturday surgery any more. Is this something that needs treating urgently ? Would the chemist be able to give him something for it?

 

I put some Fucidin on it last night (but just some we had in the house, which I know you're not supposed to do ) and there doesn't seem to be any pus this morning.

[Looney]

Eew, I hope it starts to get better on its own....and soon! My only suggestion, apart from seeing a doctor if it is really painful/hunky is to try and clean it and let it dry out.

 

OH has a very sore big toe too. It hurts him to stand on it and heaven help anyone that accidentally stands on his toe! He thinks he was a bit enthusiastic when he cut his toe nails and as a result a sharp corner has pierced the inside edge of his toe nail bed and gone yucky (no goo yet though)

 

First thing I had him do was soak his toe in hot salty water in the hope it would help clean it and draw out any gunk. He did this twice yesterday and it looks a bit less angry this morning and the red area is less hot. I might dig out some tea tree oil to try later.

 

Xx

 

Edited to add: It wouldn't harm to ask a pharmacist. I find them as useful as a doctor on a lot of things

[SarahJo]

Hot salt water bath - use boiled water from kettle and as hot as he will stand. Dissolve normal table salt - use a clean washing up bowl.

 

usually this is enough to draw out pus and clean the wound - I then dry and spray on Savlon dry spray (Iodine spray) leaving the affected area to "air" works for my YS

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Thanks, I'll give that a go (if he ever gets up ).

[donald]

If its actually under the toenail ie lifting it etc he will need to be seen(stating the obvious) they can sometimes if its underneath put a needle through and this releases the pus(by the way that bit doesnt hurt they heat the needle and it burns the dead nail, and it puts a little hole in the nail surface and the relief is quite instant). But this needs to be done by a nurse or doctor. Sounds like you are pretty much doing the right thing. The main thing is the pus is coming out. I would get them to check his blood sugar too. Trouble is feet are on the floor etc. Keep it nice and clean and plenty of tea.

[Alis girls]

Magnesium sulphate paste also draws out the gunk too - I think you can still get at chemist.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Thanks . I went to the chemist and they've given me some magnesium sulphate. I also met an acquaintance who's a practice nurse and she said NHS 24 is an option if it appears to be getting worse and advised getting an emergency appointment at the doctors on Monday in case antibiotics are needed. She confirmed the Fucidin was a good idea.

 

YS is up but I'll need to drag him off the PC to administer to his festering sores .

[Alis girls]

I feel your pain - having dragged ES out of bed (no mean feat - hes over 6ft and muscular) he has to be surgically removed from electrical gadgets eg PS3 or Wii. Also had the toe prob occ had to sucumb to antibiotics - if they are sporty they wear their toe nail down and thus more likely to get infected. Joys of motherhood

[Valkyrie]

Magnesium sulphate is brilliant - always a little pot in my medi box. Hope you don't need to do any more than that. Fingers crossed

[The Dogmother]

Another good one is Animalintex; it's a poultice bandage that you use on animals (usually horses) to draw out nasties. You can use it wet or dry and it works magic on splinters.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

It's looking a lot better now after 3 days of magnesium sulphate . Tried to get an appointment at the doctors for him today but couldn't so will try tomorrow. (He leaves for Uni on Saturday so really want to be sure it's OK before then.)

[Alis girls]

Great news - and you must have managed to get him out of bed too

[Valkyrie]

Success in every way then!

[zakjon-98]

Glad its getting better

I went to the doctors with this today. I'm now on my second course of antibiotics and have a tom and gerry style bandage on it I am probably going to have to have it cut out with scissors on Wednesday when I go back. Really not looking forward to this as I am scared of needles

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Yours must have been quite bad then . I'm not sure now whether to get YS to the doctors or not . The toe looks ok now and the redness has gone but there's still a bit of black gunk down the side of the toenail .