Is this worthy of a GP call? Gross toe/pus picture attached.

[ActuallyItsEugene]

I've had this cut on my toe for about a week now. 2 days I noticed the area around the cut was feeling a bit warm so I bathed it in salt water, applied some TCP and let it air (no socks, shoes, slippers...)

Today it looks like this..
It's sore, the area around the cut is hot, red and angry, my toe is pulsating like crazy. It's also very itchy.
I pressed on the surrounding red area earlier trying to ease the itchiness and some yellow/green pus came out of it.

I feel ridiculous calling the surgery about what is a small cut on my toe, but I'm concerned that it's an infection that's not likely to go away on it's own.

Thank you (and apologies for the picture )

Neat TCP will keep on top of it, if you have any. Neat TCP is strong and can give you a horrible chemical burn.
That might account for the itching

Fact is (that you need to tell your GP)
It was a week ago the injury happened ( I'd expect it to heal in a week) But it's now red/hot/throbbing - all signs of infection. You've had pus .
Feet are notorious for infection
And its over a joint where there's potential for infection to track into.

Salt water - boil up your kettle , teaspoon of salt in a mug . Let it cool to tepid .
Soak your toe 5-10 minutes . Air dry then a clean dry (not a plaster) dressing.
Don't pick it .
Keep a check and draw a pen line at the edge .
Photos are good for reference but the colours are not always 100%

What caused it BTW?

Nurse practitioner here I'd say that needs a proper (alginate) dressing plus oral antibiotics (flucloxacillin)

@Fluffycloudland77 That's a scratch, it's so itchy but I'm trying to avoid scratching the area itself.

The cut itself was caused by new shoes. The leather on the inside was tough, dug into my foot and caused the cut. I cleaned it as soon as I took the shoes off, with antiseptic, and then ignored it pretty much for the first few days, just tried to avoid wearing shoes that irritated it.

@70isaLimitNotaTarget I will make up the salt solution now. Is it wise to have a shower/bath or am I likely to irritate it more?
I did put neat TCP on it when it first started feeling warm, that explains it!
As for what to say to the GP, you've put it much more concisely than I could! Thank you so much.

Has your GP surgery got e-consult? It will be on their website if they have. Or email a photo for the doctor to see - that's what we're asking patients to do at the surgery where I work. It definitely needs looking at - hope you get it sorted.

I'm an nhs podiatrist and I'm very concerned about the lymphatic strake get going up your toe and into your foot. If you are diabetic go and get antibiotics from a and e now. Don't wait until morning. If you are fit and well get antibiotics from your GP or minor injuries in the morning. Run it under cold water and keep it covered but don't leave it.

Shower would be ok , it won't soak it as much as a bath will , you can elegantly keep that foot away from the soap /shower gel.

Then salt water ans air dry + light dressing

I bounced a bottle of shampoo off my big toe a couple of weeks ago (not my finest hour) , got a shallow abrasion and a bruise . But not the redness like you have .

I’m a nurse and I agree that needs seeing too. My practice are doing lots of video or telephone consultations so that might be an option. Anyone who goes to the practise gets given a mask and is asked to clean their hands. I can’t see any harm in showering etc as long as you don’t put soap on that area and pat it dry.

Thanks for the photos. I love sporn!

@madcatladyforever Not diabetic thankfully, usually fit and well (as far as I know!) I will be speaking to the GP in the morning about some antibiotics definitely.

@Livebythecoast Thank you for mentioning that! They do have e-consult. So I may try and submit my query tonight, would they still receive that or do I need to wait for when they're open?

@70isaLimitNotaTarget I've got my salt solution, just waiting for it to cool down a little bit now.
Oooo I've done that before, full bottle on the corner of the toe. Very painful!

@FaithInfinity I will be getting it seen to definitely, it shocked me when the scab moved to see how deep it actually was. I'm not so much worried about going to the practice as I am worried about knowing how busy they are at the moment.
Aha, you're welcome, I love it myself. Thought it might be a bit much though!

So, just before lockdown (on Mother's Day) I fell through a manhole cover, broke my big toe and stabbed my leg with a rusty manhole lid. Which was obviously massively hygienic. I went to minor injuries that day and got an X-ray and a tetanus jab, but wasn't given any antibiotics.

A week later and my leg started to look really quite yuck. I called my GP in the morning to get an appointment, emailed reception a picture and had a telephone consultation with the doctor. They prescribed me antibiotics over the phone and the prescription went straight to my local pharmacy. A week later we did the same thing with bigger, stronger antibiotics as it wasn't improving.

I know we're trying to take the strain off the NHS but they've set up excellent alternatives to face to face appointments - utilise it. It's not a pain and it's really efficient, in my experience.

@LBOCS2 Ouch! Hope you don't mind me asking, how did you manage to fall through a manhole cover?! The council should be held responsible for that, surely?

That's good to hear, glad it was so efficient for you too. I will be using them definitely, I'm starting to get concerned for my toe.

Hope your leg is better now with no lasting injury

You need antibiotics, doctor should be able to do you phone consultation and send a prescription to your pharmacy. I'v had an infected toe before, I stubbed it but then ignored it until I could no longer put any weight on my foot which was a mistake.

normal salt is ok

It was in my garden, and I was cleaning the ground floor windows, which goes to show that nothing good can come from cleaning 😁

Irritatingly we'd had a quote to replace it. It was more than I'd hoped for and so I said "oh, it'll be fine - who would be daft enough to step through it?!" Me, is the answer. I'm that daft. To be honest I was lucky not to break my leg, so I'll be grateful for small mercies. My leg is on the mend. Not quite there but about 90% healed so I'll take that.

I hope your foot improves soon :) my best advice is to get them to prescribe thrush medication at the same time as the antibiotics - I found that both sets set it off terribly!

With my practice you can put the request in at any time then they review them in the morning and allocate who deals with what.

@ActuallyItsEugene - they'll get the e-consult in the morning and should get back to you by the end of tomorrow - well that's how it works in the surgery I work in - patients get a reply by the end of the next working day. You should have the option to upload a photo too - again, this may vary from surgery to surgery.

I had to call the GP today - had been putting it off for fear of bothering them at a busy time but the GP said actually she wasn’t that busy!! Said a lot of people were using alternative services too.

Let us know how you get on. Looks quite gooey

You definitely wouldn't be wasting anyone's time, that needs seeing, cleaning up and probably antibiotics. Poor you!

Hi everyone, just to update.

I cleaned my foot last night and spoke to the GP this morning.
It's still very sore, red and angry + very yellow and gross.
They didn't even ask to see pictures, prescribed a course of flucloxacillin and told me to call back if I feel ill.
I've not taken those before, are they likely to make me feel sick? I had a really bad experience with metronidazole before and am very wary of antibiotics that aren't amoxicillin.

I've woken up with a sore throat and that 'meh' feeling you get before you develop a cold - so I don't know if that's the infection or if I'm actually ill.

Thank you for all your advice!

I'm not a medic. However on your photo it looks like you might have a bit of tracking going up your foot from the toe. Be very careful OP as this can spread very quickly. Absolutely take the antibiotics and if you start feeling more unwell don't delay.

Hope you feel better very soon. Looks so sore.

@ActuallyItsEugene - hi, just saw your update on my lunch break at work. I'm not surprised you had a bad reaction to metronidazole before - they are very strong. Flucloxacillin are a good antibiotic for your poorly foot and you shouldn't have a bad reaction - you'll know if they don't agree with you within the first day or so of taken them usually. Hopefully it will clear up soon and you'll be feeling better in a few days

Metronidazole is nasty. Fluoxacillin is not as bad. Huge tablets to get down but less side effects.

I think bad reactions to Met come as standard!.

I have fluclox, regularly as I'm prone to abscesses, I usually feel a bit sick the first day but it soons goes. Just make sure you follow the instructions on taking them an hour before food or 2 hours after so they work the most effectively they can.

I had flucloxacillin last week for an irritated piercing that became infected. Like yours, they were prescribed without me being seen but they seem to have done the trick.
As mentioned above, take them on an empty stomach, either an hour before food or 2 hours after eating.