Gross health issue help

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Any idea how to treat this?

The side of my toe has been red & sore for a few days. Yesterday that side was quite swollen. I had a look at it more closely today and there’s a small amount of pus/crust on the nail fold where the side of my nail/skin meets. Just a tiny bit though, nothing major. Nothing is oozing out, the skin is uniformly red/no white areas.

I searched advice online, and the only thing that really comes up are ingrown nails. I’ve never had one before, my nail seems to be a normal shape so I don’t think the same treatment applies. I say “seems”, as I have a biab pedicure so can’t see what the skin underneath my nail looks like.

Soak it in water that you've boiled then cooled and salted. Do it a couple of times a day. If the redness spreads or you develop a temperature you'll need antibiotics.

Bathe it in salt water.

DAB some detol on it.
Go to the chemist and ask for some antibiotic cream to rub on

Don't put Dettol on it. Your body is trying to fight an infection and killing off those fighting and healing cells at the site isn't going to help.

And there's no need for an antibiotic unless the infection is tracking or you're pyrexial. Overuse of antibiotics has already created significant healthcare problems and they'll only get worse if we continue to use them unnecessarily.

Thank you. I have Lymecycline antibiotic tablets at home and daktacort (anti fungal/hydrocortisone) cream. Would these potentially help with the inflammation?

(I have been meaning to start regularly using these again anyway)

so confused at how I managed to get a toe infection!

The lymecycline is an antibiotic and different antibiotics work on different bacteria. It's neither wise to take it nor does it sound necessary from your OP.
Daktacort won't help as it isn't a fungal infection and the steroid in it will, in this case, strip the skin off the immune products that your body is producing to control and kill the infection.
You need to soak it, take an NSAID if it is safe for you, and monitor the site. It's just a local infection, nothing to panic about.

If you're desperate to use something medical-y you can get magnesium sulphate paste at a pharmacy.

You what!
Why would you take antibiotics regularly?

Take the nail varnish / gel off your toe and see how bad the infection is.
If it is bad, go and see a doctor.

Some antibiotics are taken over a long course. Lymecycline can be used for acne and can take at least 8 weeks to work.

Have you started to wear different shoes? The only time I had an ingrowing toenail was when I was wearing sandals which put pressure on a different bit of my foot from my usual type of shoes.

I'd expect that the pedicure was what introduced the infection, possibly through a small wound hidden underneath the gel or at the skin fold.

It's probably a good idea to get it removed to make sure nothing worse is going on underneath.

I get this sometimes but without the pus - the big toe becomes like someone is stabbing it. I find I have to cut the nail really short when it flares up. I'll have a little poke under the side of the nail too as sometimes it feels like a little fragment of nail is under there

I'd pop a blob of savlon or sudocrem on overnight with a plaster on or even a bit of cotton wool soaked in hot water with a dressing over it to try and draw out the pus

ETA, the fact there's pus makes me wonder if the hygiene of the manicure place was the best it should be

Maybe worth popping along to a pharmacist to show them

Thank you all. Did visit the pharmacy since posting, who also advised magnesium sulphate paste. It’s the first thing that’s relieved some of the redness/pain! Even Ibuprofen didn’t help.

The nail doesn’t seem to be digging into the side of my toe, so don’t think it’s ingrown. I am worried if I’ve had a reaction to something the salon did/used as I went to a new place with different methods. It would be ideal to see if my nail is okay under the polish.

I have BIAB polish which can’t be easily removed from home. The removal process is filing off the product, soaking in acetone, then scraping away the remnants. I think that’s bound to irritate the area and I’m wincing at the idea. I’ll give it a few days to see if there’s an improvement.

It's called paronychia and is an infection of the ail skin fold. I had them both hands and toes. Unbearably my painful until it pops then it will be fine.

Very Hot water salt bath. I'd stick a pin it but not advising you to do that.

If it doesn't go away or get bigger it's and abscess and then will need draining antibiotics usually flucloxaxillin. If you have any fucidin cream try that but none of what you said will help.

Soak in warm salty water then use a cuticle stick to separate the nail from the skin fold by the collection of pus to release the collection. Keep clean and dry if redness spreads get further medical advice

This is what it looks like today, there isn’t really pus. It’s just red. The white flakes are from the magnesium sulphate paste.

Ooops here are the photos

Is it better or worse than yesterday? Bathe in warm salty water push cuticle away from the nail. It’s probably from the pedicure causing a small trauma

As cherrypied said, it will be fine when it has popped. My son gets this quite often, there will most likely be pus under the redness. Good soak, and then I usually either squeeze it out carefully. When the pus is out, something like sudocrem and it will be fine.

I think it’s better than yesterday, literally looked like a tomato then!

Update: I have been soaking it and using the magnesium sulphate paste but it hasn’t come to a head yet. It doesn’t seem like there’s pus present. It still feels a bit awkward like can feel whilst walking etc