Since birth, my 5 year old son has had a strangely shaped nail on his right big toe. The end of the nail curves around so that at the left side it looks normal but on the right side, the corner of the nail seems to grow at right angles to the cuticle. If he snags the nail, it tears in a curve along the 'white part' but stays attached in the cuticle at the right hand side and I have to cut it off.
Until now, apart from an occasional snagged nail, this hasn't caused a problem for him, but this morning, I looked at his toe and it has come up in a big blister all around the corner of his nail. A couple of days ago, he had needed the nail trimmed, and I had cut the loose part off just before the point where it 're-attaches' to his nail bed. I'm concerned that this is a huge infection, and I'm not sure how urgently this needs medical attention (GP appt this week, or off to casualty this afternoon?).
I can well imagine that this probably makes no sense to most people, but I'm hoping that it sounds familiar to someone so that they can reassure me before I manage to get a doctor's appointment for him.