Blood under toenail..advice please.

[Beamur]

DD managed to drop a jar of peanut butter on her big toe before I got home today. It has bled quite a lot under the nail, it's got a big blueish blood clot under it and the toe itself is still a bit red. I don't think it's causing immense pain, but is obviously uncomfortable and she does not want to bear weight on it.
I've said we'll see how it is in the morning.

Am I right in thinking this will just get better by itself, but may take some time? Is the nail likely to come off?? Should I take her to the GP's tomorrow?

It will get better by itself. The nail might come off and that will mean it will be tender for a while but will grow back. If the pressure under the nail was immense you could try to lance it to allow some blood out but you would be braver than me. :)

She will just have an impressive injury to show off for a while.

Someone posted about a similar injury to an adult the other day. They went to the GP who sent them to the hospital to have it drained (think they drilled a little hole in the nail) because the blood was causing a lot of pressure and pain. - So if it does become very sore, I'd pop to a walk in or OOH Dr.

Oh just noticed you posted last night Beamur, hope your DD is OK

Thanks KurriKurri and Snowbeetle. She is a lot happier today although I think it is still uncomfortable, she is walking on it - but I suspect through gritted teeth so I don't take her to the Doctors! I'll keep an eye on it as it looks like there is a lot of blood there - the whole nail is blue now. I wouldn't be surprised if the nail comes off, but I don't think I'll tell her that might happen - I don't think she would handle it well she is a tad dramatic when unwell and was wailing last night that she 'wished she hadn't been born' because her nail looked odd...

Checked the nail tonight - her whole toe looks very red and it looks like the nail is lifting. I think I'm going to ring the out of hours doctor tomorrow for some advice.

Good plan Beamur - better to get it checked, esp. if the nail is looking a bit distorted.

Just in case anyone looks this thread up with the same problem - I finally managed to speak to a Doctor today. The toe is less red but there is a large amount of blood under the nail - the advice was to let it heal by itself, if really uncomfortable the blood can be released by some procedure but it isn't necessary. Give pain relief (Calpol etc) if needed. The worst bit could be yet to come - the nail may well come off which will be a bit grim and sore, but it will regrow again.