Does this warrant a&e, infected toe?

[Lockdownbaby2021]

Hi all.
my son (3.5 years) stubbed his toe a couple of months back, half of it went black and the other half stayed on. The black half eventually started to lift and we just thought the whole nail would die and a new nail would grow underneath it would fall off. This never happened and the nail has remained half on half off. He’s a sensitive little boy and won’t let us look at it. He is walking okay etc.

he got home from nursery yesterday and I noticed it was getting really red and sore and the nail was nearly off (still hanging on though). My parents think he needs to go to hospital now (he’s fast asleep and it’s 21:50) but I don’t know if it looks serious enough?
so stuck on what’s right and wrong!
do you think I could get it seen to in the morning at the chemist, would they entertain it? I don’t want to traumatise him after a very horrific hospital experience a couple of years ago.

Draw a line at the end of the red skin so you can check whether it's spreading.

You should be able to get a weekend GP appointment tomorrow with 111. They will give you antibiotics - so you're just delaying that first dose by a few hours by letting your child sleep.

Bathe in salt water, apply germolene or savlon.

If it get worse you'd be better of using out of hours than A&E.

Phone 111 to get an appointment for him to be seen first thing tomorrow. DS had an infected finger when he was 3 and the pharmacist said he needed to be seen by a GP, GP sent us to the hospital. Minor infections can become more serious and harder to shift quite quickly and you don't want to waste too much time and end up with him needing to be admitted for IV antibiotics.

Actually, what's his temp now OP?

Also it's hard to tell from the photo, but if there is swelling draw a little line on his toe at the edge of the swelling so you can see if it's getting more swollen. That's what the doctor did with us

Just checked now 37.1

If he's a bit hot I think I might try for that out of hours appointment now.

37.1 is a normal temperature.

I'd ring 111. I did for an infected toe and they got an OOH GP to call me and I got antibiotics prescribed to a pharmacy. No a&e necessary.

If he's got a temp though or the redness travels, go to a&e

Personally I would take him to A&E but prepare to be fobbed off. The same thing happened to my son and we had to go back 3 times before they would actually take it seriously. For those people saying it isn’t an emergency, this kind of injury can definitely be an emergency if it is infected.

By the time we were actually allowed past triage, the consultant talked to me about the very real possibility of him losing his toe or even his foot and needing very intensive rehab. Luckily they managed to save it but he did have to undergo an emergency op under general anaesthetic as it turned out to be a bone eating infection.

111 first not A and E, no wonder the places are so busy.

Magnesium sulphate paste is a drawing ointment get some of that and put it on with something wrapped around it and see if it draws out any pus, then go to the drs Monday xxxx

Call 111 first thing in the morning, the out of hours gp will prescribe antibiotics if needed.

Bit aggressive.

Speaking from experience, I'd try and wait until Monday for the GP unless the redness spreads or it starts to hurt.

How is it today @Lockdownbaby2021

@31dayshas redness seems to have gone down and doesn’t seem to be bothering him. My partner decided to sleep on the sofa last night so I brought him into my bed to watch him for the second part of the night. I kept doing his temp and stayed around 37. Will take him to docs tomorrow. Thanks all for your advice x

When my DD1 was 1yr, she had a finger that went like this over a weekend. I took her to the pharmacist to ask what would be best to use, who told us to call 111, who got us an OOH GP appointment based in our nearest hospital. They prescribed antibiotics and got it under control. She had had sepsis as a newborn so maybe everyone was being super cautious, but at least it meant we weren't hanging about waiting for the GP to open to get started with treatment.

Years ago DS1 trapped his finger in a deck chair. Finger was sore but seemed ok. A few weeks after he was messing about with his brother and the nail came off on one side and the bottom but was still attached on the other side. The GP receptionist suggested the walk in clinic at a large and local hospital but luckily I called them to check and they told me we had to go to a hospital with a paeds A&E, which did feel like overkill.

DS was seen by a junior doctor who was unable to remove the nail and they had to call a consultant to take it off. And that is without any sign of infection. As long as his temperature remains reasonable, I'd take him to A&E in the morning.

This is it tonight, don’t worry the white stuff is germoline!! Do we think it looks better or worse today? Either way I’m taking him to GP to get seen to!

*pink stuff on bed is toothpaste that he wiped on his bed this morning, not stuff from the wound! 😁

Well it's a terrible photo 😂 hard to tell as the toe could be more swollen or it might just be the angle of the photo. What is his temp now?

It looks rather swollen, the whole toe, but hard to tell from that photo.
I thought you were going to contact 111 or go to minor injuries Sunday.
Don't leave it any longer than very early tomorrow morning.
All the best.

Thanks for the update, poor little tootsie.

GP first thing!

Hard to tell from the photo, guessing you think it looks better though? It would have make sense to get it seen OOH today as if it's infected it will be worse tomorrow. But you can see it properly so if it looks better that's a good sign