Infected toe - 111 job for a Sunday or wait til morning for GP?

[BessieBye]

Putting my 4yo socks on this morning and noticed her big toe like this 😩 how she hasn’t complained about it hurting yet I have no idea. Unfortunately she has been caught a few times biting her toes (I know, it’s not good at all, I don’t need to be judged on this) and she has been warned multiple times this will happen.

I know it needs to be seen but do I ring 111 about it today (Sunday) or should I wait til GP opens tomorrow?? I am worried in case it gets any worse overnight. But also back of my mind - am I being neurotic???

Have you got a walk in centre nearby? They should be able to take a look and prescribe antibiotics if needed

Had this recently with my 9yo and triage nurse was able to prescribe, we didn’t need to wait to see the GP

GP tomorrow.

It's neither an accident or an emergency. At best they could offer antibiotics. Do you have an out of hours GP service?

thanks everyone - I don’t believe have OOH GP service but I googled and it says for my area, I will need to ring 111 for that service 🤷🏻‍♀️

Bathe it in salty water (cooled boiled water), it'll be fine till tomorrow.

She has a whitlow where she has bitten the nail.

Bathe it, cover it so she can’t make it dirty again.

Give her calpol if it starts to hurt.

She’ll be fine.

If you are really worried about the infection, then draw a line around the red bit to see if it spreads.

Thank you - will do this and call tomorrow! :)

Bathe in hot salt water three times a day. Unless there is an underlying health condition I wouldn't have dreamt of getting antibiotics for that for either myself or my children. Pain will come from the build up of pus so either ease the skin back so it can leak out after bathing it or use a sterile needle to drain it.

My DS10 had this from biting fingernails- we drained it with a sterilised needle. Pharmacist said no need for antibiotics at his age and he is in good health.

My DS gets these because he bites his toenails. I stick a sterile needle in it and give it a squeeze and it goes away.

I bathed it in salt water and stuck a gauze on last night before bed.. this morning, the pus had gone into the gauze and the toe looks less inflamed/angry. Will bathe again when back from school but hopefully this is it!! Thanks everyone for your messages