Daughter had flies eggs in her ingrowing toenail

[Loveatthefiveanddime]

That's it. She is 18 and has refused to have the toenails dealt with properly. They have been persistent for a couple of years on her big toes - both sides. Frequently they bled and we have been on and on at her, as they usually look foul.
Anyway, today she saw some little white grains on the toes and after taking a pic to blow the image up, we could see they were flies eggs!! I cannot get over the image in my mind.
I scraped them off and we soaked her feet in water with disinfectant. I can't help worrying that I didn't get them all out.
Obviously she is now going to go to the Dr about them.

Is this too grim a picture for Sporners corner?

@Loveatthefiveanddime

IGNORE the posters saying 'don't waste A & E's time.' And ignore the fucking armchair medics. and their bastard 'maggot therapy.' GET HER TO A & E!

What is batshit about that? Maggots are perfectly designed for wound cleaning and are still used in hospitals today. They're great for burn victims.

The maggots are bread specially though. Clean and no disease.

No one said to leave to toe with the random fly eggs. It was just general chat about maggots cleaning wounds.

Oh goodness, the poor girl. Is she ok, op? To let her toes get into this state is concerning. It's not a normal thing to do. How is her self care generally?

Of COURSE the NHS will help. And A & E is the way to go. As I said, I hope to God some of these people on here - who would quite happily let this young woman's foot rot and be eaten by maggots - don't have children!

Love when I put "just use the salt water" I mean just salt water and no creams etc, not salt water and nothing else , hope that is clear .(as mud)
You can be salt water bathing straight away as you will 100% have salt in your cupboard .

But yes your DD does need to see someone , I;d phone 111 as they can go through the whole questioning of infection with her and make a plan from there. ( I said in my previous post about infection etc)

And yes , as an Adult it is her decision .

I;ve seen many patients who have neglected to get help or put off because they're scared . Or don;t know where to go . Or think it;l go away of its own accord .
Or think whoever treats them will judge them for letting themselves get so bad

Is her other toe the same ?

Good Luck .

No it's not 🤣

JFC MN is a cesspit at times. How people like you cope in the real world I don't know.

This is neither an accident nor an emergency. This is not an A&E job.

@Loveatthefiveanddime
Clean it. Make an appointment tomorrow with your GP or even make an appointment with a podiatrist yourself and just pay for it rather than waiting for the NHS.

Toe is visibly infected, it’s red and swollen.
it is not your place to say that she does not need to be seen by a doctor. I will echo what others have said, theres a chance of sepsis, loss of toe /foot or limb if this doesn’t get treated asap.
ps getting a private appointment with the podiatrist won’t be easy. I know because our l the next available app with our local private podiatrist is in 4 weeks. It’s always been like this as there a massive demand to be seen privately as nhs waiting list has gone through the roof. I assume it’s the same across the country. She won’t be able to get an appointment this week even if she wanted to. She needs to be seen very urgently that poor girl before the infection spreads.
please please please ring 111 xxxx

Jesus Christ get her to a hospital- that is absolutely fucking hideous. Sepsis written all over it, get her some help for the love of god. I can't believe it's been left to get in that state.

She will lose that toe if it's not sorted. Get to a hospital now.

Shocking advice on here. She needs urgent medical treatment, it looks infected which means she’s at risk sepsis so please don’t delay (I’m a nurse).

A podiatrist won’t go near this toe until it’s been treated with antibiotics.

OK...DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE AN EASILY UPSET STOMACH.

Those "fly eggs" are properly called maggots. While you may think nasty and disgusting, they do, in fact, feed on putrefying flesh, while leaving the healthy flesh untouched. This may have saved your daughter from the kind of infection that might well have led to amputating her feet. Thank the little guys, and GET HER TO A DOCTOR!!!

I think you should at least call out of hours and she needs seeing tomorrow morning at the latest. I’d get her seen tonight if they wanted and I’m sure they would. That is not healthy tissue and sepsis happens so fast. Flies don’t lay maggots on healthy flesh and she’s at risk of loosing that toe. And the rest of her.

Is that your medical opinion or?

My daughter had a horrible purple big toe, not nearly as bad as this which obviously needs urgent treatment.

What worked for us is magnesium sulphate paste which is available in most chemists or on Amazon. A daily soak for 15 minutes, then apply the paste plus a tubigrip dressing. It took a couple of weeks but the paste is an old fashioned remedy that draws out all of the purple swelling and really works. It’s also used for boils.

If they hatch into maggots, they would help to clean the wound.

Honestly, have her go to a walk-in (haha) toe clinic, if there is one in your area. It must really be hurting her. My son visited so many times he ended up having phenol surgery on his big toe - this is where they burn off the side of the nail bed with phenol so it does not grow back. Healed in 4-5 weeks. Cured it for good.

Flies feed on live skin.

Maggots feed on dead skin. There’s a chance they’re under her nail and deeper into the skin layers too.

The larvae will be causing more damage.

Oddly, it’s not always painful.

Myiasis isn’t uncommon in neglects wounds - in severe ingrown toenails, it is mostly seen in the elderly due to self neglect/inability to care for themselves properly.

Antibiotics and a thorough cleaning by a Doctor, and they should send the debrided tissue to be cultured to check for infection.

Staph infection is most likely - because it’s a flesh wound.

You do have to try and insist, now - because amputation is a real possibility.

Not a Dr, but a Microbiologist with a love of sporn and gory, gross wounds.

Fuuuuck! That kid needs antibiotics! (Tbf, the maggots could be keeping infection at bay.) Disgusting!!!

To add - the PPs claiming the maggots are helping are incorrect. The movement and feeding habits cause more damage. A quick Google of Myiasis will tell you that.

DS had ingrown toenails on both sides, not quite as bad as your DD, but pretty bad. I rang the GP, they saw him in person an hour later and put silver nitrate on and referred for surgery with the podiatrist. He had his appointment through at our local hospital 3 weeks later and had the sides of his nails cut off. So 3 weeks in total from deciding to get them treated to having the sides removed! I was amazed, especially as we're in a small town! This was only a few weeks ago and they've completely healed. I mentioned to the podiatrist that I couldn't believe how quickly he'd been seen, she said that toes can quickly turn nasty so they like to see them quickly!

Hope your DD gets sorted quickly OP

A podiatrist will not see her
They will go nowhere near that foot!

Its beyond GP help now
I think its IV antibiotic time in the hope the toe can be saved, Hopefully the infection hasnt gone deeper because she has a real chance of losing the foot and sepsis can kick in within hours
She could die !
GET HER TO A&E NOW

A quick Google of Myiasis will tell you that

Quick Google says it's tropical/sub tropical fliy larvae ..

Don’t be so dramatic.

It does need to be seen at A&E, as it will need debriding, tissues sending for culture, all larvae removing, so yes, a Podiatrist isn’t the answer here.

Level of infection depends on what type/method of ABs.

MRSA is the main concern.

Again, depending on the above factors (plus blood test results, general presentation etc) the DD may or may not be admitted to hospital.

As for tropical flies - it is more common in certain areas for obvious reasons but folk in the UK still get maggot infested wounds.

It is not limited to one type of fly. Learn to Google better.