Question
Well this is a little embarrassing. I saw a mouse in my bedroom the other night and it ran across my foot which scared me to death, so I decided to sleep in my shoes. Well they were a little damp and I left them on for more than 24 hours. I took them off the next night and woke up with the bottom of my toe swollen. I thought it was an ingrown nail at first since I used to get them all the time and had to have surgery once. But they never made the bottom of my toe swell. It hurt so bad the other night I almost cried. I couldn't sleep. It drove me nuts. It's been a few days and I've been taking Ibuprofen and it seems like the swelling has gone down. It's just going down VERY slowly and I don't have a lot of patience. I have animals to take care of so I go outside a lot but I haven't been wearing my shoes because of the pain. The pain has just about gone away but it's still a little swollen and hurts to wear shoes. I'm still trying to stay off it as much as possible. When I soak it in water it tends to make it hurt more so I didn't shower today. And I'd really like to soon. I can't afford to go to the doctor and I just wanted your opinion on what you think it may be. It's healing, it seems, just slowly. Is there anything I can do to speed up the healing process?
Thanks, Tommy Harmon

Answer
You could have gotten a serious fungal infection that caused the skin to split.  I suggest you get evaluated by a podiatrist as soon as possible.

All the best,
Andrew Schneider, DPM

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