Blood Filled Blisters On Toe And Toenails Coming Away From Nail Bed. No Pain. Sign Of Infection?

Posted on Mon, 21 Jan 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 Answered on

Fri, 8 Feb 2013 Last reviewed on

Question : After a great deal of walking I had blisters which later popped. I bathed and taped and sterilized them. Later on re-taping them I found that my second and third toes were quite bloody. My big toe became active like a ball of fire and the two other toe ends, but only at night. When re-taping later I found that my toe nails were rock hard and dark yellow in colour and I couldn't cut them with scissors. The three toe nails have grown away from the skin and almost formed a curved 'V' shape. A month later a light pink colour is coming through at the base of the nails. The nails are still rock hard and I still can't cut them. I do not experience any pain except when I flex the toes back they are stiff.

Answered by Dr. Nsah Bernard (2 hours later)

Hi XXXXXXX XXXXXXX

Thank you for posting on HCM

From your description you are most likely suffering from reduced blood infusion of the toes which must have lead to cell death/necrosis hence hard nails. Since the cells responsible for nail growth are no longer unable to receive sufficient nutrients and oxygen from blood, they just grow death and manifest as hardness ( reason why you can not cut them). Probably, the long walking is responsible for low blood flow to the nail bed. You will need to see a surgeon, who can remove the nails and allow for new cells to grow and form new nails.

Hope this helps and i am available for further clarifications

Dr Nsah

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar