My Toenail Is Falling Off – Do I Have Gout?

Gout is caused by excess uric acid in the blood stream, but that’s not really much of a help without the whole explanation. It leaves questions like “what causes uric acid to build up” and “how do I stop it from happening” out.

The whole answer is related to protein and your kidneys. Protein contains a substance called purine, no matter whether it’s animal or vegetable in nature. When your body breaks down the purine, uric acid is left over.

Under normal circumstances, your kidneys would filter this out and you wouldn’t have to worry about it. However, if there is a lot of it and/or if your kidneys aren’t working properly, some of it gets left behind. That might not be so bad, after all the kidneys can take it out the next time round, right?

Not necessarily. When enough of the acid gets together, it forms crystals. These crystals are heavy and get left behind in joints, which causes the typical redness, swelling and pain of gout. However, it does *not* cause the nail to come off.

There are two primary reasons you might lose a toenail, fungus and injury. For most of us, it’ll be a fungus every time, as we don’t run marathons or spend hours en pointe, dancing. The yellow color is going to clue you in even more, that is another typical sign of ye olde fungi.

While a doctor can diagnose the problem, most insurance companies do not pay for medications to resolve it. We may complain about it, but it’s a fact. So, the next thing to do is figure out how to take care of it at home.

There are some over the counter preparations that may be useful, but my doctor told me that vapor rub, the kind used for chest colds, works wonders. As I’ve tried it, I must agree. It’s also a lot less expensive. You could also try apple cider vinegar.

For injuries, make sure that the toe is clean and disinfected. You may want to bandage it to prevent further injury, and try to avoid using it. That translates to let it rest until it is healed, don’t go back out and train right away.

An injury to your toe bad enough to cause the nail to be dislodged probably should be seen by your doctor, as well. This is especially important if the nail has not come completely off, as it may take a local anesthetic to clip it. While it is still attached to the nail bed, it has feeling.

For both cases, keep the foot clean and use an antiseptic on it at least twice daily. Our feet go a lot of places and not all of them are clean. Wear white socks, as dye is bad for the wound. If the bandages get wet, change them and redo the antiseptic.

Losing a nail can be painful, but you can be grateful for one thing. It isn’t gout.

Source by Mary Bodel