Kitchen Surgery

First, a bit of logic: This blog is about running. Running is a physical activity performed by the human body. Some things about the human body are gross. Therefore, some things written in this blog are going to be gross.

Here is one of them: remember the bruised toenail? Well, after doing a bunch of research on the web this morning, I found out that the pain is caused by blood built up under the nail and that the only way to stop the pain is to relieve the pressure. Several people suggested "drilling" a hole in the nail with a hot needle or other sharp implement. I tried that, but some instinctive force of self-preservation (or just general wimpiness) prevented me from pushing hard enough to actually make a hole.

So instead, I took a nail clipper and just started digging under the nail and clipping away at the nail and the flesh until suddenly, oh my lord, out spurted a light red geyser! They were right! So I made the hole a little bigger and then squeezed and sqeezed (yes, it hurt) until all the liquid was out. It wasn't actually blood but kind of like the liquid inside a blister mixed with a little blood. Afterwards, I disinfected it, put some antibiotic ointment on it, taped it up, put on my running shoes, and did my 4 miles. It's an hour later, and the toe is not even slightly sore. Yay for information on the internet.

Tomorrow, I'll work on the left toe.