I have just noticed a toenail issue with my 13 month old son. One of his big toenails is loose and sort of yellow. another smaller toe has the yellowing but it is not loose. His toenails do not grow much, we have only had to clip them a handful of times. We made an appointment for tonight with the ped. but I was hoping someone would have some insight as to what this may be and how normal or abnormal it is.
I looked up info on fungus and that is possible but I'm getting alot of conflicting info. There seem to be some home remedies that we can do for most of the stuff but again there is conflicting info. Any info would be helpful.
First of all I want to thank everyone who either replied or looked something up with the intentions of replying. I have noted your advice and will try some of these methods if needed.
We went to the ped. and the first one didn't think too much of it but wanted to get a consult from another more senior ped(it was nice that he was humble enough to admit that he wasn't an expert in everything). The second ped agreed that it was not serious but that it did look slightly fungal. They concurred that OTC topical Lotrimin(spelling?) was the way to go. I am uncomfortable with any medicine at this age so they referred me to a podiatrist.
I called the podiatrist and they told us to come in right away due to his age. She thought it could just be weak nails at best and fungal at worst. She urged us not to use the Lotrimin and to just use vinegar. She clipped the nail and will send it for a more advanced and accurate test than they normally do which will take 3 weeks instead of 1 week.
Interestingly, she could count on one hand how many kids this young had ever come in with fungal infections in her 20 years of practice but that our son was her second of this month and third in the last year. Her practice is a mere 40 feet away from a 10 doctor pediatrician pratice and they highly recommend her so she has experience with child referals. Her opinion is that something new is going to pop up with this in the coming years.
If it is fungus, try soaking the toes in Pau D'Arco tea (found in the grocery store,or GNC) every night for a couple weeks until it clears up. My mom had fungus under a fingernail, and this was the only thing that cleared it up. I also gave this tea (just a few ounces a day) to my daughter and son for thrush in their mounths that would not clear up.
We had a problem like this with our son a few months ago. Thought it was a fungal problem, but our ped said that it was actually caused by a trauma to the toe--his shoes were a little too small and had a ridge on the inside that was irritating his little toes!
If you are putting him in "real" shoes (as opposed to soft Robeez-type shoes), feel the inside front where his toes hit AND go to Stride Rite or Nordstrom and get him measured. They do it for free.
my daughter had a similar problem, yellow and thickening of a toenail (her baby toe). It began at about 8 months and she just grew out of it after about 18 months without any treatment.
Do you think he could have injured them somehow? Do they seem to hurt him? maybe it's just a fungal infection. I have heard--but do not know if it is true, that Vicks can get rid of that yellowing. Anxious to see what the pediatrician has to say.
My daughter had a similar issue with her thumb nail when she was very young (not a thumb sucker either) A friend told us to rub it with a cotton ball soaked with antiseptic, like sea breeze or the like, several times a day. We did and within a month it cleared up and the new nail grew out fine.
After you go to the pediatrician and find out what it is please contact me. If it is fungus (or whatever it may be) the doc may say that the toenails have to be removed. I had this done over 6 years ago on three toenails and one of the toenails grew back thick and is difficult to trim. I have something that I have been trying on that particular toenail and it has been decreasing in size and looking so much better. I am using Melaleuca Oil and I wish I knew about this before I had the toenails removed. I would have never had them removed and just used the Melaleuca Oil to heal them. Here is another testimony: A year ago last May my daughter’s horse inadvertently stepped on my big toe. Yeah...it wasn’t a pretty sight. The toe wasn’t broken, but the nail busted all the way around the edge at the cuticle and only stayed on because of the skin (gives me shivers thinking about it). After the bleeding was done and the swelling went down several weeks later, I started putting Melaleuca oil on it directly after every shower. It took a year, but the nail grew back in perfectly! It had started getting very thick on one side, too, and I just continued with the Melaleuca until that part grew out completely. I am the proud owner of a toenail that doesn’t look like it’s ever been damaged. I even had to take my sister to the foot doctor during this whole thing and he saw my toe (not quite grown in and looking a little funky yet) and asked about it. I explained what happened and what I was using and he just looked at me incredulous. He’d never heard of the stuff before and suggested he remove my entire nail! I said no thanks, I’ll just stick with my own thing here and I’m glad I did. And yes, I spelled it for him. – Cindy Duncan
I would really like to talk to you about this.
M., ____@____.com
Most times when someone has a problem like this, their diets are to blame. Here are a couple sites to help you research a healthier diet for you child. Good luck.
http://www.pcrm.org/health/index.html
