Some of my toes are swollen?

by Allison

It started when my third toe on my right foot hurt (upon me pressing on it) under the cuticle. I thought it was nothing and ignored it.

A few days afterwards, I had to wear shoes, and I noticed that my right foot's toes hurt when I walked, but after readjusting, it didn't hurt anymore.
Then, my 3rd, 4th, and pinky toes on my right foot were swollen, itchy and in a bit of pain. Like ants bit them or something.
I tried putting on ointment meant to treat mosquito bites thinking it would reduce itching and swelling together, and that didn't work effectievly.
Now, signs of swollen toes are appearing in my left foot (starting with one of them hurting under the cuticle). So it's not something bit me

Nothing has really happened and I live in a clean house. There's no bugs, and my nails aren't ingrown

My toes are just a bit swollen and they have a pinkish color because of it

I'm not sure what the condition is nor what to do. Please help! Thank you beforehand!!

RESPONSE

Hi Allison,

This is a hard question to answer. I wish I knew more about you in terms of your medical history and your age, although based on the photo, you appear to be relatively young. I would also be curious to know if you smoke or not and what part of the country you live in, particularly a cold environment.
This all started as some pain in the cuticle of one toe, then you had to wear shoes and I am guessing dress shoe because everyone wears shoes on a daily basis.
So, after wearing these shoes and I assume you did walking outdoors and I would be curious how much walking and how cold it was when you walked.
If you did a fair amount of walking and it was cold outside I might be inclined to think this problem is a reaction to the cold. Toes may swell and discolor if they are exposed to cold weather for long periods of time.
The other obvious possibility is that your shoes caused this problem. If your shoes were hurting your feet when you put them on, certainly doing a lot of walking in them could aggravate your toes and cause them to swell, hurt and turn color. This would probably not cause the toes to itch, where exposure to cold, might cause an itching as well.
Without the luxury of actually examining you, I cannot be certain, but I do not think the original pain in the cuticle of one toe had any ramification in causing problems in the other toes.
What you can do for the next few days, is make sure you do not expose your feet to cold, wear comfortable shoes, wash and dry your feet well and see what happens over the next few days.
If your symptoms do not improve, I would recommend you see a podiatrist in your area.

Marc Mitnick DPM
DISCLAIMER