I had a black toenail from a trail run Wednesday, followed by a snowshoe Saturday. A big toe was seriously throbbing and inflamed, so today in desperation, I tried a trick that even my internist recommended: I drilled holes through the toenail.
I started with a hot paperclip (red hot initially), and when I felt the pain of the heat, I stopped and finished with a small drill bit turned by hand (after treating the bit and the nail with alcohol). I drilled three places, and at each one, blood-tinged lymph oozed out (I should have made a video for youtube).
Now that I've done the dramatics, and bandaged up the toe with a liberal dose of neosporin, I have to wonder:
...does this really work? If opinions are positive, I'll also try it on the other black toenail.