A lesson on toenails

Out and about
My 10-year-old son has been clipping his own toenails. I’ve told him to be careful and to not clip the nails so they curve down into the side of his toe.

Recently, my husband needed to take him into a clinic—he had clipped his toenail on his big toe very short, causing a hangnail that became infected. (My son later told me his toe had been hurting for a couple days, but he didn’t want to show me. He thought it would go away).

The entire side of his big toe was inflamed, down to the first knuckle, and there was pus coming out of the side of the toe.

The clinic gave him a lecture about clipping his own toenails and put him on antibiotics. We had to soak his toe in warm saltwater four times a day.

The lesson here is young kids shouldn’t be clipping their own nails.

Kim Johnson, Woodridge