i hate my toenails.

They are inherited from my dear deceased grandmother. I love my grandmother. I would hate to speak ill of her. But my toenails are ALL HER FAULT.

When I was a kid I went on a school trip to a wildlife preserve, and the gamewardens showed us neat things like bees’ nests and stuffed foxes and skulls and…

Well, then there was that poor little rodent. I don’t remember what kind it was, but it had a maladjusted jaw.

The thing with rodents is that they gnaw on stuff, which grinds down their teeth. However, if their jaw is off just a bit, the teeth don’t grind down like they are supposed to. In this case, the bottom tooth kept growing and growing and growing and eventually ended up curling under, driving itself into the brain of the poor dumb forest creature and killing it.

[sub]If I didn’t hate dentists so much I’d include a PSA here, but I do, so I won’t. But you know what I WOULD say here if I didn’t hate dentists so much. So THERE.[/sub]

So anyhow. Gramma and her inherited toenails. They grow kinda like that rodent I mentioned up there. Only sideways.

While this problem mainly concerns my big toenail, most of my toenails have split down the center at one time or another. They are thick, brittle, and extremely unattractive. I will not wear open-toed shoes. I will go barefoot only in tall grass and/or among close friends or family members.

If it weren’t for that stupid layoff/lack of insurance thing I think I’d finally break down and go in for surgery. Especially after the largish amounts of pus and blood I pried out of my toe a bit ago.

I’m tired of cutting those stupid Vs into my nails, but til I get some cash and/or insurance, I’m stuck.

Your deceased grandmother’s toenails keep growing? No wonder you hate them!

There’s some sort of pill you can take to help you with that. They used to have the commercials for it on TV.

Could you tell us more about the pus?

I, uh, don’t know what to say. Sorry 'bout your toes.

Um, try taping emery boards inside your shoes.

Nah, that’s just silly.

Soak 'em in milk and have a cat lick 'em.

That’s gross.

Tape sandpaper on a basketball and play barefoot soccer.

Ok, that’s bizarre.

Invest in a belt sander.

Say…!

My pinky toenail cracks down the center too. It has hurt since I was a little kid.

You may have a treatable disease known as “onychomychosis”, chique. It’s a toenail fungus that makes your toenails thick, brittle, and distorted. The thickened nail separates from the nail bed, get ingrown, and causes infection. There are several highly effective oral medications (two of them: Lamisil and Sporonax) that treat this condition “from the inside out”. Please see a doctor or podiatrist, you may be able to treat it without surgery.

(Note: pravnik is a recently graduated law student. Please treat his comments with the same skeptiscm you would a recently graduated medical students’ opinion about a non-medical legal question)