Nothing ruins a hiking trip more completely than swollen painful toenails. Typical scenario: you are doing alot of downhill, your boots don't quite fit so your toes are jamming into the end at every step and with great force, and by the end of the day you are in severe pain and contemplating amputation with your Swiss Army knife. Or at least an emergency evacuation because you know you can't walk. Is all lost? No! But the cure takes faith.
What you (or rather your hiking buddy) needs to do is hear up a safety pin until it is red hot. Matches and lighters won't get it hot enough so I always use the camp stove. Then they touch it to the nail, very gently but with enough force so it penetrates (which it will do easily if it is hot enough). Pus and other fluid will immediately start coming out and the relief is instant, enough so that you can actually hike again. It takes courage because it seems so likely that the needle will penetrate into the quick of your toe. But it won't. I can't tell you how many times this simple operation has saved a hiking trip!-- Marian
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