@sandilee, may I suggest that you go beyond home remedies and involve a physician in diagnosing your problem. My grandmother was treated for years by a chiropractor who believed she had arthritis. She survived regular physical manipulations and regular prescriptions for pain medicines. But her problem turned out to be the gout, not arthritis. It was diagnosed by a new physician in town who simply ran a few laboratory tests and confirmed excess uric acid in her blood. The treatment was all the more difficult, because her system had been generating uric acid (and depositing it in her joints) for several years, but the result was positive, and she lived to a ripe old age.

Thank you for the advice. I do plan to see my doctor next week. The swelling has gone down but it still hurts to bend my toe. At least it’s only been a week and not years. I will have this addressed but was hoping not to reschedule my regular appointment.