Amy Louise McCulloch (9), of 73 Glebe Crescent, Newton Stewart, stood on the nail while out playing in the garden with her friends.
It went through the sole of her trainers and broke in half, leaving one half still lodged in her left foot, circled.
Angry mum Fiona said: "She has been to the doctor and is due to go back again shortly as it's still there.
"I thought it was a bit of dirt when she was having a bath that night and I was scrubbing it. The poor wean was screaming with pain.
"It then became infected and when I took her to the doctor he said 'that is a bit of a nail'.
"I had to keep her off the school for a week, and although she has now gone back she can't take gym and has to wear a soft-soled shoe all the time."
Fiona added: "We have been complaining to Loreburn about the state of the back gardens since we moved here last October.
"The front gardens are great as they are all turfed, but the back gardens are a disgrace - full of stones. My husband Kevin is always raking them.
"We have written and phoned Loreburn in Dumfries several times to ask them to do something about it, and other neighbours have complained as well.
"All we ask is that the back gardens are brought up to the standard we expect.
"I don't think much of Loreburn, although their housing officer, Claire Burns, has been great. She has tried to get something done for us, but she seems to be getting nowhere."
Fellow Glebe resident Gemma Axtell, who lives at number 67 with her husband and four children, aged from five to 12, was also annoyed at the state of her back garden.
She complained: "The gardens are in a terrible state.
"So far, my husband has had to buy seven boxes of grass seed for it. We've been complaining since October and Loreburn are being really lazy about it.
"I wrote them a letter of complaint and it was signed by six other tenants in Glebe Crescent, all with garden problems. I think they are useless as a landlord.
"If I'd known it was going to be like this I would never have accepted the house. I was in a DGHP house before and we never had any problems."
The day after the Gazette contacted Loreburn about the situation a contractor arrived and spent the morning working on the back gardens at Glebe Crescent.
Despite repeated requests, Loreburn had made no comment by the time of the Gazette going to press last night.
louise.kerr@gallowaygazette.com