Ingrown Toenail Surgery?

[Rora]

Okay, this is a gross topic. I'm not describing anything but if the thought of feet, nails, and surgery grosses you out-- read no further!

It all started with a bad pedicure. I went to a cheap nail salon (in the mall.. I know, I know.. ) the night before my cousin's wedding to get a pedicure. Right away my left big toe was in a lot of pain. I ignored it until New Years Eve. Then I went to my podiatrist, had the in-office removal of the ingrown toenail, and thought everything was going to be better.

Wrong. I was in TERRIBLE pain after the removal. The next week I moved to a different part of FL and was in so much pain I went to a new podiatrist in my area. He cut into my toe again (ow) and said that my previous podiatrist missed a giant hunk of nail. So, another couple of weeks of toe pain.

Fast forward: my toe is HUGE today. It's swollen, red, painful, and even hurts when it touches the blankets on my bed. Seriously. Clearly, the ingrown toenail is back. I moved again, so I'm making a new podiatrist appointment for tomorrow.

The real question: has anyone had the ingrown toenail surgery where they kill the matrix using phenol (I have no clue what any of this means.. just reiterating what I read on WebMD type websites..)?? If so, how terrible is the recovery? I hear that the phenol really really burns. Also, do you loose your whole toenail or just a chunk of it? I usually have a pretty high pain tolerance level but these previous toe mini surgeries have been terrible for me. Would you recommend surgery? Clearly, I know the majority of you aren't doctors but I would love some personal opinions, and again, I'm going to the doctor tomorrow anyways.

Admittedly, I didn't learn my lesson and went back to going to cheap nail salons that probably weren't clean. Well now, lesson learned.

Any info is greatly appreciate and I apologize for the length of this post!

 

[tar heel]

That sounds awful. Have you considered going to a physician instead of a podiatrist? I went to a podiatrist many years ago and he did "surgery" on my foot. My fil, who was a physician, was so annoyed -- said I needed to have gone to a dermatologis, which is where I ended up because the scar tissue was driving me crazy.

 

[purplepixiedust]

I had an ingrown toenail problem when I was pregnant with my son. It was really painful I had similar treatments like you explained and the same problems.
I opted to have my whole tonail removed because of the sheer amount of pain the ingrowns caused and I was tired of dealing with it.
HOWEVER, I wish I had only opted for the partial removal because I hate the way my toe looks now and I never go out in public without glueing on :::: my fake toenail! LOL!
I would suggest going for the partial and seeing if that helps and then if not, go for the whole nail removal. In my opinion the actual procedure was less painful than my ingrown tonenails!

 

[NikitaZee]

A friend of mine had the procedure to permanently remove the nail, it was always ingrown and this stopped the problem. I went with him and watched the procedure. The nail was removed, after anesthetic was given - and the nail bed "frozen" so no nail can grow back. My friend had just a little discomfort, had to wear loose shoes while it healed, and did fine after that. Definitely not a horror story! Good luck!

 

[Rora]

That sounds awful. Have you considered going to a physician instead of a podiatrist? I went to a podiatrist many years ago and he did "surgery" on my foot. My fil, who was a physician, was so annoyed -- said I needed to have gone to a dermatologis, which is where I ended up because the scar tissue was driving me crazy.

That's something to consider. Thank you for the recommendation!

I had an ingrown toenail problem when I was pregnant with my son. It was really painful I had similar treatments like you explained and the same problems.
I opted to have my whole tonail removed because of the sheer amount of pain the ingrowns caused and I was tired of dealing with it.
HOWEVER, I wish I had only opted for the partial removal because I hate the way my toe looks now and I never go out in public without glueing on :::: my fake toenail! LOL!
I would suggest going for the partial and seeing if that helps and then if not, go for the whole nail removal. In my opinion the actual procedure was less painful than my ingrown tonenails!

I love that you glue your toenail on!! Too good!

But yeah, I know what you mean-- I'm tired of dealing with this thing. That being said, I certainly don't want my toenail to be completely gone. I'm good with just a sliver or so being out.

A friend of mine had the procedure to permanently remove the nail, it was always ingrown and this stopped the problem. I went with him and watched the procedure. The nail was removed, after anesthetic was given - and the nail bed "frozen" so no nail can grow back. My friend had just a little discomfort, had to wear loose shoes while it healed, and did fine after that. Definitely not a horror story! Good luck!

Okay- I'm a little confused. Did he have the entire nail removed or just a part of it?

I'm just trying to figure out if this process involves the entire removal of the nail or just a part of it.

Thanks for all the responses so far!

 

[AshleyW]

I had this done! My podiatrist suggest I start with removing just the partial toenail first, to see if that would help. Basically, what he did is (and this is kind of gross, so STOP READING if you're grossed out easily):

-Sprayed a topical anesthetic on my big toe to numb the outside of the skin
-Injected an anesthetic into my toe in 3 (or maybe 4) different locations, which numbed basically one half of my foot
-Used some heavy duty scissors (or at least that's what it looked like..) to cut off the small sliver of toenail that he wanted to removed
-Applied the phenol to my nailbed to prevent that part of the toenail from growing back
-Put some antibacterial cream on it, then wrapped it up with a ton of gauze and bandages.

I watched him do it (I'm sick, I know ) and it looked a ton worse than it really was - I couldn't feel a thing, except for some slight pressure on my foot.

After the surgery, I had to changed the bandages & soak my foot in lukewarm water mixed with epsom salt 3 or 4 times a day for 20 minutes each time for about a week. After a week, I only needed a thick band-aid and soaked it twice a day for another week. After that week, it was pretty much healed - I wore a band-aid just for "protection" because I was still a little nervous about making it bleed again, but it was fine. He only removed a small piece of my toenail - maybe 1/6 of it - and you have to really be looking at my toe in order to notice. I dealt with ingrown toenails on that toe for sooo long, I wish I had taken care of it earlier because it was a relatively simple fix.

 

[SondraC]

My ds just had this done to both of his big toes last month. It was painful that evening, but by the next day it didn't bother him at all. Nothing.

 

[ilovepcot]

I had the procedure done on both great toes in October using the phenol. Only small strips on each side of the toenails were removed and now you can't tell a thing was ever done. Nails look absolutely normal and no one...even looking very closely, can tell anything has been done. The phenol did not burn but does have a strong burning type smell. I was able to walk all the way across a huge parking lot to my car and drive myself home after the procedure. No pain meds...even aspirin, was necessary afterward. I soaked each toe in epson salts twice a day for two weeks and applied a topical antibiotic. Great!!! I highly recommend having the procedure done to anyone who suffers with repeated ingrown nails. One of the best things I've done in a long time.

ETA: I was typing when ASHLEY made her post. What she described is exactly what I had done...step by step.

 

[NikitaZee]

Okay- I'm a little confused. Did he have the entire nail removed or just a part of it?

I'm just trying to figure out if this process involves the entire removal of the nail or just a part of it.

Thanks for all the responses so far!

Sorry about that - he had the whole nail removed. I'm not sure if the procedure you're wondering about works that exact same way.

 

[Rora]

Thank you to all for the responses!!

I think I'm just really scared about going tomorrow since my first experience with the podiatrist cutting into my toe twice in one week, etc was scarring.

I'm SO happy to hear that you can have the procedure done without loosing your whole toenail.

As always, the DIS rocks. Thanks again and if anyone else has any more comments/stories (good or bad!), please post!

 

[MnMomtoboys]

I had half of my toenail removed due to an infected ingrown toenail 16 years ago. The worst part of it was the shots to numb my toe. It took months but the toenail did grow back and have never had a problem with that side of the toe. Still get them on my other side but i can deal with them.

 

[rascalmom]

I had the "sliver" freezing procedure done a couple of years ago. It helped in that I don't get in-grown problems any more. No big trauma during the procedure or with healing.

However, I keep losing the toenail on that foot. It grows a new one back, but that takes several months. I think whatever the freezing did to it damaged the nail bed to the point that it affected the rest of the nail.

It doesn't hurt - but looks kind of weird when the nail falls off. So far, it usually does this in the fall/winter & hasn't been that much of a problem. I did have a formal event in October & it was just a little stub at that point, so I had my nail girl glue a fake one off that I took off by the end of the weekend.

Toe nails are just creepy in general!

 

[Rora]

I had half of my toenail removed due to an infected ingrown toenail 16 years ago. The worst part of it was the shots to numb my toe. It took months but the toenail did grow back and have never had a problem with that side of the toe. Still get them on my other side but i can deal with them.

Thank you!

I had the "sliver" freezing procedure done a couple of years ago. It helped in that I don't get in-grown problems any more. No big trauma during the procedure or with healing.

However, I keep losing the toenail on that foot. It grows a new one back, but that takes several months. I think whatever the freezing did to it damaged the nail bed to the point that it affected the rest of the nail.

It doesn't hurt - but looks kind of weird when the nail falls off. So far, it usually does this in the fall/winter & hasn't been that much of a problem. I did have a formal event in October & it was just a little stub at that point, so I had my nail girl glue a fake one off that I took off by the end of the weekend.

Toe nails are just creepy in general!

I totally agree!!

Thank you for your story and sorry about your MIA toe-nail. That's weird that it does that.. I hope it decides to take up a permanent residency on your toe here soon!

 

[hambirg]

Ok. . .I didn't read all the responses, but I have had minor ingrown nail problems. First off. . .hydrogen peroxide every night. . .and I'm surprised they didn't give you antibiotics to fight the infection. . .you need those. Next. . cut a "v" into the middle of the nail. . .it will make it grow towards the center to fill it in and away from the sides. These are just the things that have worked for me. . .seriously. . .clipping a "v" is the best. But it sounds like you are dealing with a painful infection. . .hydrogen peroxide and a good antibiotic!

 

[Dax]

I have had one toe done, DH has had both toes done...ALL by a Podiatrist. The last one my DH had, he was infected for almost 6mo! We didnt have insurance, so we played "bathroom podiatrist" as the dr called it. His toe was HUGE!

Basically, they cut only a small portion of the nail, so my toenail is like a rectangle all straight edges.

The dr my DH went to was in Celebration FL, and his office works on the many sports stars, including the Orlando Magic. They were EXCELLENT

 

[jen0610]

I had this done! My podiatrist suggest I start with removing just the partial toenail first, to see if that would help. Basically, what he did is (and this is kind of gross, so STOP READING if you're grossed out easily):

-Sprayed a topical anesthetic on my big toe to numb the outside of the skin
-Injected an anesthetic into my toe in 3 (or maybe 4) different locations, which numbed basically one half of my foot
-Used some heavy duty scissors (or at least that's what it looked like..) to cut off the small sliver of toenail that he wanted to removed
-Applied the phenol to my nailbed to prevent that part of the toenail from growing back
-Put some antibacterial cream on it, then wrapped it up with a ton of gauze and bandages.

I watched him do it (I'm sick, I know ) and it looked a ton worse than it really was - I couldn't feel a thing, except for some slight pressure on my foot.

After the surgery, I had to changed the bandages & soak my foot in lukewarm water mixed with epsom salt 3 or 4 times a day for 20 minutes each time for about a week. After a week, I only needed a thick band-aid and soaked it twice a day for another week. After that week, it was pretty much healed - I wore a band-aid just for "protection" because I was still a little nervous about making it bleed again, but it was fine. He only removed a small piece of my toenail - maybe 1/6 of it - and you have to really be looking at my toe in order to notice. I dealt with ingrown toenails on that toe for sooo long, I wish I had taken care of it earlier because it was a relatively simple fix.

This is what I had to a T, when I was sixteen. Only I had it done to both sides of my big toes - both feet. 25+ years later, I have never had another issue.

DH on the hand has had several different types of treatments over the years. The last time he had work done, I told the Dr exactly what I wanted done and 16 years later, he no longer has issues.

Like Ashley, I watched the Dr work on the one side of my toe, then I sat back and read while they did the other 3 sides.

 

[Mama-san]

My big toe nails were both ingrown, and the podiatrist thought removing them would be the best thing. So he numbed my toes (several small painful shots that puffed them up) then used a pair of pliers to pull them out (my husband watched) which I was unable to feel. I had to wear sandals for a couple of days but they healed fine.

The dr. said that new toenails would grow out in about 6 months. That's been almost 11 years and unfortunately I'm still waiting for it to happen. I have to paint on a fake nail when I do the rest of my toes. It's real attractive since I already have size 11 feet, and the second toes on each are about 1/2 inch longer than the big toe. Just beautiful.....

 

[Rora]

This is what I had to a T, when I was sixteen. Only I had it done to both sides of my big toes - both feet. 25+ years later, I have never had another issue.

DH on the hand has had several different types of treatments over the years. The last time he had work done, I told the Dr exactly what I wanted done and 16 years later, he no longer has issues.

Like Ashley, I watched the Dr work on the one side of my toe, then I sat back and read while they did the other 3 sides.

Thank you!!

My big toe nails were both ingrown, and the podiatrist thought removing them would be the best thing. So he numbed my toes (several small painful shots that puffed them up) then used a pair of pliers to pull them out (my husband watched) which I was unable to feel. I had to wear sandals for a couple of days but they healed fine.

The dr. said that new toenails would grow out in about 6 months. That's been almost 11 years and unfortunately I'm still waiting for it to happen. I have to paint on a fake nail when I do the rest of my toes. It's real attractive since I already have size 11 feet, and the second toes on each are about 1/2 inch longer than the big toe. Just beautiful.....

I'm so sorry about your toenails not growing back. How terrible! I would be very upset too. And I have size 10 feet so I can only imagine.

UPDATE: So, I went to the podiatrist yesterday. And she was wonderful! She told me I couldn't have the surgery because I currently had an infected, ingrown toenail and that I should wait until mid-January to have the surgery done. So, I had the regular removal of the infected toenail done. That of course is no pleasure cruise but so far it's not awful. She also gave me a prescription for the pain (something equivilent to taking 4 advils..) and that's been working well.

So I will go back in January for the surgery. Thanks to all who commented and shared their stories! I appreciate it!