Ingrown toenails?

[Twinkles6892]

I have an ingrown toenail, my big toe. It's swolen and very sore. What are they going to do to it, it hurts bad enough right now, are they just going to rip that part out?

 

[Lynn CC]

My son had them for a couple of years. His doctor numbed it, then cut it the correct way. His kept getting infections so eventually he had to have the growth tissue removed, now he doesn't have any problems!
They are very painful, I hope yours feels better soon.
By the way he said once they numb it you don't feel anything!

 

[golfgal]

Soak it in warm soapy water or warm water with Epsom salts. That will help a lot. DH would get them all the time and finally ended up having surgery. We also found that he could not wear shoes that were pointy that would put any pressure, even lightly, on his big toe. We have to find him dress shoes that are more boxy.

 

[Twinkles6892]

Soak it in warm soapy water or warm water with Epsom salts. That will help a lot. DH would get them all the time and finally ended up having surgery. We also found that he could not wear shoes that were pointy that would put any pressure, even lightly, on his big toe. We have to find him dress shoes that are more boxy.

I have Winter Formal Sunday, and I'm really worried about this, because my shoes are kind of pointy.

Lynn CC, thanks! I'm hoping I don't have to have any tissue removed, I do think it's infected though. I guess that'll teach me to improperly cut my toenails. Maybe my mom should get me monthly pedicures

 

[Towncrier]

A podiatrist will numb the toe and then clip off the offending part of the nail. If your toes are anything like mine, they will bleed like crazy for a few seconds as the pressure is reduced, but the result is well worth the discomfort.

Be very careful that your toe doesn't become infected. That is my biggest problem. An infected ingrown toenail can be a mighty painful thing and it may take several rounds of antibiotics to knock out the infection.

Good luck with whatever course of action you decide to take. My kids both inherited the misfortune of having toenails that are prone to ingrown-ness. They both had surgery to permanently narrow the toenail and haven't had any problems since.

 

[mark&sue]

I found once my DD had her ingrowing toenail that the only way to stop the infection and pain was to have part of the toe nail cut. It is a minor surgery (even though I fainted while holding her hand!!!) and now no problem at all.

A week later we went to Disneyland Paris and had no trouble walking what so ever. Was the best decision I ever made and not listened to my doctor who gave me no advice and went privately to get it done. (live in UK and we get free healthcare here if doctor recommends). She only needed one day off school plus weekend with her foot up and all cured.

It cost roughly $160 but worth every penny. You can search the web to find some interesting facts but nearly all will advise surgery.

Good luck


Susan

 

[Alicnwondrln]

i have had the surgery on both big toes
if they can the doc witll numb the toes this is the only part that hurts
then cut down the nail on each side or the ingrown side
then will use acid to make sure the root at the bottom cant grow in wrong again after that youshould be fine
but
if you let it get bad they pull pull the whole nail and then wait til grows back in to do the acid thing
i have had both done
go and get the sides cut and root acided so it ownt happen ever again
also make sure what ever they do that they put tons of stuff on the bandage so it wont stick
that hurt more than the needle for the numbing
ouch !!

 

[jbdreamer]

Go get a pedicure... they'll cut it out.

 

[drgnfly30]

My DH's Aunt died from an ingrown toenail... actually the infection from it... no lie!! Only my in-laws !!

 

[Honu]

Go get a pedicure... they'll cut it out.

Ahhhhh! No. If it's infected the only place you should be going is the podiatrist. If a nail is burrowing in, but not infected a good manicurist can help with that, but they aren't doctors and the other customers would prefer you keep your infections far, far away.

I would soak it and treat with antibiotics first. I've lived through some pretty serious injuries and surgeries, but nothing has been more painful than the shot in the end of an infected toe nail to numb it.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

In all my visits they said soak it in Epsom salt--and if you can manage to stick some cotton in to lift the nail so that it has a little room to pass the skin it is getting stuck on.

I had what I thought were some pretty serious ingrown toenails and no doctor would ever do anything with them. So I always self treat when I feel one coming on.

 

[Sparx]

I agree soak it. But I can't stand to have my feet touched by other people, so when I had one (It wasn't infected that I could see, but I did boil it out with peroxide) I cut it out myself. It healed up fine. I know you're probably not supposed to do that but still.

 

[Cantw8]

Holy crap, Twinkles..you think you got it bad? Look at my toes

 

[taramarie]

I had one when I was younger. It is just like the previous posters said. They gave me a few shots around my toe, cut out the whole right side including the root and it has not grown back since. It is thicker on that side now, but no problems since. I dont remember it being that painful after cause it hurt so bad before! But the shots are the worst part.

The funny part was that when he was doing the operation I was awake and it felt like he was working on the left side and I was so scared he was cutting the wrong side out! My mom assured me that I was okay.

Tara

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

That picture is scary! Made me jump in my seat!

 

[rascalmom]

How deeply imbedded is it? Do you already have an appointment with a doctor?

I had a small one last week - I had somehow managed to trim my nail crookedly. It was definitely getting an infection where the corner of the nail was poking me. I trimmed off the offending corner off & gently smoothed the corner with an emery board. Then I kept applying over-the-counter triple antibiotic ointment to the area. It cleared up in a couple of days.

 

[Taylor]

I have had both big toes done. The first time by a general surgeon, the second time by a podiatrist. The first one hurt pretty bad. The second time didn't hurt at all.

My advice - go to a podiatrist, they do this procedure day in and day out.

 

[highland3]

I had to get both big toes does when I was a kid. I was put under!!!

The healing was a bit painful when we had to change the gauze.

Soak it, pick at it... ask a professional! You don't want to end up like the guy in the picture... eeewwwww!!