Help Ingrowing toenail

[Ch3tan]

I was always told to cut my nails in a straight line, not a V or ^, to avoid them growing wonky or ingrowing.

 

[mycenae]

My advice would be to see your GP and get a referral to a podiatrist, who are feet specialists and will do the job properly so it doesn't need to be done again.
We do a fair few of these surgeries on kids with excellent results. DO NOT allow your GP to do it. Demand to see a specialist.
In the meantime, soak the toe in very hot water (as hot as you can bear) with as much salt dissolved in it as it will take. DO NOT attempt to remove the ingrowing nail yourself. The best treatment is to soak it twice a day, keep your foot elevated as much as possible and keep your feet out of shoes and socks as much as possible.
Trust me on this, I look after these cases all the time.

 

[Bugz]

Went to see the doctor.

She prescribed me some antibiotics as an infection has started to occur, which would explain the pain I was having. As for the ingrowing nail itself she didn't seem bothered. She told me to take the antibiotics, wait for the nail to regrow properly and cut along the top in a straight line. Indeed she did say the V-cutting is wrong and not to do it! Considering I had always just cut them rather 'generally' I'm guessing this could be the error of my ways.

I'm skeptical as to how the ingrowing nail will correct itself as I start to cut properly in the future but meh, she's the doctor I can't argue!

 

[Marc]

Nick, I thought you didnt use internet forums for advice

 

[tris-]

General is ok because everyone is mature.

 

[Bugz]

General is indeed more mature and the conversations don't descend into mindless arguments over semantics and other issues (such as that one between chet, toht and tris that spiraled out of control - even I got bored of reading it and I love petty arguments! )

That said, I usually just browse without posting but I wanted to hear other peoples' opinions on this issue as the bloudy thing was keeping me up for some of the night

 

[Fweddy]

Trem's advice is clearly best. He forgot to mention that you should record the process so that we can be kept fully informed though.

 

[Dark Orb Choir]

i've had 2 done, same left big toenail, the injection hurts like fuck, i stupidly watched what the dr did 1st time round, never again.

looks cool as fuck with no nail on your big toe though

 

[Trem]

General is ok because everyone is mature.

You smell of wee

Trem's advice is clearly best. He forgot to mention that you should record the process so that we can be kept fully informed though.

Thank you, at last someone else who agrees.

Thats right folks - Trem is always right about anything to do with body prodding/stabbing.

 

[Dark Orb Choir]

you had a Vasectomy ?

 

[TdC]

he did it himself!

 

[Dark Orb Choir]

i knew trem was hardcore but hes outcoring hardcore holly (TM) and hes hardcore (hardcore)

 

[00dave]

As for the ingrowing nail itself she didn't seem bothered. She told me to take the antibiotics, wait for the nail to regrow properly and cut along the top in a straight line. Indeed she did say the V-cutting is wrong and not to do it!

I tried the straight across method but that actually lead to my second ingrowing toenail, ever since I started the V method I've not even had a hint of problems. Now I may not be a qualified podiatrist or have access to the latest research but what I do have is 7 years of no ingrowing toenails, 4 of those years spent in the military which as tris will soon find out is like a death sentence for your feet.

Also strange that your doc wouldn't refer you for the very minor op. It's an outpatients op so no theatre required, done in less than an hour and is relatively painless in return for months of relief. I would seriously ask for the op, once the infection starts it's difficult to control and tbh I thought antibiotics weren't to be used unnecessarily to slow the growth of superbugs and suppresion of the immune system. The op would stop the infection there and then.

What are your thoughts Mycenae?

 

[mycenae]

You're right Dave....really, the op should be done, BUT they won't do it if there is current infection as it risks the spread of it into the bloodstream - then you get septicemia and all a manner of nasty things which make you very ill.
When the infection has gone, I would strongly recommend you go back to the GP and ask to have the toenail dealt with.

 

[00dave]

Yay I like it when I'm right.

 

[Sockstuff]

ive had 4 ops across both of my big toes - no nail at all on the left foot and 3/4 of the nail on the right foot.
.

I'm having both my big toe nails removed on the first week of august. They will also be putting the chemical in so they never grow back. What was this like for you Lazarus? Does it cause you any problems not having one and what does it look like?

After years of messing with my ingrown toe nails I would advise anyone NOT to do it themmselves. One mistake and you can fuck it right up - like I did.

 

[Yoni]

Go to the doctors. I nearly lost my big toe due to being ashamed of being overweight at the time and not wanting to go and get it sorted out. I had to have two operations, the first without an anesthetic due to the level of infection :|.

 

[Bugz]

I must say Dave I was skeptical of it myself, as she spent more time diagnosing and treating the infection, then bothering to talk about the lump of nail digging into my skin!

The infection itself is healing rather nicely at the moment. I'm spraying savalon spray on it regularly, washing it in bicarb with water and taking the antibiotics. When it's cleared up, I will go straight to the doctors as opposed to trying to do it myself again!

To be honest, I've always had a feeling with my doctors that they simply care about speed & efficiency as opposed to each individual case. When I went back with tightness in my chest and palpitations literally coming out of my chest, she had me in and out within 2 minutes and never really listened to what I said.

But hey, what do I know Thanks for the advice!

 

[mycenae]

if you think the GP ignores you, you could always pay to go to a podiatriast yourself, who could then refer to an HNS service to have the toenail sorted.

 

[Yoni]

They are treating the infection so that they can deal with the toenail sadly with me the infection was so bad that the antibiotics didn't really do much good. If the infection gets to horrible then they will deal with toenail without anesthetic (like they did with me)... well they used a spray, as the Dr said to me.... im afraid Laura this is going to hurt however the kind nurse next to you won't mind if you squeeze her hand really hard *laughs*

I had to have the procedure done twice, the second one was a breeze compared with the first.

 

[00dave]

Another thing you might want to think about is changing your GP as well, at the clinic I go to I often see different doctors sometimes about the same thing. It isn't their fault really, the target obsessed NHS and the open door immigration policy is causing them to have this attitude because they just have so many patients in one day.
Whenever I had to see a doctor in the RAF they sat you down and had a good chat about what was wrong. One time I found a lump in my bollocks and shit myself but the doc told me it was epididymitis and then thoughrouly explained to me why it definately wasn't chop time which put my mind at ease then asked me if there were any other problems I wanted to talk about.
Compare that to last year when I had a lumpy feeling in my right side, went to my gp, after several months of tests and no reasurance from anyone I had heard nothing, phoned up to ask when they were going to tell me my result and got "oh er I'll book you an appointment" took the morning off work, went in and was told, "All the signs point to IBS, definately not cancer, nothing really to prescrbe just come back if it gets any worse" I was in there less than a minute and I could see my questions were being discouraged.

 

[Wonk]

I had a toenail growing sideways. The toe became twice the normal size. I actually found a nail INSIDE my toe at one point (I managed to make a tiny hole on top of it).

I don't know what was worse - Getting the injection when the doctor/specialist had to make a cut and remove some cells, or getting half of my nail cut off with a knife/scissor.

 

[Bugz]

No more stories of bad operations please!

Couple of guys at work laughed at me and my ingrowing toenail today. Apparently they don't hurt and only sissys find them painful! Those who don't suffer really don't understand just how bad they can be!

 

[Sockstuff]

Those who don't suffer really don't understand just how bad they can be!

 

[rynnor]

The feet are funny things - if your a smoker, diabetic or just generally have bad circulation take great care of even innocuous things.

My Grandfather-in-law had to have about a third of his foot amputated after a routine chiropodists appointment where they cut away a bit too much dead skin.

An infection got in there and in the end they had to amputate...

 

[Lazarus]

I'm having both my big toe nails removed on the first week of august. They will also be putting the chemical in so they never grow back. What was this like for you Lazarus? Does it cause you any problems not having one and what does it look like?

After years of messing with my ingrown toe nails I would advise anyone NOT to do it themmselves. One mistake and you can fuck it right up - like I did.

sock,

1st operation on my left foot 2was standard "rip off the nail and it will grow back ok"

2nd operation was rip off the nail and cut away the side bits of the nail bed so that you have a narrower band of nail growing - less chance of the nail growing in. Unfortunately, the fatherless gentleman doctor of middle eastern origin made such a both of the operation, my toe looked like a side of beef tied up in the butchers shop with 6 stitches to hold it together and the nail gowing in squint so that it was actually growing into my other toe. hurt like a bastard when the anaesthetic wore off and when I got the stiches out.

Third time was the checmical removal of the nailbed. 1 local anaesthetic to the nail bed. Easing of the nail out of the bed and then chemical applied to the nail bed to remove it.

Easily the quickest and most pain free method - even when my daughter stood on my toe after the op it was sore, but not painful.

third operation was doen by "nursing staff" - 10 times better than having the doctor do it.

need to give the toe time to heal up tho - some shoes i had were chafing the flesh a little.

 

[Sockstuff]

My day is tomorrow and I'm bricking the removal/chemical application after making the mistake of watching it on youtube.

 

[Wonk]

shockingstuff

 

[00dave]

It doesn't take long at all, don't worry to much about it, after the injection it's not painful just uncomfortable. Don't watch it whatever you do or your eyes will fill in the pain gaps that the anesthetic is blocking out.

That last part is my theory only and not scientifically proven

In short a little prick followed by some soreness, bit like a date with Trem.

 

[Lazarus]

It doesn't take long at all, don't worry to much about it, after the injection it's not painful just uncomfortable. Don't watch it whatever you do or your eyes will fill in the pain gaps that the anesthetic is blocking out.

That last part is my theory only and not scientifically proven

In short a little prick followed by some soreness, bit like a date with Trem.

nooooooooo....watch and learn.

I have watched all of the operations on me feet - fascinating and sometimes barabric but you MUST watch them