Ingrowing Toenails

  • There are many causes of an ingrowing Toenail

    1. Wearing shoes that are too narrow

    2. Genetics that cause a wide curled nail plate

    3. Damaging your toenail from trauma

    4. incorrect cutting of your toenail

    5. Children, in particular, pick their toenails causing a jagged edge to form that pierces the skin

    6. Excess moisture on your feet that allows the nail to penetrate your skin more easily

    Just to name a few

  • Ingrowing toenails are toenails that pierce the skin which created an open sore. They can be red, inflamed, swollen, and very painful

    Pain from toenails that press on the skin when pressure is applied but do not pierce the skin are called involuted nails. These types of nails do not cause, inflammation, or swelling and are not as problematic as ingrowing toenails.

    Your podiatrist can treat any cause of toenail pain and provide you with the treatment to remove the painful area.

  • Involuted toenails are generally managed during a podiatry appointment by cutting the troublesome nail away removing pressure on the skin underneath your toenail

    Ingrowing toenails are more troublesome to manage but can be treated during a podiatry appointment. Sometimes they can be too painful to remove during a podiatry appointment, which is where removing the nail under a local anaesthetic is the only choice left and nail surgery is recommended. Especially when there is tissue growth around the ingrowing toenail

  • Nail surgery is often the last resort, should removing the nail during your Podiatry appointment not be possible due to pain levels and the extent of the ingrowing toenail.

    What Does Nail Surgery Mean?

    The nail surgery procedure first involves a local anaesthetic on both sides of the toe. This will completely numb the toe and block your pain receptors. We then put a tourniquet over your toe and prepare your toe with an antibacterial cleanser. Then we remove a part or all of the nail depending on the nail.

    We then might put a chemical down the side of the nail called phenol that stops the nail from regrowing back. We do this because very often the nail will grow back out and turn into an ingrowing nail once again should we not do this. The evidence suggests that it is 80% likely the nail will regrow without using phenol.

    You will then be required to redress the toe daily until the toe has healed. This can take between 2-8 weeks depending on your circumstances and procedure.

    We will provide you with the dressings to use on a daily basis

    We will provide all the information to you and an information pack before the nail surgery takes place. You will then also receive a guide on how to look after your toe after the procedure.

  • Following the procedure, patients at Dunford Health experience significant relief for the following reasons:

    Your issue is now permanently resolved with nail surgery.

    Pain is eliminated instantly barring some slight discomfort on the first day or two post nail surgery, and the infection source is eliminated, eliminating the need for antibiotics. 

    It's a painless process with little discomfort following the procedure.

    You can get back to your regular activities immediately or after a few days if you play sports.

    There's no need to miss work or school.

    You will regain the ability to wear normal shoes

    Cosmetically speaking, partial nail removal is acceptable, and over time it looks like no procedure was performed.

  • First, a local anaesthetic will be used to numb your toe. We even use the same kind of syringe and needle that dentists use! Unfortunately injections are not painless. I promise not to lie! It goes by quickly, and the discomfort you experience is from your toe filling with anaesthetic! After the injection is done, you won't experience any more pain! The majority of patients tell me that their ingrowing toenail caused considerably more agony than the injection did, and that when the procedure is done, their toe discomfort never returns!