[Strawberry]

I have ingrown toenails on both large toes. My Podiatrist has recommended that I have a procedure which will hopefully relieve the pain I have. I've been putting it off for months, but finally decided to go ahead with it.

I'm not particularly fond of the idea of the numbing jabs, but what does concern me is the possibility of infection setting in after the procedure. He has given me a Rx for an antibiotic to be started two days prior to the procedure and for 7 days after. Also, what will keep the remaining portion of the nails from trying to grow curved and causing another ingrown nail?

 

[Carolina]

ok I can tell you something about this. I have been a manicurist/nail tech for over 20 yrs.

IF there is no infection a nail tech can & should put acrylic on your toe's. I swear lol. it will make your nail grow out straight not curved down into the skin. It will relieve the pain & you will not have them again. Oh & you must MUST go to a good salon. Not a discount walk in place.
I only charged $10. for this.
HTH.

BTW you should find yourself a good pedicurist..

 

[Strawberry]

Sorry, no disrespect meant for you or your profession, but I can't afford the initial cost nor the upkeep on acrylic nails or toenails. I like attractive nails, but not something like this OurNails.Com - Hand Modeling - Fingernail Modeling - Foot Modeling - Toenail Modeling

 

[Guest]

Those are obscene, IMO. And how do you do anything when wearing them?

 

[Carolina]

Those are obscene, IMO. And how do you do anything when wearing them?

for one thing beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Plus I agree with you. In all the yrs sitting behind that nail table I never ever did a nail that didn't look naturel. I find those 'other' nails to be gaudy unsanitary & just downright ugly.I refused to do them.

as for up keep its only 1 toe nail or both.then all you do is file it yourself. it takes a really really long time fo them to grow down.

a naturel color is worn plus they are just a overlay & should not extended over the edge of the toe. I have done hundreds of them, on men too.

 

[Strawberry]

Carolina - The way you explain the acrylic nails sounds indeed quite natural. I think the problem for me might be in finding a "good nail technician". We live in a small town and to the best of my knowledge there are no nail salons that do toenails. My sister, who works in a doctor's office, has a full set of acrylic finger nails and has to go every two weeks in a town 25 miles away to have them shaped and redone. Don't know if that is natural procedure or not.

I need to be extra careful where infection is concerned as I have a history of cellulitis and lymphedema. Even the smallest cut 'could' spell a lot of trouble for me, hence my reason for the original post.

 

[rwallen]

Strawberry,

I'm afraid that I can't answer your questions but I did have my right toe done on Tues. and will have the left one done in 2 weeks. I am not having any problems with my feet from diabetes but do have ingrown toenails to deal with. I opted to listen to my podiatrist and try the procedure for preventative reasons. It hasn't been that bad so far.

 

[Strawberry]

Strawberry,

I'm afraid that I can't answer your questions but I did have my right toe done on Tues. and will have the left one done in 2 weeks. I am not having any problems with my feet from diabetes but do have ingrown toenails to deal with. I opted to listen to my podiatrist and try the procedure for preventative reasons. It hasn't been that bad so far.

Glad to hear you are progressing well, and good luck to you when you have the other one done. Could you wear shoes right away afterwards, or did you need to wear house slippers?

 

[rwallen]

Glad to hear you are progressing well, and good luck to you when you have the other one done. Could you wear shoes right away afterwards, or did you need to wear house slippers?

I wore a type of flip flop the first day and tried shoes for about a half a day the second day but they did eventually hurt my feet. I have stuck to the "flip flop" when going out but I wore my tennis shoes the 2nd and 3rd days when riding my stationary bike. I am a cyclist and haven't been able to ride outside because of the weather. The 2nd day, I rode 13 miles with some discomfort afterwards and my typical 17 miles yesterday with no discomfort at all. While I could probably get away with wearing shoes when going out, I think I'll stick to the flip flop for a few more days.

 

[Strawberry]

I wore a type of flip flop the first day and tried shoes for about a half a day the second day but they did eventually hurt my feet. I have stuck to the "flip flop" when going out but I wore my tennis shoes the 2nd and 3rd days when riding my stationary bike. I am a cyclist and haven't been able to ride outside because of the weather. The 2nd day, I rode 13 miles with some discomfort afterwards and my typical 17 miles yesterday with no discomfort at all. While I could probably get away with wearing shoes when going out, I think I'll stick to the flip flop for a few more days.

It is encouraging to hear you were able to ride your bike so soon after having the procedure. While I'm not able to ride as long as you, I do enjoy riding. The weather where I live is not suitable for riding outside, so I am also relegated to my stationary bike. Somehow it doesn't seem quite as interesting as riding outside

I'm also glad to know the flip flops worked well for you. One of our local stores has a sale on them now - I suppose they are trying to reduce their warm weather stuff.

 

[itguy61]

I have had to have this done several times, but none since diabetes diagnosis. I can tell you the relief was immediate and I was so happy to shed the pain. I remember what it was like to bump my toe and it would send pain all the way through my body. Only painful part of procedure is the numbing shots, they hurt but only for a minute or two once the toe starts numbing.

If your Dr. says it wil be okay I would do it myself, just be sure to do whatever he says to keep clean and ward off infection.

 

[kent jones]

iam sorry you ladies have to have pretty toes i had severe problems with my big toes and had to have both toenails totally removed with a laser that was 10 years ago and have not had any pain or problems since good luck with your problems

 

[rudeboysti]

I have had to have this done several times, but none since diabetes diagnosis. I can tell you the relief was immediate and I was so happy to shed the pain. I remember what it was like to bump my toe and it would send pain all the way through my body. Only painful part of procedure is the numbing shots, they hurt but only for a minute or two once the toe starts numbing.

If your Dr. says it wil be okay I would do it myself, just be sure to do whatever he says to keep clean and ward off infection.

I had 2 done when I was a kid. itguy speaks exactly what I remember. The relief was immediate. So much so that I went skateboarding later that day. I was out for hours until I noticed blood on my board. Looked at my shoes and found they were saturated. Took one off and the blood poured out. Never did hurt like it did with the ingrown nail so I didn't really notice. The doctor did say to stay off my feet but once the numbing shots wore off and I realized the pain was gone, I was ready to move on with life. Pretty stupid looking back.

I would never go through that again. I would have it taken care of immediatly myself but understand the concern. The one thing I have always payed attention to my feet for is ingrown toenails.

I hope it goes well for you.

Edit: Regarding the question of it happening again.
Mine have a nice straight line down the sides where the ingrown nail was removed. For me, it was the inside part of each big toe. This has never grown back into the skin part. The other side has never been an issue. At the time I seem to remember him saying that the other side should be ok but if I have problems with that side growing in, come see him. This was about 20 years ago so I may be making up my own memories in talking to the doc.

 

[Strawberry]

I am glad I had this procedure done. It was not nearly as bad as I anticipated. The Doctor sprayed some really cold 'stuff' on my toes before he did the injections (which I barely felt). I also did not feel any pain while he was doing the procedure.

However, like rudeboysti, I almost forgot about the advice the Dr. said to "elevate your feet the rest of the day". I had a few errands to do on the way home. By the time I got home my socks were bloody too. Had to put on clean ones and of course I caught heck from my OH.

The numbness is worn off and the toes feel very tender, but I'm glad I had it done - should have done it long ago

 

[itguy61]

I did the same thing when I was a teenager! I was so used to be so careful as to not bump them and cause bad pain, when it was gone I couldn't contain myself and over did it. I would highly recommend getting them done, relief is great!

 

[Strawberry]

I did the same thing when I was a teenager! I was so used to be so careful as to not bump them and cause bad pain, when it was gone I couldn't contain myself and over did it. I would highly recommend getting them done, relief is great!

Oh boy, I can relate to the "not wanting to bump them". Even turning over in bed last night was painful. And it didn't help that my OH had an especially bad case of periodic limb movement and restless legs last night.

Soaking them in warm water with Epsom salts provides a measure of pain relief too.

 

[Strawberry]

When I had the ingrown toenail procedure done in November 2011 the Podiatrist said sometimes there is a recurrence, but not often. The possibility of recurrence became a reality and this morning I had another procedure on the large toe to remove the regrowth, plus the doctor removed the nails on toes number 5 because they were also ingrown. The numbness is wearing off and the toes are very tender.

Still glad I had it done and hope the little ones don't decide to regrow

 

[moon]

Oh shoot on the regrowth. Here's hoping for no re-re-growth. Great idea to have them done at the same time to get it (hopefully) over with.

 

[Strawberry]

Oh shoot on the regrowth. Here's hoping for no re-re-growth. Great idea to have them done at the same time to get it (hopefully) over with.

Moon - I do hope you're right and no regrowth again. Today they just plain hurt I wasn't really expecting for him to have to do the big toe again. Those numbing jabs are okay because he sprays really cold stuff on the skin before the jab. But the next day the spot where the jab was inserted is oh so tender :Cry:

 

[MCS]

Son had an ingrown toenail (big toe) we were just about to take him to the doc when some one landed on it while playing basketball. It bled right thru his shoe. Didn't have to take him after that.

They are quite painful and I hope your recover soon.