Are You A Bathroom Surgeon?

Taking Care of an Ingrown Toenail is Simple and Easy...

How many of you are bathroom surgeons?  You know what I mean.  You have an ingrown toenail that is painful and you decide to go to the bathroom and take out a nail clipper and try to digout the nail.  You know you have done that before.  So, how did you do?  Did you cut that “V” at the top like grandma told you to do?  Or, did you take that little file at the end of the nipper and try to pop it out? 

Well, if you did any of the above, you’ve found out very quickly that it didn’t work and in matter of fact, you have made it worse.  Now, the skin is all red, and there is some icky pus oozing out of the corner.  Now you have caused an infected ingrown toenail. 

The above situation is very common.  You think it is not a big deal to eliminate the ingrown.  However, because you are not as flexible as Cathy Rigby and you do not have the right tools or knowledge, you simply can’t do this yourself.  That’s good, because otherwise, I would be out of a job. 

Most people do not go see their podiatrist to take care of this problem because of three things: 1) Time, 2) Fear, and 3) Money.  What if I told you that the whole process of removing an ingrown toenail takes five minutes and it is virtually painless (definitely a lot less painful then if you did it yourself) and that insurance covers this procedure?  You still might be hesitant to come in but once you do, I can tell you the most common responseI get from my patients is, “Is that all? I should have done this months ago.”

So, now I am going to give away the big secret of how to remove the painful nail.  Please do not share this with anyone, because I might be left without a job.  The first thing we do is explain the procedure to you. We do everything in our power to relax you.  We have drinks (not the hard stuff) and snacks and might tell a joke or two.  Then, I will numb your toe.  This takes all about 20 seconds and from here on in, you will not feel a thing. 

Then I use a regular nail nipper to just cut the ingrown away.  Here comes the big secret.  If you just remove the ingrown without doing anything else, it will come right back.  Just circle your calendar for six months from now and you will find yourself in the same pickle.  This is because the ingrown toenail damaged the root and the root will continually produce another ingrown.  So, to prevent this, I apply four swabs of 89% phenol, which stops the root from making another ingrown.  The rest of the nail will grow back normally.  You will now have a normal nail. 

Afterwards, you can go back to most activities.  If you run or play soccer or other sports, you might need a few days of rest.  You can definitely go back to work immediately (oh, bummer).  To care for the toe, all you have to do is wash it with a cleanser and apply an antibiotic ointment and a band-aid.  This comes in a kit which we will give you.  We will check your toe a couple of times to assess the healing. 

So stop being a bathroom surgeon and get your feet properly taken care of.