self surgery FTW! removed ingrown toenail.

[Antimatty]

i was working out a bit and i sat down to read when i noticed a little bit of moisture pooling at the edge of my right toe. examining it further i realized that it was pus and that it was the beginnings of an ingrown toenail. the area next to the nail was a bit swollen and felt strange but i hadn't noticed as i have grown accustomed to foot pain/ discomfort , etc. with some toenail clippers and a sharp pocket knife i was able to easily remove the offending portion of the toenail in 5 - 10 minutes. my strategy involved cutting a sort of "guide groove " into the toenail portion that i couldn't easily access with the knife ( the same way that you fold a piece of paper before you rip it ) then i jammed in my clippers and was easily able to sever the bad portion from the rest of the nail . with a little pulling it came loose from the flesh of my toe and it was mission accomplished . ( for real though ) i applied some hydrogen peroxide and all is well.

[winchester_down]

Just make sure you haven't cut it so the nail grows back in the same direction or even worse in a whole new more painful direction.

BTW One of the keys to stopping your toe nails from becoming ingrown is to NOT CUT THEM TOO ROUND , cut them flat at the end so they dont tend to curl at the sides as they grow.

[Antimatty]

good advice.

[winchester_down]

good advice.

No worries mate, glad to help.

[maa3057]

Yeah, those suckers come back if not cut right. I used to have one back in middle school and high school. The nail literally punctured two quarters of my toes skin. It was popping out the side. It looked and felt awesome. No infection though as some might guess. It eased/stabbed its way out of the skin over the years to the point of nothing being bloody. I got surgery on it though. The nail always looked wicked everytime I took it out there after. It was always covered in green and white gunky puss. It was so deep that cutting it right was no option.

[InetWarrior]

i was working out a bit and i sat down to read when i noticed a little bit of moisture pooling at the edge of my right toe. examining it further i realized that it was pus and that it was the beginnings of an ingrown toenail. the area next to the nail was a bit swollen and felt strange but i hadn't noticed as i have grown accustomed to foot pain/ discomfort , etc. with some toenail clippers and a sharp pocket knife i was able to easily remove the offending portion of the toenail in 5 - 10 minutes. my strategy involved cutting a sort of "guide groove " into the toenail portion that i couldn't easily access with the knife ( the same way that you fold a piece of paper before you rip it ) then i jammed in my clippers and was easily able to sever the bad portion from the rest of the nail . with a little pulling it came loose from the flesh of my toe and it was mission accomplished . ( for real though ) i applied some hydrogen peroxide and all is well.

good thread...

I have now the same proplem. I must say it hurt a lot

[toki]

If you cut around yourself, make sure you at least have a medical iodine solution around. Inflammations can be the horror. 2 years ago i had a regular scratched up moskito bite on my forearm swelling till my fingertips. The dermatologist told me i wasn't allergic, but caught a "simple" bacterial infection. Streptococci!

I needed antibiotics since the inflammation could harm your ligaments and stiffen your joints in the worst case scenario. Painful as well. You don't want to have it on your toe, believe me. A doctor can't be that expensive.

Yep, and cut the nails straight, problem solved.

[Ichabod]

good thread...

I have now the same proplem. I must say it hurt a lot

Try to dip your foot in salted water.Thats what i do to ease the pain every night. That should help relax the skin around the toe before any surgery. My brother had to do the same thing before his surgery.

[Holstein]

I usually do that too, but the last time it got so bad so i couldnt possibly solve it myself, talked to a doc at work and he fixed it and after some quick surgery and some stiches i was back working, although it wasnt to fun when the painkillers dozed off. that was pain!


During surgery



After surgery

[T3ngu]

Yeah thats what happened to me, they numbed it, cut/ripped it off then cauterised it. Never grown back right. Hurt for days.

Heres a tip, if you start to get an ingrown, cut the biggest V you can in at least one spot on the nail, the nail wont grow out anymore and most times it stops being ingrown.

Antimatty, self surgery, your tougher than me.

[IDF_TANKER]

I had two times surgery on my right foot. I still have periodically this **** (on both feet) and ones in a month I remove it by myself. With the time I learned to do it so it's virtually painless (well, almost...).

[Calanen]

Yeah thats what happened to me, they numbed it, cut/ripped it off then cauterised it. Never grown back right. Hurt for days.

Heres a tip, if you start to get an ingrown, cut the biggest V you can in at least one spot on the nail, the nail wont grow out anymore and most times it stops being ingrown.

Antimatty, self surgery, your tougher than me.

If you use the blade of a knife to shave the centre of the nail, so that you make a depression, it can sometimes fix the problem. Not if its really bad however.

[Firefly26]

I usually do that too, but the last time it got so bad so i couldnt possibly solve it myself, talked to a doc at work and he fixed it and after some quick surgery and some stiches i was back working, although it wasnt to fun when the painkillers dozed off. that was pain!


During surgery
http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/1201/dsc00008du6.jpg


After surgery
http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/8233/dsc00013uf4.jpg

I had that done and the medic didn't use enough lidocaine. That was the most painful thing I have ever experianced. He didn't cauterize my toenail correctly, and they only gave me a motrin for the pain. Damn witchdoctors. As mentioned above, as soon as you suspect the bugger is growing the wrong way, try to head that thing off before getting surgery. Almost downright medieval what they did.

[toki]

I had that done and the medic didn't use enough lidocaine. That was the most painful thing I have ever experianced. He didn't cauterize my toenail correctly, and they only gave me a motrin for the pain. Damn witchdoctors. As mentioned above, as soon as you suspect the bugger is growing the wrong way, try to head that thing off before getting surgery. Almost downright medieval what they did.

I can imagine.

I have crushed a fingernail in a door and it came off completely the next day. (The door hit on the base of the nail!) Everything with nails is horrible, but add infection and pus and you know pain. Growing it back is bad enough, but in a shoe?

[winchester_down]

Ingrown nails aren't fun but the most intense pain I've felt is from getting my wisdom teeth out, I had a local anaesthetic for it but for the four days after it was pure pain, all day and night.