I thought I was going in for a surigical consult, but noooooOOOOOOOOooo. He yanked those puppies right off then and there.
This was on Tuesday. I read. I hear. I learn. I know that when one gets his or her big toenails ripped out by the roots than he or she goes through weeks of unending agony.
Am I lucky? So far the worst bit toenails is peeling the bandages from the pus-filled moistness while I soak them in lukewarm dishwater.
Don’t get me wrong - I most definitely know that all is not right in my little world - but despite those weeping wounds I don’t hurt nearly as much as I did when I had bloody pus emanating from my nail beds.
So do tell, folks. Tell me about your healthy, unhealthy, cute, ugly, ingrown, healthy feet.
Had an ingrown toenail in my big toe. FOUR SHOTS OF NOVACAINE IN MY TOE!!! That was a weird freakin experience. But I don’t remember having weeks of agony after having it (or others) removed.
Know what freaked me out at the podiatrist? That freeze stuff they spray on your toe to numb it before the injections. I knew it was gonna be cold but damn!
Whenever I get one I usually just do bathroom surgery. Razor blade, needle, clippers with the nail-dirt-digger-outter-thingy and some hydrogen peroxide. Takes a good while but it’s better than $100 at the podiatrist.
I did have to go to one once, though. It was kinda cool getting to watch him perform surgery and I couldn’t feel a thing.
It’s amazing how such a tiny piece of nail can cause so much misery, no?
Yeah, I’ve had a couple, it’s weird. It either stopped happening or I started going after the problem more aggressively. My brother, on the other hand, has been getting more of them constantly for two years.
I had an ingrown toenail removed by the doc awhile back. I don’t recall any pain afterward, but it was weird trying to walk outta there when I couldn’t feel my toe.
So he took the whole toenail off? I didn’t know they did that. I broke my big toe a few years ago and shortly after the toenail came off. It didn’t hurt at all coming off, just felt kinda strange not to have a toenail. It grew back eventually.
I’ve had both of my big toes operated on for ingrown toenails.
The first one was ripped out much like chique’s was. The fucking inept doctor shot it with novacaine at least half a dozen times and I still felt it. I tried telling the idiot that I still had sensations in my toe but he didn’t listen and ripped it out while I almost broke my mom’s hand from squeezing it so hard.
Needless to say, I was in agony when recovering; I cried from the pain. Not only that but now that toenail is horribly disfigured, bowed, and as thick as a finger. Ugh.
I really should have sued that asshole.
The second was numbed on the first shot and removed without incident by a totally different doctor. I even watched it while she did the work and it was pretty interesting. Who knew that you could bleed that much from such a small area? Or that such a small piece of nail could cause your toe to become so swollen and enflamed?
I don’t remember much at all about the recovery of my second toe and its nail looks relatively normal so all went well that time.
Both of my big toes had chronic ingrowth problems - both sides of both nails. I went to the podiatrist, also thinking it would be a consult first, when he offered to do the work then and there. (I should mention, I was 17 at the time, and playing high school soccer - you can imagine the pain).
I decided that yes, I would like the surgery. The doc then asked if I would like to keep the nails instead of having them removed entirely. I decided that would be cool, too, as long as there was a way to prevent having ingrowns again. He said there was, and went to work.
He used a VERY thin needle and injected novacaine around my toe. This was pretty cool to watch, as he was able to actually bend the needle around the bone of my toe. Anyway, he went to work on my nail and clipped the root on each side of the nail, leaving the posterior portion of the root and the nailbed intact. He then used something (I don’t remember what) to kill the root on each side of the nail. He repeated this procedure on the other toe, and I haven’t had any ingrowth problems since, and I’m now 34. As for the pain, I don’t remember it being all that bad, I just had to wear loose-fitting shoes (i.e., houseshoes) for the next few days or so.
I have bad toenails. They’re tough but the have a tendency to peel, which means they get ingrown easily. I’m not safe even if I manage to get a perfect corner, all it has to do is snag on something and that corner is gone. Last year, I had a podiatrist cauterize the outer corner of my right big toe. No chance of it becoming ingrown if it doesn’t grow at all!
This is a timely thread for me as just this morning I noticed what may be the beginning of an ingrown toenail. I did a little bathroom surgery and I’m pretty sure it won’t go full blown ingrown but I googled up these and might give them a try before resorting to the doctor’s office. I’ll also try cutting the notch thing out.
I think that the painful part of having your toenails removed is the act itself, when violently and malevolently performed.
I had one fall out from overuse this spring. My left index toe (?) is a teensy eensy bit longer than my left thumb toe. Rub rub rub in the running shoes, offa she poppa.
It didn’t hurt. It doesn’t hurt. It looks weird.
The end.
chique, thanks for re-introducing yourself at LunchDope. You are too much fun. I like you.
I have had every toe on both feet become ingrown except my pinkies. I have had both my big toes operated on twice. I had partial resections to remove the ingrown parts and kill the offending nailbed. The end result - the moment I stub my toe and break a nail, I KNOW I will go through a month of hell in about a week as it goes through the whole infected, cut out do-it-yourself surgery bit and finally grows back.
The bad news, I’m a complete klutz :rolleyes: and stub my toes ALL THE TIME, so it is very rare when I do not have ingrown toenails. My all time worst was 6 out of 10 in various stages. It’s gotten to the point where I really just don’t feel too much more.
I have begged to have them do a complete resection and remove my toenails. My doctor won’t do it.
I have some experience in this area as well. I had ingrown toenails, big toes only, since my early twenties. I got very adept at “home” surgeries. Removing bits of offending toenail. The problem was they were always painful. I finally went to the doctor. I had a poor hmo at the time that wouldn’t let me see a podiatrist. They refered me to there general surgeon who proceeded to remove strips of toenail from either side to stop it ingrowing. I went through this no less than 4 times. When I had it happen again I finally got them to send me to a podiatrist. He removed the complete toenail on both feet. Ahh what relief.
So my suggestion is, if you have had it for a while get the full nail removed by a podiatrist. It works…
I had horribly ingrown big toenails when I was in 6th grade…hurt like crazy, and my persistent amateur clipping and such did’t help, either. So, we went to the podiatrist, and she anesthetized them, told me what she was going to do (use a tool to loosen them, pull them out, then apply an acid solution to keep them from growing back). Brave when it came to non-personal gore, but a wuss when it was my own blood, I opted to read a MAD Magazine (splort! splurrch! kerr-ploop!) for the duration of the procedure , letting mommy watch for me. A week of soaking in epsom salt solution and keeping them dry and freshly bandaged, and the pain was gone. Now I’ve only 8 toenails, and wear sandals regularly…let 'em stare!
Well, I’ve never had mine taken off, but as a physician with a population of a LOT of young men, I average 1 or 2 a week in the old “ripping out” department. I’m pretty good at numbing the toe completely with a digital block, and the patients tell me that within 72 hours they feel fine again, and even want their other toenail done to “get it over with and get it better”.
I generally don’t destroy the nail matrix tho. I cut a lot of the flesh away at the lateral and medial nail borders, and hollow out and open up the nail trough as much as possible, so when it grows back, the nail doesn’t get stuck in the same old cul-de-sac.
I’ve had ingrown nail problems on one big toe ever since I dropped a large, full bottle on it when I was in college and it fell out; apparently the nail bed got damaged because it’s grown in nasty ever since.
One trick I’ve found that’s helpful is to use an emory board and file the middle of the nail down, kind of flatten it out. For some reason (don’t know if this is true or not, but it sure seems to be) the nail seems to spend all its efforts to regrow the center thinner portion rather than the outer edge and I have no more ingrown problems.
I had an ingrown toenail last year. My doctor gave me three shots in my big toe and when it was numb removed my nail and root from the far end of the nail. The worst part was hearing the sound of him scrapping off the root. I think I wore a bandage for a few hours and was instructed to soak my foot in epsom salt three times a day. I don’t remember there being any pain involved. In fact, I felt better the minute the nail was removed. I did it a few days before going to visit Shayna a couple of years ago and I don’t think anyone could tell I’d just had surgery on my toe. It was a piece of cake.
