Can ingrown toenails be fixed so they will not reoccur? I have been doing my own for many years but finding it harder to reach it anymore. The pedicurists will not touch it. Do they have a corrective surgery for this?
When I had a bad one, they simply cut out the relevant half of the toenail down to the [del]base[/del] root so it could grow back properly.
Edit: corrected layman’s term with correct anatomical term for clarity.
Yes, I had mine done recently. They cut away at the side, and put phenol (I think) on the nail bed where it grows from so the nail does not grow back so broad.
Before that, the doctor tried removing the whole nail altogether and letting it grow back without the chemical treatment, but I do not recommend that. It was a lot of unpleasantness and it grew back worse than ever. The chemical seems to have worked, however.
Isn’t it just a matter of keeping them trimmed?
Take a few strands of dental floss and carefully insert them under the ingrown spot.
This is also how I had one fixed. It made my big toenail about 1/8" narrower and I’ve never had a problem with that side of that nail. The other side still gets a bit ingrown if I don’t keep it trimmed correctly.
As a youngster I used to routinely get nasty ingrown toenails, despite wearing proper footwear and/or going barefoot a lot, and cutting straight across (my mom taught me that.)
About 20 years ago I had a bad one that got infected and the doctor snipped away the edges of my nail, as KneadToKnow describes. Getting novocaine (or something similar) shots directly into your toe prior to the procedure is definitely not a fun thing, but since then I’ve never had a problem. There was no medicinal aftercare.
This. Totally out-patient procedure. Aside from some initial discomfort administering the anesthetic (they used some freezing spray to help deaden needle pain), it was a breeze; do your taxes in the chair, check on movie times, access Straight Dope.
Anesthetic is WONDERFUL! 
Same here, in both cases. My podiatrist called the chemical treatment “cauterizing”. A previous podiatrist tried removing the nails from both big toes. They didn’t grow back worse bit apparently having it done the summer that I was a volunteer camp counselor was not a good idea. We went swimming once a week and I think the chlorine slowed the regrowth; the wet, bare nail beds also attracted little flying insects.
My Grandfather was a tough old Irish gent who nonetheless hated the idea of having his nail bed cut away. He saw the problem as having excess flesh rather than excess toenail. So he heated up his soldering iron and burned back the skin until it grew nicely alongside the nail just as before.
I’m sure it hurt, but he’d never say.
I had mine done like njtt and the others. I found it to be a painful recovery but I could not be happier to have the recurring pain of an ingrown nail OVER WITH! It’s been over 10 years and I haven’t had to dig out a nail since.
No.
I had mine done as a teenager, both big toes. I had started trimming them in a semicircle because I was doing pedicures and using nail polish and all that. Turns out toenails even more than fingernails like to grow in whatever direction they’re cut. So cut them too rounded and they grow out and to the side, digging into the cuticle and getting infected.
So, that was about 30 years ago. I would consider the procedure curative, I’ve kept them cut straight across ever since. I do remember my big toes being swollen and being wrapped for a couple of days. I wore canvas sneakers with the toes cut out.
I did not know about cutting nails stright across, I have been rounding mine all my life. I just dug mine out and I can’t see the bottom of the hole. I am getting older and more concerned about infection.
I got mine to grow out straight. I had to pull the edges loose with needle nose pliers, kept them trimmed, and start getting shoes that space in the toes.
Not sure if I want to try that or not!
You have to soak your foot until both the nail and the skin get soft. Even then it hurts.
Did you cut the nail in half lengthwise or just pull it out of the skin?
They were growing in on the inside quadrant of the nails. I trimmed the down the other side as far as I could get it, and it sort of split near the side where it was growing in. I could twist the side part of the nail up and out from under the skin and cut off as much as I could. If more of the front was digging in I probably couldn’t do it.
You’re a clever guy, you should invent toenail clippers for us old guys who can’t reach as well as we used to.
Kite string works nicely too.
My procedure: Soak the foot (or do this right after taking a shower) so the nail is a little softer and flexible. Bend the grown-in corner of the nail upward, using the point of a nail file or a little screwdriver to pry it up. Trim off the sharp corner of nail. Stick kite string under what remains, then cut off the excess ends of the string that hang out. Douse with isopropyl.
(To be sure, with some half-way regular nail care, I have very little problem with this to begin with.)
A bonsai concave trimmer is the perfect tool, they are a bit pricey but hard to beat. I left mine at my othe house.