Ingrown Toenail

An ingrown toenail is a painful condition of the toe, it happens when a sharp corner of the toenail digs into the skin at the side or end of the toes. any toenail can become ingrown, but most commonly occurs in the big toe. pain and inflammation happens first when the nail begins to dig into the skin. then soon after the area can be infected. if left untreated the toe can become very infected and inflamed and most likely will require a course of antibiotics. ingrowing toenails are a very common problem in both adults and teenagers.

Causes

• Cutting toenails in the wrong way, picking or pulling the corner of nails can cause the corner to dig into the skin.
• Tight fitting shoes or high heels cause the toes to compress together and pressure the nail to grow abnormally.
• Either an acute injury near the nail or anything that causes the nail to be damaged repetitively (such as playing football) can also cause an ingrown toenail.
• Disorders such as fungal infections of the nail can cause a thickening or widening toenail to develop.
  
• If a member of your family has an ingrown toenail, then you are more likely to develop one, too. Some peoples' nails are normally more rounded than others which increases the chance of developing ingrown nails.

Treatment procedure

Nail surgery is an option that can be preformed when patients develop reoccurring painful ingrown toe nails and other conservative measures have failed.  These thickened, damaged and ingrown nails can be removed under local anesthetic. It is possible to remove part of the nail or the whole nail depending on the level of treatment that is required. It is also an option to use Phenol to kill the nail root so that the nail does not grow back, this however will always be discussed with you prior to surgery. It is vital that you do not drive to a nail surgery appointment as your toe will be numb for a number of hours after.

Partial nail removal is the removal of the edge nail, one or both sides. Total nail removal is the removal of the entire nail.

Treatments

All surgery prices includes surgery procedure, 6 day dressing pack, next day dressing change and 2 dressing/review appointments. Any follow up reviews will be paid for by the patient.

Benefits of surgery 

• Pain relief
• resolution of infection
• Resumption of normal physical activity
  
• Prevention of potential future complications (e.g in patients with diabetes)
• Resolution of both short and long term nail conditions and symptoms
• More comfortable in footwear
• Cosmetically more pleasing

Nail surgery testimonials

After coping with the painful effects of ingrown toenails for years, surgery has provided a permanent solution!  Any worries about the procedure and recovery were unfounded, with the operation being a quick, simple and painless affair.  Everything was explained beforehand and as the process went along by Raymond so I was aware of what was going on at every stage.  After putting my feet up for the rest of the day the rest of recovery was easy, and the toe was relatively painless while it healed.  I was able to walk without any problems straight away - much less impact than i'd feared!  I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the surgery with Activefeet as a way of permanently solving a painful and often debilitating problem.

R. Phillips

We had a very positive experience. We were seen quickly. The procedure was explained and Raymond was very good at making sure Jake was coping ok, especially with the injections into his toe. His nail bed was treated to prevent regrowth of the nail. After care was very good. Jake's toe has healed well and he is now pain free and back to his sports. I would recommend Activefeet

D.