Ingrown Toenail Surgery
Did you know that walking is the best exercise for your feet?
Do you have an ingrown toenail?
If you think you’ve developed an ingrown toenail for the first time, head over to our ingrown toenails page to find out how to get rid of it. If you’re sick to death of having ingrown toenail after ingrown toenail, then you’re in the right place. Did you know that you don’t need to continue suffering? Ingrown toenail surgery is the answer.
Do I need ingrown toenail surgery?
While usually reserved for chronic ingrown toenails, surgery may also be necessary for severe first-time ingrown toenails. It’s not uncommon for people to be reluctant to have surgery to fix an ingrown toenail. This is usually because they think the surgery will be painful or make their toenail unsightly, but these are myths. Ingrown toenail surgery is done under local anaesthesia, which means you won’t feel any pain during the procedure. And for those who love nail polish, you’ll finally be able to use it to highlight rather than hide your toenails!
What happens during ingrown toenail surgery?
The partial toenail avulsion procedure is usually the most appropriate option for troublesome ingrown toenails. Before touching your toenail, your podiatrist will gently administer enough local anaesthetic into your toe to make it completely numb. You may feel some pressure during the procedure but you won’t experience any pain.
Your podiatrist will then go about removing the section of your toenail that’s been digging into the skin. The aim is to remove enough of the toenail to prevent a recurrence whilst attempting to maintain a normal appearance. Your podiatrist will apply a chemical called phenol to the base of your toenail to make sure it doesn’t grow back. Time is then spent carefully dressing your toe to promote healing and protect the surgery site. As this is all happening you’ll be lying back in a comfortable recliner chair, scrolling through your Facebook News Feed or reading a book.
Recovering from ingrown toenail surgery
While the surgery site may take 4–6 weeks to fully heal, the great news is that you’ll probably be pain free within a couple of days. Most people are surprised by how little pain they experience following surgery. Your podiatrist will check the surgery site every week or so up until it fully heals. In most cases, all you’ll need to do is put a dressing on your toe daily. As you can see, your painful ingrown toenail can be a thing of the past in no time.
All of our podiatrists at Fairfield Podiatry have been trained to surgically remove ingrown toenails, but several of them have extensive experience with these procedures and thus do the majority of them. We work as a team to achieve the best possible outcome for each and every person.
While the surgery site may take 4–6 weeks to fully heal, the great news is that you’ll probably be pain free within a couple of days. Most people are surprised by how little pain they experience following surgery. Your podiatrist will check the surgery site every week or so up until it fully heals. In most cases, all you’ll need to do is put a dressing on your toe daily. As you can see, your painful ingrown toenail can be a thing of the past in no time.
All of our podiatrists at Fairfield Podiatry have been trained to surgically remove ingrown toenails, but several of them have extensive experience with these procedures and thus do the majority of them. We work as a team to achieve the best possible outcome for each and every person.