# Ingrown Toenail - worst pain I've ever had



## pwrshift (Sep 15, 2009)

I have an ingrown toenail and I just hate going to the podiatrist.  It's all I can do to keep from yelling out in pain when he digs deep into the nail and fulls an upper section off ... only to have it grow back and have to see him again within 6 weeks.  I'd rather go to a dentist that doesn't use freezing.  No...the podiatrist doesn't use freezing either ... just a 'cold' lotion to lessen the hurt some.

In addition, it seems to be worse now than when I originally went to him about a year ago ... from the nail digging in on one side as it grows  it's now digging in both sides of the nail.  He has not removed the whole nail and I don't think I want that either (or the pain).  

I was at my GP last week for something else and had himm look at the toe - he said the nail area looked infected and put me on Cephalex antibiotic for a week.  That seems to be improving the redness but it's still sore and needs another cutting.  

Is this normal, or am I just going to a butcher and should try to find another one?

Brian


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## Blue Skies (Sep 15, 2009)

I've had ingrown toenails on both of my big toes, one of them on both sides of the nail and one just on one side.  

My podiatrist numbed my toe with novocaine before doing surgery.  He trimmed a slice of the nail all the way down to the root.  He then applied some sort of treatment to the nail root to prevent that little portion of the toenail from growing back.  This is supposed to be effective 95% of the time to prevent the ingrown toenail from growing back, but sometimes it is necessary to repeat the treatment once more.  I have had no problems since having this done and it has been many years.


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## timeos2 (Sep 15, 2009)

Ingrown nails are agonizing - and it sounds as though yours is infected which makes it twice as bad. As soon as the infection is controlled the relief of the nail "digging" into the areas on the side(s) should subside with the (painful) trimming done. Then it it is up to you to keep it from making contact again - tough to do at first but as things heal it becomes easier to maintain. Removing the nail should be the very last choice as it can also create unexpected problems and never really "feels" right from what I hear.  Hope you're feeling better soon.


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## denverbob (Sep 15, 2009)

Brian
I am a 61 year old man and have had ingrown toenail problems off and on most of my life. When I was 15 I had surgery on my right big toe, and have never had any problems since. A few years ago, when my flexibility and sight began to weaken, I could no longer effectively care for my left big toe. I was considering a podiatrist, then my wife suggested a pedicure. It was somewhat embarrassing to be the only male in the shop, but the treatment was only slightly painful and the burr she cut off the nail was HUGE. I had immediate relief. I've had two more since, and anytime it starts hurting I head there.


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## AwayWeGo (Sep 15, 2009)

*The Feeling Of Relief.*

The Chief Of Staff had that for a long time -- minus the infection part. 

When she could no longer put up with it, she got an appointment with a local podiatrist who takes from our health plan & she had it taken care of on the spot, via minor in-office surgery. 

No more ingrown nail problems. 

BTW, the podiatrists are the Rodney Dangerfields of the medical profession -- _They Don't Get No Respect._  (Ditto the proctologists, but that's another story.)   But just think of how important it is to keep the feet healthy & strong & comfortable.  When my feet are out of commission -- or even just 1 foot -- then _I'm_ out of commission.   _Then_ I have all the respect in the world for my podiatrist. 

Hats off to all the dedicated & capable practitioners of podiatric medicine out there.  

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​


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## Passepartout (Sep 15, 2009)

Brian, you need a new doc. Once the infection is taken care of, this should be an in-office, one-time, minor snip-and-clip, and never need to be done again. Local anesthetic, read a magazine while it's done, and total relief within a day or two. 

I had both sides of one great toe done as a child and one side of the other done as an adult. The procedure has changed and the outcome looks much more 'natural' now.

Not to resurrect the old healthcare thread, but is podiatric care considered elective in the Canadian system? Waiting time?

Good luck, and happy trails with painless feet.

Jim Ricks


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## applegirl (Sep 15, 2009)

Your podiatrist should give you better numbing medicine so it doesn't hurt so much.  If they won't do this, go to another doc.

Good luck on this one.  Sounds very unpleasant! I'm sorry for your pain and hope this gets resolved quickly.

Janna


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## pjrose (Sep 15, 2009)

*With a shot of Novocain or Lidocain it shouldn't hurt*

My GP took care of one for me a month ago.  Some spray to freeze the site, then a shot of local anesthetic, and I felt nothing.  He removed a 1/4" strip of nail almost down to the bottom.  After it all wore off, there was no pain from the procedure.  It shouldn't involve digging to remove part of the nail.


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## IngridN (Sep 15, 2009)

Blue Skies said:


> I've had ingrown toenails on both of my big toes, one of them on both sides of the nail and one just on one side.
> 
> My podiatrist numbed my toe with novocaine before doing surgery.  He trimmed a slice of the nail all the way down to the root.  He then applied some sort of treatment to the nail root to prevent that little portion of the toenail from growing back.  This is supposed to be effective 95% of the time to prevent the ingrown toenail from growing back, but sometimes it is necessary to repeat the treatment once more.  I have had no problems since having this done and it has been many years.



DH had the same procedure done after suffering for quite some time. He's been painfree for a couple of years now and the nail area looks fine.

Ingrid


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## pwrshift (Sep 15, 2009)

Passepartout said:


> ...Not to resurrect the old healthcare thread, but is podiatric care considered elective in the Canadian system? Waiting time?
> 
> Jim Ricks


 
Canada's universal medical plan doesn't totally pay for podiatrists (or chiropractors) but company medical plans usually do up to $500 a year.  They run my medical card through for most of the charge and my personal portion is $37 for the appt.  There's no waiting time ... you just call and get an appointment (mine is tomorrow at noon) and I get ushered into a room and out 15 minutes later ... it hurts big time usually but relieves the pain.  Out of curiousity, what does a podiatrist charge in the USA -- I assume it's more than $37?

He might not do it tomorrow when he sees the infection and may want to postpone it until the antibiotics the GP prescribed do their job.

Brian


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## Janis (Sep 15, 2009)

if your doctor is digging - you need to get a new doctor. Standard practice is to numb the toe (novocaine or something similar) and then trim the nail and treat it so as to prevent ANY future ingrown toenail issues.

If yours are recurring - find a new doctor


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## SallyMagoo (Sep 15, 2009)

I have had some painful toenails on my big toes.  I had pedicures and some of the people really hurt me when digging at the toenail.  I had a podiatrist do the same thing.  Then I found that the toenails would grow in a painful fashion, and the digging had to be done again.  My husband said it was because they were cutting my toenails too short and he was right!  I found a nail shop where they are gentler, and I tell them not to cut the nails too short.  I don't think there is a need to "dig" out the nail on the side.   I rarely have any pain any more.  

Sally


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## ricoba (Sep 15, 2009)

AwayWeGo said:


> The Chief Of Staff had that for a long time -- minus the infection part.
> 
> BTW, the podiatrists are the Rodney Dangerfields of the medical profession -- _They Don't Get No Respect._
> 
> ...



As I remember our dear departed friend Steamboat Bill was a podiatrist and I think he  got a lot of respect at first....but it faded pretty quickly!


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## AwayWeGo (Sep 15, 2009)

*SteamBoat Bill Is A Foot Doctor?  Who Knew?*




ricoba said:


> As I remember our dear departed friend Steamboat Bill was a podiatrist and I think he  got a lot of respect at first....but it faded pretty quickly!


I had forgotten that Steamer was into podiatry, if I ever even knew that factoid about him in the 1st place. 

Doctoring feet, however, was not what lost him respect on TUG-BBS, as I recall. 

So it goes. 

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​


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## stmartinfan (Sep 16, 2009)

*Helping prevent the problem*

I haven't had a serious ingrown nail but do sometimes have them start to push into my foot.  I read somewhere that cutting a small "v" notch into the nail top near the side where the problem is can help - it seems to give some more room for the nail top to grow upward, instead of into the foot.

Since my problem seems to occur more in the winter, when you need to wear shoes and socks in my part of the country anyway, I'm comfortable cutting my nail this way if I start to feel a problem.  Usually I can feel relief after a while, and will continue to do this when I trim the nail.  I don't seem to have the problem in  summer, probably since then I wear sandals instead of closed toed shoes that push on the nail, so I can just trim them normally.  (Somehow notched nails look a little odd with sandals


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## AwayWeGo (Sep 17, 2009)

*Heel Injury.*

Not sure it hurt her as bad as her ingrown toenail, but 1 time The Chief Of Staff inadvertently stepped barefoot onto a loose sewing needle accidentally hidden in the shag carpeting.  

The needle not only stuck into her foot, but jammed straight into her heel bone & broke off way under the skin -- makes my foot hurt just typing about it. 

The podiatrist removing the jammed-in, broken-off needle fragment positioned The Chief Of Staff's injured foot under the X-ray machine & did the surgery with the X-ray on so that he could see the fragment.  Otherwise, it would have taken a larger incision to locate it & take it out. 

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​


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## Arnie (Sep 17, 2009)

*remove it!!*

very simple solution. Have the nail or nails removed. never ever have to worry about ingrown nails again.
My ex DW had 3 done. Didn't change her temperment any.:ignore:  But her Podiatrist said nails are not needed any more. "only have them from neantherthals to climb trees"


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## AwayWeGo (Sep 17, 2009)

*Added Bonus.*




Arnie said:


> Have the nail or nails removed. never ever have to worry about ingrown nails again.


 -- not to mention all the money saved because of buying less toenail polish. 

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​


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## Arnie (Sep 17, 2009)

*Not So!*

Well, the ladies can still paint the empty spot. Or apply  a fake nail. Hey, wonder if there are patents on that. Fake toenails glue em on. Maybe I can get my FOOT in the door on that one.


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## Talent312 (Sep 17, 2009)

I "lost" a toenail when I dropped a 4x8' piece of plywood on my left foot and consequently broke my big-toe in five places.  You can get really quick attention at a walk-in (urgent care) clinic if you tell them that your shoe is filling up with blood.

Over the years since then, I've been to a podiatrist for three cortisone injections.  He let me watch an ultrasound display showing the path of the needle that he stuck into my foot.... which makes me think I think it more likely that AwayWeGo's podiatrist used _ultrasound_ not "x-ray" to track the needle in his wife's foot.


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## ScoopKona (Sep 17, 2009)

I'm wondering, as far as minor pain goes, is there any worse place than the foot? (Answering my own question, I guess inner ear trumps foot. I imagine genitals do, too.)

I just had something removed from my middle toe today. I thought it was a ganglion cyst, because that runs in the family. The orthopedic surgeon said that it wasn't a cyst -- probably a nerve tumor. Biopsy will have to answer that. Hurts like hell, though. And it's the sort of pain that's hard to take your mind off.

And this percocet that I'm on is nasty. I hope someday they make a pain pill that isn't addictive and all it does is relieve pain -- not make you loopy or nauseous.


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## pwrshift (Nov 13, 2009)

Thanks for your thoughts on this thread.  Last month, I went to Paris for a week and 2 days into the trip that damn nail problem arose again, only 3 weeks after the last 'dig'.  So I went to another podiatrist ... who was just as painful as the other guy.  And now the toe is hurting again .. it's become a painful repair job every 3 weeks instead of 6.  

So I think I'm gonna have them do as some of you suggested ... freeze it and have them trim both sides of the nail to the root and fix it so it won't grow.  The original foot butcher has a laser setup the second one doesn't have, so that might be a better choice.  Only concern I have is whether the remaining part of the nail (up the centre) could lift off somehow and cause even more pain.

Brian


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## Rose Pink (Nov 13, 2009)

pwrshift said:


> ... Only concern I have is whether the remaining part of the nail (up the centre) could lift off somehow and cause even more pain.
> 
> Brian


 
Most likely not lift off--it's really attached.  I've had the surgery several times.  My nail kept arching over the years, however, to the point where, from the center to the edges, it became very arched with the edges again digging into the flesh. I was in need of the surgery again but decided the very narrow nail that would be left over would look sillier than just having the whole thing removed.  So I had it all taken off.  No pain now but can't really wear nail polish because there is no nail.  Asked the pedicurist if I'd get a 10% discount since I only had 9 toe nails and she just laughed.


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## Rose Pink (Nov 13, 2009)

Arnie said:


> Well, the ladies can still paint the empty spot. Or apply a fake nail. Hey, wonder if there are patents on that. Fake toenails glue em on. Maybe I can get my FOOT in the door on that one.


Just saw your post.  The area cannot really be painted, IMO.  I wouldn't want to paint my bare skin.  Also, the area is not smooth like a nail.  I suppose you could glue a fake nail on but, again, I wouldn't want adhesive on my bare skin.


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## AKE (Nov 13, 2009)

There is a real simple and inexpensive solution. First soak your foot in warm water to soften the nail, and then using a nail file, or similar device, push a small bit of cotton batton under the nail in the corner where it is ingrown (but make sure that you you leave a bit of the batton out so that you can remove it).  Push in as much as you can and leave it in.  Twice a day repeat this procedure until the nail part which is ingrown grows out and as it grows out you can just cut it off (basically you are slowly separating the nail from where it has ingrown).  It usually takes a week or so to clear up.  You may have to do this over a few months until the nail re-established  the correct growth path but everyone that I know of who has tried this procedure has had good success with it.


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## Arnie (Nov 13, 2009)

Rose Pink said:


> Just saw your post.  The area cannot really be painted, IMO.  I wouldn't want to paint my bare skin.  Also, the area is not smooth like a nail.  I suppose you could glue a fake nail on but, again, I wouldn't want adhesive on my bare skin.


Well after a period of time. I guess a callous forms. I do know she used to apply some kind of color on it. Mostly in the summer months. But it does remedy the problem, also a good remedy for Fungus Nails. Also I soak my feet in very warm Listerine or the generic equivalent.  That will solve mild fungus nail problems.


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## pwrshift (Nov 13, 2009)

Rose Pink said:


> ... My nail kept arching over the years, however, to the point where, from the center to the edges, it became very arched with the edges again digging into the flesh.
> .


 
Not sure what you mean by arching but it might be my problem .. at the top of the nail it's almost a circle and pinches the skin in from both sides of the nail to the point it forms a blister, bursts and blood comes out.

Why have you had so many surgeries ... I thought the nail removal was permanent.

Brian


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## Moosie (Nov 13, 2009)

Years ago, while I was also having bunions removed, for the first time  ( that's a whole nother story!) the podiatrist suggested some other proceedure.  I just can't remember name of it now as it was 30 years ago, just under the cuticle area of the nail .

Anyhow, it was pretty minor as foot surgery things go.  But a sliver of the nail bed growth in the area where you would get an ingrown toenail was removed, no problem ever since in that area.

If I can get my brain to remember it, I'll post


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## Rose Pink (Nov 14, 2009)

pwrshift said:


> Not sure what you mean by arching but it might be my problem .. at the top of the nail it's almost a circle and pinches the skin in from both sides of the nail to the point it forms a blister, bursts and blood comes out.
> 
> Why have you had so many surgeries ... I thought the nail removal was permanent.
> 
> Brian


 
Brian, each of the surgeries was a success for awhile but over the years, the nail kept arching or bending down at the edges and so I would have another surgery to remove another thin slice off the edge.  With two big toes (four edges) that can be alot of surgery and if you have to have an edge done twice, you can see how that would gradually whittle away at the nail leaving a narrow nail.    What you describe is much worse than my problem but the podiatrist told me some people's nails do grow in on themselves.  You may just want to have the entire nail removed and be done with it.  Other than cosmetically, you don't need it.


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## Rose Pink (Nov 14, 2009)

Moosie said:


> ..., just under the cuticle area of the nail .
> 
> Anyhow, it was pretty minor as foot surgery things go. But a sliver of the nail bed growth in the area where you would get an ingrown toenail was removed, no problem ever since in that area.


 
That sounds like standard ingrown nail surgery--at least that is what mine was.  The nail grows out from the cuticle.  That side of the nail/cuticle is numbed and the podiatrist then removes a sliver of the cuticle and the nail above it.  This narrows the nail bed and relieves the problem as the nail is now not cutting into the flesh at the side and it will never grow back.  However, for me, the nail bed (over many years) continued to bend or arch with the edges again digging into the flesh.  The podiatrist told me it is probably a genetic thing and for some people the problem can become severe with the nail edges actually curving under on themselves such as what Brian has described.


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## Passepartout (Nov 14, 2009)

Some 50-odd years ago, as a pre-teen, I had an ingrown big-toe nail removed. It wasn't supposed to grow back, but it did and does, but it just grows up, as in thicker. I just plane it off and occasionally it will lift off- like delaminating. Virtually painless, I suppose I could have something done about it, but there are other things to spend money on. Like timeshare vacations.

Jim Ricks


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## Phill12 (Nov 14, 2009)

timeos2 said:


> Ingrown nails are agonizing - and it sounds as though yours is infected which makes it twice as bad. As soon as the infection is controlled the relief of the nail "digging" into the areas on the side(s) should subside with the (painful) trimming done. Then it it is up to you to keep it from making contact again - tough to do at first but as things heal it becomes easier to maintain. Removing the nail should be the very last choice as it can also create unexpected problems and never really "feels" right from what I hear.  Hope you're feeling better soon.



 I had a bad case back in 1969 and it was infected also. I went into boot camp and it became even worse if that was possible. The Naval Air doctors fixed it in the hospital after years of trying to work with it and this was the most pain ever. 

 Back then dress shoes for men had point toes and I was told not to ever wear dress or any shoe that has a more pointed toe area again and I have never since that time. 

 As most kids my father wore the rounded shoes and worn me but I didn't listen! 


 PHIL


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## pwrshift (Nov 14, 2009)

One thing this has taught me is that I can understand why my pooch doesn't like having her nails clipped ... only a few times have I clipped too low, but she remembers and I have to almost lie down on her to hold her while doing it.  A job I hate doing btw.  I could never be a podiatrist.

Brian


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## AwayWeGo (Nov 14, 2009)

*Me Neither.*




pwrshift said:


> I could never be a podiatrist.


Specially not a dog podiatrist. 

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​


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## timeos2 (Nov 14, 2009)

*Woof*



AwayWeGo said:


> Specially not a dog podiatrist.
> 
> -- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​


Doggie Shirt


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## Whitney300 (Nov 19, 2009)

I personally have never experienced a ingrown toenail, but I have heard of people getting pedicures to reduce the chances of getting one. Good luck.


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## Htoo0 (Nov 19, 2009)

Be your own podiatrist. I use a Dremel with a sanding disk. Thin it until I can lift out. I've used the cotton trick under the edge which helps sometimes as well as notching. Just keep a glass of water nearby in case you overheat your toe!


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