topic Re: Big Toenail in Wellness

Big Toenail

KatieB — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 18:02:31 GMT

The nails on my big toes has thickened and on my right toe the nail is not growing straight (I think I hit it severely one night getting out of bed and going to bathroom in the dark).

The podiatrist mentioned removing the nail. Right now I'm having to go into the office for him to file the thickness down.

Has anyone ever had this done (removing the big toenail)? Did the nail grow back and if so, now long did that take. What was your experience?

After the injury to my right toe, the Doctor would not reassure me that the nail would grow back. He said that the nail bed may have been damaged from the injury..

Thanks for any info you may have.

Re: Big Toenail

JeanLouiseFinch — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 18:09:04 GMT

When our son was in high school, one of his friends was goofing around and stomped on his foot, injuring his big toe. He ended up with a badly ingrown nail. The podiatrist numbed the toe and removed the nail borders. He then puts an acid on it so the nail never grows back. The side skin eventually fills in after it's all healed. Our son was left with a very small narrow nail on that big toe. There are worse things in life than not having a toenail.

Re: Big Toenail

Fressa — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 18:24:59 GMT

My friend's mother had that done and it was a bad experience. First, your nerve endings are in that big toe and once exposed can be so painful if you stub it or get stepped on, etc. Her's did grow back but it took years. If it were me, I'd just let him file it down and keep my original nail.

Re: Big Toenail

GrailSeeker — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 18:32:34 GMT

I worked in the office of a podiatrist for many years and know the procedure that JeanLouise above is speaking of, where the borders only are removed for treatment of chronically ingrown nails. That procedure leaves a narrow nail with the edge of the nail being free.

The free edges of the nail can get caught on stockings, etc., and occasionally a "spicule" of nail may grow back where the chemical cauterization misses. The procedure does not leave an aesthetically pleasing looking nail in its place.

Sometimes there are complications in healing, as the chemical used does burn the nail bed to kill the nail. Sometimes the site heals quickly, others experience a few weeks of draining clear fluid.

It sounds like you are referring to the same procedure, except the whole nail being removed.

If you aren't experiencing chronic ingrown nails or pain, and like to polish your nails for summer sandals, it is not the way to go.

If he just removes the nail without chemical cauterization, the nail should grown back, but will probably still be thick and crooked.

Has a topical or oral antifungal been tried? It can take up to a year for new big toenail to grow completely back, but thickened nails are often caused by toenail fungus.

There are not many nail treatments that are covered by insurance (particularly Medicare), but this one would be. From my observation, podiatrists like to do this particular operation, but it is certainly not for cosmetic reasons.

Re: Big Toenail

phluphy — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 18:59:13 GMT

My husband had an ingrown nail removed and his results were a black toenail and it grew in sideways. Not sure you want to hear that but I wanted you to know some things don't turn out like you want. He never had pain, but the toenail was black and thick.

Re: Big Toenail

lmt — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 18:59:39 GMT

@KatieB Last year I noticed a dark vertical line on my big toenail. Shortly after that, I just happened to read an article that the line could be a sign of skin cancer. I went to my family doctor and she referred me to a podiatrist.

The podiatrist didn't think it was skin cancer but the only way to know for sure was to remove the nail and have it biopsied. Luckily it turned out not to be skin cancer.

I had this done last October. I asked if my nail would grow back and was assured that my nail would be back in time for sandal season. His words, not mine, LOL!! Right now my nail is about 1/4 grown out, but I imagine everyone's growth would be different.

The doctor sprayed some kind of cooling agent on my toe to lessen the pain of the needles to numb my toe. I was given a shot on each side of the toenail. It took longer for the shots to take effect than it did to actually remove the nail. They had to wait about 15 minutes to make sure my toe would be numb and then it took less than 2 minutes to remove the nail. It was slightly painful to get the shots, but I felt nothing when the nail was actually removed. It did make a loud clipping sound though. My toe was wrapped in gauze and I went home. Once the shot for pain wore off, my toe was a little sore for a few hours.

The next day (and for the next week) I had to soak my foot in epsom salts and apply neosporin and a bandage. I had a very hard time removing the gauze that the doctor applied because he didn't use any neosporin and the gauze had stuck to my bloody toe. It took almost an hour of soaking my foot to try to remove the gauze because my toe was sore. Changing the bandage every day was no problem since the neosporin created a barrier between my skin and the bandage.

When the nail was removed my toe was bright red where the nail had been. It looked like I was wearing nail polish.

Re: Big Toenail

hckynut — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 23:37:04 GMT

@KatieB

I had both big toes fractured, the right one 2 different times. Black toe nails(blood under nail) many times. Had my own cure for those situations, but not 1 that I recommended to others, unless! That said, I will move on.

I had surgery less than a year ago to remove my left big toenail along with a piece of the toe itself. My doctor tried other more conservative methods, but all that did was create more visits, along with extending the amount of time of me living with the pain(discomfort in doctor speak).

He did it in his office by anesthetizing the big toe. Took overall about an hour, in and out. Wrapped it up and I of course could not wear my shoe home. That was on a Thursday and I was ice skating the next day. Had to almost pry my foot into my skate because of the swelling and the wrap, but it did not effect my skating at all.

Limped in, skated smoothly, and limped out. Had to clean and rewrap it every 2 days and visited him a week after the surgery. Was pretty sore walking for awhile, but my only regret is him not agreeing to do it sooner. I finally told him "take it out, period", and he did. He is in the same Ortho Practice as my hockey playing friend, and knew full well I did not want to miss ice skating.

And YES, my nail is still growing back. Not sure how long that takes, but I really don't care. That's my kinda recent story on big toe nails.

hckynut(john)

Re: Big Toenail

1Snickers — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 01:43:07 GMT

@KatieB My big toes were looking rough and thick after removing nail polish from summer. The past few years I've skipped the polish in the winter since I don't wear sandals then.
I read that vitamin E oil can kill fungus so tried it . I got it at Target 12,000 units and applied it with a Q tip to all toenails for several months before bed then slept in socks.
They aren't thick and rough and are back to normal! Maybe it will help to use it between having him file it.

Re: Big Toenail

sidsmom — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 19:19:47 GMT

Funny...we all have a toenail story!

Here's one more...

My mother had her 2 big-toe toenails removed way back in the 70s.
They did not grow back. It's just bare skin where the nail would be...

no dips or weird 'little nail'...just smooth.

I Google imaged nail removal & saw where someone tattooed

a flower where her nail would be! Pretty! Maybe that would be an

option if someone wanted to still wear sandals, etc.

Re: Big Toenail

CelticCrafter — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 19:33:54 GMT

I once dropped a can on my big toe, right down at the nail bed and it took a whole year for the damage to grow out.

Re: Big Toenail

Kachina624 — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 19:52:42 GMT

I had my right big toenail removed years ago because it was constantly ingrown. I've regretted it many times. It never grew back and to me, looks somewhat strange when I wear sandals. I often wonder if anyone else notices it. I never wear polish to avoid drawing attention to that toe. Polish will not stick to skin and neither will glue in case you get the idea of using an artificial nail. I wouldn't do it if I were you.

Here's a picture of it.

Re: Big Toenail

LindaSal — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 19:49:41 GMT

Jeez, you poor people!!! I don't have a toenail story, nor do I want to.

Re: Big Toenail

danedylan — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 20:17:42 GMT

here's what I do with a toe nail that needs to be sanded down bc it is thick.--I bought at Bed Bath & Beyond this instrument with different heads to file/sand/buff your nails--loved it when I used it to sand down my one toe nail--couldn't find it in the store again but did find it on Amazon--just this past few days it was delivered & I have used it again & it works great--here's what it's called--Peg Egg Bare Nails--check it out on Amazon--it's like $6.99 but cost me like $5.99 to ship--don't care bc this little battery operated machine does the job--now I know where I can find it when I need it again--not going to a foot dr when I can do it myself!!--mary nj

Re: Big Toenail

SilleeMee — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 20:29:18 GMT

Not my toenail, but I have discussed removing all of my fingernails with my doctor. She's the one who suggested it because my hands are in a permanent fist position, I can't open my hands, from scleroderma, and when my nails get long enough they dig into the palms of my hands. Besides being very difficult to cut, because they face inward, my fingernails are also not normal and they are very thick and oddly shaped which makes cutting them even more difficult. But for now I have managed to keep them cut myself...but it hasn't been easy. Both hands are that way so that makes it difficult to hold on to clippers to trim one hand and then the other. When I get too old to cut my own nails then maybe I'll have them removed....not now, I'm just not ready for that yet.

Re: Big Toenail

danedylan — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 20:33:05 GMT

here is the official name of the battery operated device I mentioned I used that I purchased at Amazon on another post today--on the Amazon web site it says--"Ped Egg Bare Nails Electronic Nail Care System-Buff & Shine"--cost is $6.64--that's what I was refurring to when I had another post on this topic--there's alot of items to purchase for your nails on Amazon so look for the info I just gave you if you want to try it!--mary nj

Re: Big Toenail

Kachina624 — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 20:47:19 GMT

@SilleeMee Ahhhh, I feel for you. You need a friend to help you. I'd do it if I was closer. I used to do mom's toenails which she couldn't do due to poor vision and arthritis in her feet. I wonder if a manicurist at a medical spa could help you?

Re: Big Toenail

SilleeMee — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 21:02:17 GMT

@Kachina624

Years ago, when I first got diagnosed with the scleroderma, I had a nurse come to my house to help me with some grooming and nail cutting was one of the things the nurse was suppose to do. The nurse basically butchered my fingertips and left me all bandaged up! I couldn't do that for very long...it caused more problems than it was worth....never again.

Re: Big Toenail

RetRN — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 21:07:20 GMT

@Kachina624 wrote:
I had my right big toenail removed years ago because it was constantly ingrown. I've regretted it many times. It never grew back and to me, looks somewhat strange when I wear sandals. I often wonder if anyone else notices it. I never wear polish to avoid drawing attention to that toe. Polish will not stick to skin and neither will glue in case you get the idea of using an artificial nail. I wouldn't do it if I were you.

Here's a picture of it.

OMG, I could have done without that picture.

Re: Big Toenail

SilleeMee — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 21:17:07 GMT

@Kachina624

If you were closer I would invite you over...but not to cut my nails! Thanks for the offer though.

Re: Big Toenail

blackhole99 — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 21:34:55 GMT

@KatieB My husbands big toe nails got thicker and yellow as he aged, but were not ingrown. I read online where tea tree oil was good for killing fungus on the toe nails and he tried that. He applied the tea tree oil to the nails twice a day for quite awhile before he saw any improvement, but a year later his nails are fungus free and not as thick. My poor husband still has some of the ugliest feet on the planet, his whole family has ugly feet. I guess my point is, I think having toe nails removed is drastic measures and I would try anything before I would have that done. Good luck.