Re: toenail avulsion

circles · ‎03-10-2010

May I asked how the doctor removed the large toe nail...did he use anything to kill the pain...or just have at it...

My doctor suggested I let him remove the nail.....he said he would just yank it out...which scared the heck out of me...

He is not the most delicate man I have ever had...he cuts my toe nails every nine or ten weeks...and checks my feet ...as i am diabetic 2....he is rough doing that...

CatsyCline · ‎07-24-2013

@circles i saw Dr had bent angle scissors on his tray, beforehand. but my doctor did not let me see what he was using. he had the nurse put up a screen so i could only see him from the neck up

he used a topical spray to numb my toes and had to wait about a 1/2 hour. then he injected novocaine in the two toes. i could feel pressure of something (the needle) but it did not hurt. then i had to wait some more.

after another 30 minutes he finally said i was numb enough and did the two toe procedures. after the novocaine wore off there was some pain. it was at night when it wore off and it felt like very painful frostbite and i took 2 advils every 4 hours for two days and i still have some slight bruising all along the base of my foot by the toes. after 3 weeks!

i would say do not have your doctor yank the nail out!! with novocaine you won't feel it. maybe get a 2nd doctor to take a look. my doctor is a foot/ankle specialist . he is nice but he is very busy and not the hand holding type.

BLUEFLOWER66 · ‎07-01-2013

I work in a hospital with a podiatrist and asked him to look at my feet. He trimmed my nails and did a few other things to my feet. He pulled off both socks and showed me his feet where he had removed all of his toenails. He said he wouId rather not deal with them. I was very suprised. I am considering having mine done too. I am getting ingrown nails.

ritasNo1Fan · ‎03-12-2010

Count me in. I had a continual infected ingrown nail. Oh! the pain. My dr. gave me an injection between my toes which took away the feeling/pain. I watched that blasted nail being removed. No more ingrown nail EVER. Now the toe skin has toughened where the nail was. It isn't bad looking and mainly there is NO PAIN. Don't hesitate. Do it now.

Kachina624 · ‎03-10-2010

@circles wrote:
May I asked how the doctor removed the large toe nail...did he use anything to kill the pain...or just have at it...

My doctor suggested I let him remove the nail.....he said he would just yank it out...which scared the heck out of me...

He is not the most delicate man I have ever had...he cuts my toe nails every nine or ten weeks...and checks my feet ...as i am diabetic 2....he is rough doing that...

@circles Its has probably been 30 years since I had it done and I don't remember much about it, which means I wasn't traumatized. I'm sure he used a painkiller. Someone who wouldn't is a sadist.. Run circles, run!

New Mexico☀️Land Of Enchantment

Lucky Charm · ‎03-09-2010

As a teenager, I had ingrown toenails (both big toes) and one summer I had a surgery that the doctor sort of *reset* the side edges of both toenails. It worked!

My big toenails used to be much wider and now they aren't. Hard to explain. No scars, can't even tell.

I'm always told when I get pedicures that I have *full* nails on my toes. Even my pinky toe is like a pinky fingernail. I don't know if that's a good thing.

circles · ‎03-10-2010

@Kachina624 wrote:
@circles wrote:
May I asked how the doctor removed the large toe nail...did he use anything to kill the pain...or just have at it...

My doctor suggested I let him remove the nail.....he said he would just yank it out...which scared the heck out of me...

He is not the most delicate man I have ever had...he cuts my toe nails every nine or ten weeks...and checks my feet ...as i am diabetic 2....he is rough doing that...
@circles Its has probably been 30 years since I had it done and I don't remember much about it, which means I wasn't traumatized. I'm sure he used a painkiller. Someone who wouldn't is a sadist.. Run circles, run!

Thanks Kachina624....I almost did run the day he said he would do it as I sat there...but i said no..not at this time...

Psalm23 · ‎05-30-2010

Hi. I have psoriasis which attacked my toenails. I couldn't wear any closed toe shoes and most days it hurt to walk. After years of pain, I asked my derm if there wasn't anything that could be done. He said the only option was to have my toenails permanently removed-- roots and all. I found a wonderful podiatrist and we did them in 2 sessions. He let me pick which ones I wanted done first. Obviously I picked the ones that hurt the worst, which just happened to be both big toes. Nope, didn't know they help you balance and didn't do just one foot at a time (wouldn't recommend that approach). He gave me locals in each toe, just a little sting but not as bad as the novacaine shot at the dentist. The procedure wasn't bad. I even watched him do the first one. I wouldn't recommend that as it is a little gross. But I drove myself home afterward, just had to be careful applying the brake. But doing 5 at a time, yeah the recovery was slow and a little painful and took quite awhile before I was walking normally and back in shoes. Had to shuffle around for a while, but I still went back and had the other 5 done just as soon as the first five healed. This was almost 25 years ago and still is one of the best health decisions I ever made. I don't polish my toes as it's just skin but I do wear sandals all the time. No one even notices--even my best friend didn't notice until we were talking about it one day about 5 years into our friendship. It's not a procedure for everyone, but if you are truly in pain or have persistent issues, it can definitely be a beneficial procedure.

Mindy D · ‎05-23-2010

When I was much younger I wanted to be a doctor and considered podiatry. I worked in a one person podiatry office and did all the surgical preparation and assistance as well as telephone follow up calls to each patient. I will say that some people experience throbbing in the great toe after this procedure. It usually happens at night. Even though the nail root is removed there are many nerves in the area. A podiatrist will use anesthetic to do the avulsion. There are artificial toenails sold where you find artificial nails. These look nice if you want to wear open toed shoes for a special occasion. There are glue on and stick on versions. There was one poster who mentioned that her nails were narrowed to avoid ingrown nails. That is another option. The doctor in isles and removes nail and root along the sides of an affected nail, leaving the middle of the nail alone. This is another option you can ask your podiatrist about. There are photos of what the nails will look like after these procedures. The photos can be found on Google Images.