Ingrown toenails are frustrating, painful, and can make performing the simplest daily tasks very difficult. They also tend to get worse and more difficult to fix when left untreated, which means that it’s important to seek treatment immediately.
Having an ingrown toenail means that part of your toenail has pierced and grown into the surrounding skin. Even the smallest piece of nail has the potential to cause severe pain and swelling. This is because while the nail continues to pierce the skin, the cut it has created in the skin cannot close and heal. When combined with the slight movement and vibrations through the nail with every step we take, leads to continuing pain, swelling and a lot of ‘ouch!‘ moments throughout the day and night.
Because an ingrown toenail is an open wound, it is vulnerable to infection if bacteria get to it – which isn’t too difficult given the location down at the feet. This is why it’s important to effectively treat ingrown toenails, especially if you have diabetes, nerve damage or poor circulation, all of which increase your risk of complications. If you fall into this category, it’s important that you don’t attempt to treat ingrown toenails at home and instead seek the help of their Podiatrist as soon as possible. If you think you have an infection, make an appointment with your Podiatrist immediately.
When it comes to treating ingrown toenails, there are two distinct categories of treatment in podiatry: Conservative care and Surgical correction.
Conservative care means that we remove the troublesome nail edge that has penetrated the skin with minimal impact on the nail itself. It’s simple, quick and usually not done under anaesthetic so there may be a little bit of discomfort that is quickly followed by a lot of relief.
While this is a great option to relieve pain for those with first-time ingrown toenails, this does not permanently correct the nail or stop it from coming back again.
Surgical correction means that we complete a minor nail surgery to both remove the bothersome nail edge and importantly, apply a chemical that’ll stop that particular edge growing back! If you tend to get worried about the term ‘surgery’, then please don’t. This small procedure is done within an hour at our clinic in your regular podiatry chair and all under local anaesthetic so you don’t feel a thing.
To put you at ease, you can watch a timelapse of the procedure being completed here at Masterton Foot Clinic: (warning: discretion is advised, this is the actual procedure with no censoring)
We cannot recommend this procedure highly enough as the best solution for ingrown toenails. It:
While we can’t give direct quotes without examining your toe, we are happy to provide guidance and pricing guides if you want to send us a photo of your painful toe and toenail. You can email this to adam@mastertonfootclinic.co.nz
Masterton Foot Clinic is both a Southern Cross Health Insurance provider and a WINZ accredited provider. We offer no-obligation free WINZ quotes, just call to book an appointment and let our receptionist know.