Ingrownt Toenail

Mrfrog840

Diamond Member
Oct 7, 2000
3,595
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Heh
I have one on my right big toe. Do i really have to go and get it cut by the doc? When i was younger, my parents had me soak it in some salt or something and it would just go away within a couple of days...
Anyone know how to get rid of it without the doctor?
I HATE DOCTORS! :disgust:


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Robert01

Golden Member
Aug 13, 2000
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The Epson salt stuff just relieves the soreness and the swelling of the ingrown toenail.

Yes, there are ways to remove it without going to a doctor. Picking at the toenail and getting it out with your fingers will only temporarily get it out because you have to cut it a certain way to prevent it from growing diagonally.

From ehow.com:
1. Wipe your instruments off with alcohol or betadine. Be sure to get the undersides of your nail clippers, as that is the cutting surface that will be against your skin.
2. Put 2 capfuls of povidone-iodine (Betadine) solution, into 1/2 gal. warm water. Put your foot in the water and soak for 10 minutes.
3. Dry foot thoroughly and then insert nail clippers under the nail border.
4. Clip out the ingrown toenail at a slight angle. Try not to cut your skin - keep the bottom of the clipper as close to the bottom of the nail plate as possible.
5. Grasp the corner and gently pull it out, once the nail is cut.
6. Wipe the area gently with an alcohol or a betadine-soaked gauze pad or cotton swab.
7. Soak your toe for 20 minutes each day in the Betadine solution for three days, or until soreness is gone. After soaking, dry gently and apply an adhesive bandage and some antibiotic cream.
8. Insert a sliver of cotton between the nail and the skin, for a few days. This will keep pressure off the toe. Remove the cotton as soon as the nail begins to grow out and away from the toe.
9. Wear loose shoes or go barefoot as much as possible, while your toenail is healing. Your goal is to eliminate any pressure from pushing against your toe.
10. See your podiatrist for chronic ingrown toenails. He may manipulate and elevate the end of your nail to prevent pressure on soft toe tissue, or correct the problem surgically.

Going to your doctor will be a little more costly and painful, depending on how you look at it. Usually he'll give you three localized shots to numb the toe, he'll then take and instrument, jam it through your toenail, and and literally lift up and cut the edge of the toe that is givng you trouble. Not to mention the toe being sore for a day...but no more problems if you leave the toenail alone.


<< Amputate it. You will never have that problem again. >>

That reminds me of something that happened to me once. A toe that has had an ingrown toenail off and on again was pretty much ripped off (this happened somehow when I was sleeping...it was hanging at the one of the corners at the very end - still went to the ER though). Never had to worry about an ingrown toenail again...but it took about a year for the toenail to look normal again.
 

guyver01

Lifer
Sep 25, 2000
22,151
5
61
:disgust::disgust::disgust::disgust::disgust::disgust::disgust:
Robert01, i just ate breakfast!!!
 

daveman

Golden Member
Apr 2, 2001
1,734
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If its ingrown too bad you will have to go to a doctor. I had that problem a few years back and it hurt like hell. Anyway the doc suggested cutting both sides of my toenail to prevent it from growing back into my skin so it is now a little bit smaller nail that only grows straight. It sounds bad but it healed in a couple days and I haven't had a problem since.
Good luck with yours.
 

SendTrash

Platinum Member
Apr 18, 2000
2,581
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76
sooner or later you will have to get it cut to get rid of it forever.....

**oh now!! the memories!***
 

perry

Diamond Member
Apr 7, 2000
4,018
1
0
I had ingrown nails on the insides of both big toenails. Doc cut em out and put on some sort of poison (there was a skull &amp; crossbones on the bottle) on my toe so that the nail wouldn't become ingrown again. Just stopped the nail from growing under the skin, it still grows straight up and looks normal.
 

Mrfrog840

Diamond Member
Oct 7, 2000
3,595
1
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Heh
thanks for the help....
I dont think i will do it myself. Why cant ingrown toenails just go away by themselves?:)
Ill be going into the doctor tomorrow after school.
Hope it doesnt hurt too bad.
I've had 3 ingrown toenails in my life.... lets hope this is the last one!;)
 

perry

Diamond Member
Apr 7, 2000
4,018
1
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If they put that poison stuff on your toe it'll hurt like hell after the local wears off. You'll think that your toe is going to fall off, and you'll wish that it will.
 

Urinal Mint

Platinum Member
Jan 16, 2000
2,074
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Prepare yourself... those 3 shots to the inside of your toe will be probably the most painful things you'll ever feel. I can take pain, but I was welling up with tears when those first two shots when in.
 

Mrfrog840

Diamond Member
Oct 7, 2000
3,595
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ive had it done before heh
dont worry i know how bad it is....
the hardest part about having this is trying to drive with it:| heh
:p hope they dont make it hurt as bad as you are talking about Urinal Mint :D
 

perry

Diamond Member
Apr 7, 2000
4,018
1
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<< Prepare yourself... those 3 shots to the inside of your toe will be probably the most painful things you'll ever feel. I can take pain, but I was welling up with tears when those first two shots when in. >>



My doc put some gel anesthetic on my toe first, to help numb it up, then stuck the needle in. Needle hurt alot, but not so bad. Not nearly as bad as that poison crap.
 

Mrfrog840

Diamond Member
Oct 7, 2000
3,595
1
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DAAAAAA I CANT TAKE IT ANYMORE! IM LEAVING NEXT HOUR TO GET IT DONE!
IT HURTS WAYYYYY TO BAD!
 

Urinal Mint

Platinum Member
Jan 16, 2000
2,074
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Heh, I suffered with mine for 6 months before I finally did anything about it. Of course, by this time it was infected, but hey, it kept my roommates away from me!
 

Mrfrog840

Diamond Member
Oct 7, 2000
3,595
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6 MONTHS?!
lol
how bad did it hurt?
my teacher was saying that her friend let it go a week and they had to do work on her knee because it also was infected:disgust:
 

ajskydiver

Golden Member
Jan 7, 2000
1,147
1
86
Most likely, the &quot;Poison&quot; was none other than Carbolic Acid...very effective because it actually breaks down the double-helix of your DNA--turns your flesh a ghostly white and it just rubs off without any pain...it also destroys the root of the nail (in the area that they remove) so that it will not grow back.

Best surgery I ever had done...now, the inside of my left toe's nail is super straight and never had a problem since--although the shots hurt like hell!
 

SOONER

Senior member
Apr 8, 2000
325
0
71
I went months with one on my big toe back in college about 18 years ago. I still remember it as some of the worst pain I've ever experienced. By the time I finally got to the doctor it looked like ground hamburger meat. The shots in the side of the toe hurt, but not half as bad as the ingrown nail. I have been VERY careful ever since to make sure I don't cut my nail at an angle.
 

Mrfrog840

Diamond Member
Oct 7, 2000
3,595
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is that was does it? Cutting your nail at an angle?
Mental Note To Self: Dont cut nail at an angle
:D
 

Brutuskend

Lifer
Apr 2, 2001
26,558
4
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When I was young I had two regular operations on the inside's of both my big toes. When I got to USMC bootcamp I got another ingrown toenail, I went in expecting an operation like I had had before. The Medic. sprayed bacteen (sp) aerosol on it till it went numb (still no feeling in that toe) took a scalpel, cut the toenail about 1/4 inch from the side, and RIPPED IT OUT. ARGHHHH Hurt Like HELL. Ever since, when ever it gets ingrown again, I just take a exacto knife and some hemostats and CAREFULLY cut it out myself. I'm getting REAL good at it, and never cut myself. AND NEVER have I had it hurt like when the Medic did it. (DAMN NAVY QUACKS LOL, I bet they hurt us poor jarheads ever chance they get when they know we can't retaliate) :)
 

cdan

Senior member
Dec 30, 2000
530
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I hate those things. Last year they were ingrown on both sides of both big toes one after the other. It took about 6 visits to the podiatrist to fix it. He gave me a bunch of shots to numb it, then cut the entire ingrown side off and put this thing in it to kill the root so they nail wont' grow on that side of the toe. It hurt for the first day but after that it was fine. The problem might be from your shoes. Buy new ones if there isn't 2 fingers of space between your toe and the tip of the shoe.
 

Emulex

Diamond Member
Jan 28, 2001
9,759
1
71
you know if you spent a few minutes every week and cut your damn toenails this won't happen. Also dig out the toejam that gets under the part you cut out.

Make sure you wash your hands afterwards, toe jam speels fuuuuuuuunnnnkky

 

NakaNaka

Diamond Member
Aug 29, 2000
6,304
1
0
I had an Ingrown toenail, left big toe. He would (the doc) cut it out but it grew back in a couple of months .. After two times we decided to cut down both sides of the toe and he put some thing in it so the nail will never grow on the sides every again ... Painless (because of the locals) and now a month later it doesnt hurt at all and feels a ton better and the skin is starting to grow back some, but I will never have ingrown toe nail there every again ...

Highly recommended!
 

Mrfrog840

Diamond Member
Oct 7, 2000
3,595
1
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UPDATE! UPDATE!
So i went to the doc and he said that it wasnt an ingrown toenail!
WOHOO!:D
it was an infection and that it should go away in a bit (5 days) He gave me some antibiotics and it helped
I had to pop it like a zit though to get the puss out! :disgust: