So you think you need ingrown toenail surgery? Well, I’m here to answer all your questions about the procedure and get you up to speed on what to expect.
Ingrown toenail surgery is a procedure that is more commonly referred to as a Partial Nail Avulsion.
- Typically with an ingrown toenail, there is a piece of nail that is digging into the side of your toe where the nail fold is. This can occur from trauma, poor nail cutting technique, foot biomechanics, poor foot hygiene and more.
- Quite often, an ingrown toenail will be a recurring problem for a lot of people. Often there will be quite severe infection, lots of swelling and lots of hypergranulation tissue. Therefore, a Partial Nail Avulsion surgery may be needed to resolve the ingrown toenail.
What to expect
At Prosper Podiatry – Home of the Geelong Ingrown Toenail Clinic, all our ingrown toenail surgeries take place under sterile conditions in our clinic rooms, and are performed by our team of podiatrists who have a wealth of experience in performing the toenail surgery.
- The surgery consists of a local anesthetic injection into the affected toe, to prevent you from feeling any pain. The local anesthetic is quick and relatively pain-free, once completed your toe will be numb for 2-4 hours and you won’t be able to feel any part of the surgery.
- Following the local anesthetic, a roughly 5mm piece of nail will be removed from the nail fold where the ingrown toenail is occurring down to the nail matrix where that piece of nail grows from (see image below).
- From here, a chemical is applied to the nail matrix to prevent that small piece of nail from growing back again in the future.
- Your toe will then be dressed with a bandage, and your Podiatrist will provide you with at-home care instructions until you are reviewed in the clinic 3 days later for a review.
Things to know
- The ingrown toenail surgery is a minimally invasive procedure. Our team of Podiatrists at Prosper Health Group have many years of knowledge and experience in performing these surgeries. We have perfected our technique in performing the surgery to ensure little to no intra or post-surgical pain, fast healing times, and minimal post-surgical complications.
- The surgery takes 1 hour and is performed in our clinic rooms under local anaesthetic.
- We recommend you rest for 24 hours post-surgery, before returning to your normal daily activities.
- Yes, you can drive yourself home from your surgical appointment.
What to do from here
To book an appointment to have your in-grown toenail assessed and treated by one of our expert Podiatrists, simply head over to our website at – www.prosperpodiatry.com.au
Or call us on 5290 5238
