I have a ingrown toenail and it is extremely painful.I might go to the doctor but I first want to see if I can do anything anything at home to remove the ingrown toenail.I’m 13 of age and if I go to the doctor will it be painful when they try to remove the nail?
and it is swollen and red/whitesh and sometimes it bleeds and pus comes out.
As someone who had had about 8 surgeries in the past, all due to repeated ingrown toenails (at first time when I was almost the same age as you) allow me to share some options you have:
When it is already bleeding badly like you said, and pus is coming out, I’d say take an action on it fast.
If you go to the doctor/hospital/surgery/ER the options is
1. The lightest solution is that, they remove the bad side of your nail, where it is grown inside the flesh, after giving you anesthetics (you will not feel anything at all, but you have to endure the sharp pain caused by the needles with the anesthetics 1 or 2 times -depends how bad-), followed by daily changes of the bandage/dressing for about a week.
The problem with that, it is more than likely that it is going to grow inside again in a few month, (my toenails did too, and they ignored every effort to avoid that)
2. A bit better (and if it’s a repeated problem, it is the next step) to remove the whole nail. The process is about the very same as point 1, but the difference is that they remove the whole nail, and it takes about half year until it grows back full. The downfall with that is, that you cannot even stand up properly for 2 days at all, due to the pain you feel when the blood try going there, and it is hard to change the dressing/bandage like that everyday (and it is much more painful to change it, than option 1). So I’d say it puts you in bed for about 4 days. The other downfall is that, you cannot wedge anything under it while it is growing, because it is growing so tight to your flesh, and the bottom layer is growing faster than the upper (the visible) layer.). In my opinion that’s still not the best choice.
3. The permanent solution to that problem is that they take it out completely just like option 2, but they ruin the base of your nail, so it doesn’t allow it to grow at all. I’ve thought I would look funny with no nails in places like pools, or my girlfriends would have find it weird, so I have no experience with that.
4.The other permanent solution (and the best course of action if anyone asks me) is, if you go to one of these Laser clinics, Laser centers, Polyclinics (I don’t know which they use it more in the USA, but they are the very same places they are removing tattoos or using dentist surgeries with laser) and have it done there.
They description of that service is:
Surgery involves, after local anesthesia, the excision of the ingrown nail edge and narrowing the nail to the desired width by destruction of the lateral nail producing cells, using laser. Thereby we can set the width of the nail such that it will not push against the surrounding tissues. This procedure results in complete recovery.
Unlike the other 3 options, the laser surgery/radio surgery doesn’t involve any daily dressing or bandage changes, no pain at all (Hell, I was driving the very next day…). Of course it costs a lot more to have it done (I paid about 150$ for one toenail).
Since I’ve done it I have no complaint whatsoever regarding the toenails, and I tell you that, if I were to know how much hassle and pain I would have saved myself from, if I try that first, I would have definitely gone and done it back then.
Good luck with it
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Go to the Dr. you could get a really bad infection if you try to do it yourself. Also, you might already need antibiotics.
possibly painful, but if it were to be they would numb it somehow. podiatrist is the best route.
Don’t try to remove it yourself,you need an operation.
No – because he would give you a local anaesthetic. My husband once had an ingrown toenail and he went to a Dr who was also an acupuncturist. The Dr put in a few acupuncture needles into my husband’s foot and leg that actually numbed his foot and when the Dr cut the toenail, it didn’t bleed or anything. Plus he never felt a thing. It was amazing! And what’s more it grew back normally and he has never had a problem with it since (this is 30 plus years ago).
soak your foot in hot water…as hot as you can stand it. then after that, get a sterilized pointy nail file (the metal kind attached to the nail clippers) and try to dig it out and clip as you go. Have alcohol handy as you do this to avoid infection. If this does not work…I’m sorry, but you’ll have to go to the doctor and get it taken care of before it gets worse.
ouch that sounds like it coul really hurt. I highly suggest that u go to a doctor to get that removed….
i’d go to a dr. they are very painful and sometimes trying to do it yourself only makes things worse.
It’s unlikely they will try to remove the nail. Try this: fill a basin or bucket with enough comfortably warm water to cover your foot and dissolve a tablespoon or two of regular table salt in it. Soak your effected foot in this for 10-15 mins. Repeat this process 2 or 3 times a day for 4 or 5 days. DON’T TRY TO CUT OR PRY THE NAIL. Soaking it will draw the swelling and soften the nail while it grows out. Each time after you soak your foot, dry it thoroughly and put some anti-biotic cream on the toenail and put on a sock. This should help it to heal itself. If it becomes more inflamed, increasingly painful, or begins to ooze fluid, tell a responsible adult in your life…you need to get on antibiotics and have the toe examined.
Ingrown toenails often occur when we cut our toenails improperly. Toenails should be cut straight across, as opposed to rounding them down at the edges as we often do your fingernails.
I hope this helps.