To expect better from the NHS. Ingrown toenail saga

ZOMBIE!!!!

if you can get the nail bed killed off as this is permanent otherwise they seem to come back

My DS had both big toes done at the same time privately (didn’t want to wait any longer) by a local chiropodist. It was £200 per toe, but worth every penny.

Lots of Emla cream applied an hour beforehand and covered in a dressing or cling film really helped to numb the injection sites.

I’m a wimp and sat outside whilst it was going on, but I could hear DS chatting away quite happily - he said that the injections were just uncomfortable and after that he couldn’t feel a thing. After the local anaesthetic had worn off he said the relief was instantaneous and just needed some ibuprofen the first evening as it throbbed a little. He was up and about after a day or so.

I should also add there’s never 100% guaranteed success, when I had mine done he said there’s always a chance it can grow back. It can’t be eliminated for definite!
Also, don’t put emla on the end of his toe, it will numb the ‘testing’ spot before they start. They may start and he will still feel it, first injection is in the knuckle, should numb it for the rest of his injections!

@Whatthefunk, I didn't think you were going to sue, but the very fact people have suggested it to you means some people would. which is lunacy. How old is your son by the way?

I must have been very lucky when I had my ingrowing toe nail removed, but perhaps because I’d suffered the agony of sitting in a podiatrist’s chair for weeks beforehand whilst she tried to save the nail, the pain of the actual procedure was nothing in comparison.
For me the anaesthetic in my toe was far less painful than anything I felt when the podiatrist was poking around, and once the toe was numb the procedure itself was totally without pain. After the anaesthetic wore off I took a couple of paracetamol but didn’t feel the need for anymore until just before I went to have the wound re-dressed, when I expected to feel some pain
I was foolish in the sense that I left my toenail far too long before I sought any treatment, and by the time I saw my GP It was so badly infected that nothing could be done until the infection had cleared.
Unfortunately I believed everything people told me about the procedure being painful and that I would be better seeing a podiatrist than letting my GP take the nail off. I wish I’d taken no notice because by the time the podiatrist accepted that the nail couldn’t be saved I’d lost confidence in her and had suffered more weeks of excruciating pain that I would have done had my GP removed the nail as soon as the infection had cleared.
My nail (or rather the section of it that was cut away) was taken off years ago and I haven’t had any problems with it since. Nowadays I’m hard pressed to tell which of the nails it even was.
My advice to anyone would be that the pain of the injection lasts no time at all, and unless you’re very unlucky the relief you’ll feel in the long run will be well worth whatever discomfort you feel.

To the poster who said see your GP to get a prescription for EMLA- you can buy it from the chemist!

You should never "expect" anything from the NHS, it's absolutely diabolical in my opinion. It has been run in to the ground now to the point it just can't cope.

Life or death situations I think it can just about maintain the status quo, but anything else is just pointless sadly. Minor ailments to mental health treatment are practically non existent.

I genuinely avoid the NHS if possible. We have a private health care package now, we are not a affluent family out household income is less than 50k annually, but decided a monthly private package was the best way to go.

If I were you I'd save and try and go private, at least you'll get the treatment you want in a timely manner.

legal advice over leaving some toenail behind.....jesus christ, no wonder the NHS is on its knees!
OP, i understand you're frustrated, but ingrown toenails are notoriously difficult to get right the first time, especially if they've been infected a lot and there is a lot of excess tissue etc. it doesn't mean the original person messed up, just that it can be hard to get it all.

Interesting that so many people found the injections painful. I was in a lot of pain beforehand, my toenail was a mess, but the injection hardly registered at all, no worse than a normal jab. Maybe it won't be that bad for your ds the second time.

I'd ask for the numbing cream to administer before the injection. My grandchildren have got coeliac disease and have blood tests done often, DD collects a tube of cream from our GP beforehand along with a clear dressing and puts it on an hour before they go in. Works like a charm.

My youngest DD had one OP - it took around 11 months to get sorted on the NHS and she had similar in that it wasn't all removed the first time. I wished we'd paid the £180 quoted by a private chiropodist in hindsight............

Hope it all gets sorted.

You can buy EMLA cream over the counter for about £2 a tube. The tubes are very small so use a whole tube per toe, and then cover with a large dressing. Leave for at least an hour.

I was in A&E yesterday. It was chaos. Doctors moaning about the workload, 5 hour wait to see doctor, multiple vomiting patients left in packed waiting room with everyone else, old people falling out of wheelchairs...

Sounds about right. I took my mum into our local A&E last Sunday evening at 8pm following a bad fall. We were in A&E for 18 hours before she was admitted. The doctors & nurses were run ragged and mum is now on a temporary ward which is due to close in 8 weeks.

The NHS is collapsing.

I was in A&E yesterday. It was chaos. Doctors moaning about the workload, 5 hour wait to see doctor, multiple vomiting patients left in packed waiting room with everyone else, old people falling out of wheelchairs....

My GP is chaos. Their phone system has been broken for weeks, they lose test results and forget to call you when you have a telephone appointment.

Hospital outpatient clinics are chaos. Doctor tells you to come back in 6 weeks, the admin tells you the earliest appointment is in 3 months. Ten days before the appointment, you get a letter to say your appointment has been delayed by a fortnight. Then you get another letter to say your appointment has been delayed to the day of your uncle's funeral, so you ask for a different date but that is another 2 months away.....

I’ve had both mine done, through my GP.
Didn’t find it at all painful, although the anxiety and fear before the first toe outweighed anything that actually happened!
I was in, seen and fixed in a fortnight! Maybe my GP isn’t as bad as I thought it was!