Any Podiatrists around?

[Inmy40]

My 17 year old had toenail surgery yesterday for an ingrowing toenail. He went in by himself but he’s hazy on the after care instructions. He’s all bandaged up and he thinks he has to leave it like that for 3 days but he also remembers the Podiatrist saying warm salt baths. Should he be doing those today or completely leave alone for 3 days in the current bandage? I don’t want it getting infected because we didn’t do anything with it. He also has a waterproof boot to wear in the shower so not to get it wet for 3 weeks because of the acid. Thank you for any advice.

Not a podiatrist but both my kids had this surgery.

They left dressings on and untouched until the first checkup.

Agree- mine had it done last week and they left dressing untouched until the follow up appointment.

I am a bit puzzled by your question OP.

You say he "went by himself" so who brought him back? And what happened to the explanation sheet he was giving when the appointment was made?

As with any minor surgery under local anaesthetic, no-one should be left unattended to get home. He should not have walked on that foot after surgery.

Whoever collected him should have collected the after-care pack with dressings and written instructions. It will also contain an emergency contact number.

"Acid" is not used for ingrowing toenail surgery.

DO NOT remove any dressings until you have spoken to the Podiatrist who performed the procedure. Do that as soon as the clinic opens.

HTH

My DD just had a partial nail avulsion. Aftercare was keep foot dry. First dressing change was at the podiatrists, usually 4-5 days after initial procedure. We were then given a small supply of dressings. We continued to keep the foot dry until 3 days after the initial dressing change, then we bather the foot in salt water, let it dry naturally and re-dressed. We did this every 3 days. We were told to keep covered until it had stopped "weeping". Contact podiatrist in the meantime if concerned but it seems to have healed well. We were given a sheet with all these instructions on.