In agony with infected ingrown toenail (gross)

[Celerydion]

I am really struggling with this today. Am SAHM to ds, 3 months and dd 2.8 years. Saw doctor yesterday who confirmed that i have an infected, ingrown big toenail on both sides. I have antibiotics to take for a week and am booked in for a minor op to either trim the nail or remove it in August.
I've been taking ibuprofen to try and manage the pain although it is now hardly making any difference :( I realise that i should have asked the doctor yesterday if he could also prescribe some stronger painkillers - he has quite a brisk, not very sympathetic manner (which i'm fine with).
So, anyone else had the misfortune to have suffered with this? Please could you share you tips for coping/ any recommendations for pain relief.

I squeezed and lots of green goo came out. It helped.

My DD has had this recently. SHe has flat feet and apparently it makes you more suceptible to ingrown toenails.

She went to a chiropodist (private- we had to pay) who tortured her and clipped the nails. They were infected so he advised us to soak her toes in salt water solution every day for a week.

Worked a treat.

Waiting till August sounds ridiculous.

I feel for you, been there several times. Get some dihydrocodeine from the chemist, it's a great painkiller but can make you a bit sedated. Maybe it could help with sleep if you're home with kids.

I've had 3 operations in the past. They relieve the pain, but are very painfull for about a week after, with post-surgical pain. You end up with a hugely wrapped toe that can't bear the weight of the bedclothes at night.

IME the nail is trimmed down below the quick and the rest of the nail is allowed to grow on as usual. I have one big toenail that is a little narrower than the other, not really noticable.

Last time this happened to me I took something the homeopath recommended and it healed.
The GP was astounded, ingrowing toenails don't get better by themselves.

I used iodine lint (from the chemist) on my toe prior to surgery. It goes on under a melolin dressing with a finger bandage thing on top, it does stain your hands a bit but reduces the swelling quite a lot.

I had my surgery at the podiatrist privately (£80.00, 6 yrs ago) as I would have to wait 6 months on nhs and I was running my own business at the time and wanted to be able to pick the time.

You have my sypathy, it is very painfull at times. Have you tried soaking your foot in some warm, salty water?
I hope this is helpfull to you.

You need a salt water soak. Make the water as hot as you can and soak. Also, manuka honey really works on infected toes. My son has had two and after we've done the salt water soak I cover the infected bit with the honey and bandage it up. It zaps the infection. You need the UMF 15+ variety: from some supermarkets and HOlland & B. I know it sounds odd but Manuka honey has a proven record in fighting infection and making skin wounds heal gently. Even our podiatrist: very sceptical and wanted us to get ABs for our son, was impressed.

Thank you so much for the quick replies :) i will definately try the salt water soak & manuka honey to start. Can't believe this is so painful - was in a great deal less pain after my recent c-section when ds was born! Wish i had some morphine now...
ChildofIsis sorry to hear that you have had this several times, it really is quite awful. Thanks for the painkiller tip, i will see how i get on today and if the pain is no better i will get some of the pills tommorow.
Is it better to leave the toe uncovered or can i bandage it? looks v gross :(

I'd cover it up with a plaster, but a breathable one, if you use the honey. And wear something like Crocs, which also let some air in. That's what my son did. He said it is unbelievably painful. Poor you!

Dear Celerydion, please read. There is a way to never have another painful ingrown toenail again and I know this from my own experience. After some excruciating experiences as a child and teenager with ingrown toenails (both big toes once got so infected that I had to have a doctor cut the nails completely in half down the middle and the infected halves torn out) I finally happened on a doctor who gave me the THE BEST ADVICE.

Since receiving this advice 20 years ago I HAVE NEVER HAD ANOTHER INFECTED INGROWN TOENAIL. It's cheap, painless, and it WORKS. You will never have to "dig" or "trim" an infected nail again:

After taking a shower or soaking your foot so that your nail is soft, gently lift the corner of the toenail that is ingrown and using a tweezer or other pointed nail tool GENTLY place a small wad of cotton (from a cotton swab or q-tip) under the corner of the nail. DO NOT shove the cotton in too far and DO NOT put so much cotton that you bend the nail upwards past horizontal. Also, DO NOT shove the cotton straight into the infection! You want to place the cotton under the corner of the toe nail and close enough to the inflamed area to lift the toenail away from the infection and redirect the toenail in a more horizontal direction.

Once you have the cotton under your nail, you should feel relief from the digging corner of the nail. BUT you should NOT feel like you have a huge wad of cotton under your nail that is causing a new discomfort. If so, you have too much in there. If it's more uncomfortable for you to walk after placing the cotton, this is a good tip that you have too much in there. If you're not sure, give your toe half an hour or so to test it out and see how you feel. If you have an infection already, you may need to give yourself a couple of days of slight adjustments (although, the less touching the better in my experience) to start feeling total relief.

I find it is helpful to treat the bit of cotton with an antibacterial salve (Neosporin, for example) - it lubricates the placement of the cotton and fights germs. My method is to take a small pull of cotton from a q-tip or cotton ball and roll it gently between my forefinger and thumb with some neosporin into a little ball. Don't make the little ball too tight and hard as this will hurt your toe. Keep it soft.

I replace the cotton pieces about once every two or three weeks. PLEASE NOTE: You can never go without the cotton or you will most likely develop another ingrown nail. I have been using this method CONTINUOUSLY for about 20 years, and as I mentioned above I have not had a single ingrown infected toenail since.

Other important tips:

People who are prone to ingrown toenails should NEVER cut their nails too short and should always cut nails STRAIGHT ACROSS. NEVER EVER EVER cut down into the corners of your nail. This is GUARANTEED to cause you problems. I don't know why podiatrists seem to think that trimming is the answer -- trimming does not prevent future ingrown nails, is very painful, and sometimes can cause even worse ingrowns.

I hope this helps you!

As a foothealth professional I may be able to offer some insight here.

Without seeing the problem toe itself it is impossible to offer the right advice as all toes are different as arealll problems.

Ingrowing toe nails can be caused by several reasons, injury, poor cutting, involuted (tubular) nails, etc so just saying stuff cotton wool down the side of your nail will work is wrong. It can help but rarely ime.

The infection will not completely dissappear until the nail is treated and the pain will always be there intil the cause is removed. You are vety lucky to have a gp that is willing to do the minor surgery to your toenail. The initail injection will sting but then the procedure is painless and apart from having a bulky dressing on your big toe for a week you will not suffer again.

IMO you should ask the gp to completely remove the nail and phenolise the bed as this will mean the nail will never grow again and never cause you any more problems. You can have a false nail put on for the summer if you are worried about your foots appearance but I would always adivse to get shot of the problem once and for all.

Keep up with the antibiotics, painkillers and hot saltwater soaking daily (though limit it to 10-15 mins a day).

Feel free to pm me if you want any more advice.

Good luck

Hi EBatt & kunahero :)
Thank you both for your replies - much appreciated. I did have an operation in August to remove both sides of the offending toe nail & have been on antibiotics ever since. Unfortunately, i kept getting re-infections so i have another op with gp in November, this time to remove the entire nail. I hope you are right kunahero that this will solve the problem once and for all! I think the reason that i got the ingrown nail in the first place was due to a fall when i was pregnant with DS, i landed on my toe to avoid falling on my front & the toe was very badly bruised.

I just wanted to second Ebatt's advice (for anyone else, not just OP) - my father does exactly the same with several of his toenails - and he is a doctor! (I'm wondering if he's Ebatt's doctor - ha ha!)

His technique is to use a tiny bit of a cotton wool ball and shape it (including very gently rolling it once or twice) into a sausage shape... he uses it across the whole top of his toenails with a little bit hanging out either side, as he gets ingrowing toenails on both sides of the nail (on the same toe IYKWIM)... apparently. I've never seen him with ingrown toenails as he has been using the technique since before I was born!

I'll repeat Ebatt a bit more! He makes sure the cotton wool is still "woolly" IYKWIM - not hard. Also, he doesn't place it very far under the nail - so nowhere near as far down as where the nail meets the skin. He also cuts his nails straight across and fairly long(ish).

Good luck OP - hope your toe feels better soon.

Thanks for the luck hevak :) sounds like your dad has an excellent technique to avoid the ingrown nails. The pain is terrible today :( i do have some co-codomal that the gp prescribed for me but i try not to take them in the day as they make me even more weary than i usually am!

As a Podiatrist I am quite surprised (trying to be polite) at some of the advice given here.

Water as hot as you can stand is no benefit to a wound and can actually cause small patches of gangrene to start in patients with poor circulation (vascular supply).

Also I would never let a GP perform any minor surgery on me, they get a bonus for it because it reduces referrals to the hospitals. That's why they are suddenly so keen to do it. If you had seen the botched ops you would not consider op "lucky" to have her gp do the op. I have had at least 10 patients have the op with no local anaesthesia, most with no phenol, and many with no tourniquet. And when it all goes wrong and wont heal they refer to us and we have to clean up the mess.

Fluffycloudland77 -I am a GP and that is the most rediculous advice I have ever heard. GPs who do minor surgery do not get a bonus, most have a specialist qualification in minor surgery and they provide a punctual and useful service to their patients.

As a podiatrist -you should aim to keep your advice to matters concerning feet and not stray into matters that you know nothing about, giving advice to people who need help that is not helpful at all.

Crikey, i never thought a thread on ingrown toenails could become controversial [hwink] it is really interesting to hear different opinions on this. I am happy for my gp to carry out the surgery, i needed extra local anaesthetic last time as i seem to be freakishly resistant to it [hshock] - this was not a problem, however. The aftercare from the nurses was also excellent, think i was just unlucky that the infection has never really gone.

finding a gp that will do the surgery is unusal ime but well done if you have found one as having it done privately can cost £200+

Make sure they phenolise the nail bed thoroughly or it can grow back worse than b4.

GOOD LUCK

Got cream off docter and had a sock with salt and olive oil in hot Warner today

I had two nails done, each on the outer sides. Privately was about £500 so I asked gp for a referral. Got an appointment for six weeks later, both nails done at the same time. Tight band put on after toe was anesthetized. Never felt a thing. Attended next day for a check, then another check the following week. Pain was nothing that an ibuprofen could not sort. Definitely not agonizing and well worth getting done. Checks are done regularly and the dressing gets smaller each time. I wore trainers without difficulty.
Blessed relief.

NAils are a little narrower but not obvious. Get painted up as usual.

My daughter (aged 14) has ingrowing toenails both sides or each big toe. After numerous infections since she was little, the last infection required 3 courses of anti biotics to heal it. The doctor has referred us to a surgeon who recommended operating on all 4 sides, removing each side of the nail completely down to the bed, whilst leaving the middle section. Then she will have stitches. I cannot imagine how painful this will be, and am really concerned if such an intervention will be effective long term. She will be off her feet for 10 days, and very susceptible to post op infection. Then she wont be able to do any sport for 2-3 months. Any advice before she is subjected to this?