Any chiropodists who can advise please?

[Yotamsrazor]

I need the side strips of both big toenails removing as they are so curved they are permanently ingrowing. It doesn't matter how they are cut, they hurt all the time.

I've had one whole toenail removed in the past in A&E (as GP got into a mess with things half way through and had to give up.) and it grew back again. Years later I had the side strip of the same nail removed by a chiropodist who used phenol on the nail bed and said it wouldn't grow back this time. Only it did!

I'd like to try again because this is causing constant problems but is there anything that can be done to really make sure they can't/won't grow back? I seem to have very tenacious nails as the chiropodist I went to last time seemed very experienced and to know her stuff. Thanks in advance.

Get it done on the nhs, some people do have strong nail beds that resist the phenol but you can have the operation done again.

You can also have the bed cut out surgically but it's quite painful and if the surgeon wants you to have a general anaesthetic then you have to stay overnight in hospital. Plus it scars really badly too.

Ask your gp to refer to podiatry, sooner you get on the list sooner you get seen. Don't let the gp do it.

Thank you so much fluffy. I didn't know whether to let another private chiropodist try again but to tell them about them growing back in the past. Or do you think if it hasn't worked twice and they've grown back, then it's probably not going to be do-able by normal removal and gallons of phenol?

You need the nhs, there's no point paying. You won't get a better service or results.

The other option is an orthopod cutting the root out but it's not foolproof and its ouchy.

Technical term that is.

Hi Fluffycloudland77, could I gently point you in the direction of my thread about a career in podiatry? It's a bit tongue in cheek, but I'd really appreciate the thoughts of an actual podiatrist.

Sorry Yotamsrazor, hope you don't mind the slight hijack :)

Thanks for your advice Fluffy. I was going with the private option on the basis it would be speedier but if you reckon its better to see an NHS podiatrist for this, I will. Ouchy is a very technical term, but I'm using my rusty knowledge of Latin, to take a stab at its likely meaning!

I don't mind a spot of hijacking wem. If you do decide to go for it, I might book in with you a few years down the line when I'm still working my way up the waiting list for my podiatry appointment.

It does depend on where you live and how good your local NHS services are.

Most private Podiatry clinics will offer a faster and better service than the NHS although it can be expensive, up to £200 per nail although some do 2 for the price of one deal!

In my experience the private surgery is often of a higher standard than the NHS although this is not always the case with fewer instances of regrowth.

You may also be waiting a number of months for the procedure to be done on the NHS and if the nail is infected/painful then this obviously an issue as antibiotics will do very little to help without the offending involuted nail being removed.

Good luck, I hope you get it sorted quickly.

We have low rates of re-growth of phenolised nail beds in the NHS. If done correctly the instances of re growth ought to be the same.

The only times I've seen it go wrong through operator error is when a gp has done it without using a tourniquet and the phenol has washed out with the post op bleeding.

The waiting lists are shorter now than they were due to better triaging of referrals. Patients don't wait a long time, those who have the most severe cases are seen first but that's only fair.

If a nails that heavily infected I don't see how the local anaesthetic is going to work without a course of antibiotics as the Ph value in the tissues changes slightly which is enough to prevent the anaesthetic working.

Oh if course, city used to be ballotelli and kunahero before that.

The chap who was a state registered chiropodist but gave it all up to be a "foot health professional". Around the time the Health professions council said that non-degree qualified podiatrists couldn't have HPC registration if they hadn't been practising for 3 years or more wasn't it? Iirc?

Bit like a Gp giving up his GMC membership to be a "general health practitioner".

Yes I was.

I was also practising for many more than 3 years before giving up my HPC registration.

The main reason I gave it up was so I was not associated with the pompous, holier than thou attitude of too many other HPC reg Pods and chiros.

the FHP community are much more accepting of the hard work that many of the FHP's do in the community making sure that the precious HPC reg bunch can have a nice easy day sneering at us plebs.

I am proud of the hard work I do in a deprived community in the wonderful Northern England at a cost that the elderly can afford.

CitiTiliDie,
I find your attitude a little concerning. If you are an FHP surely you would want to cultivate good relations with local Chiropodists/Podiatrists, so you can refer on to them if necessary?
My daughter is a Podiatrist and I can assure you she does not "sneer" at anybody.