*Gross picture alert* Ingrown toenail. Advice please.

[Quadangle]

Good morning,

Has anyone got any advice on what we can do to relieve my Nephew’s ingrown toenail?

He is now on his fourth lot of antibiotics and he is now using a crutch to get around as he cannot put any weight on it.

He is 19 and has autism. He has quite a high pain threshold so we know he must be in agony to complain about this.

GP does not seem to care (COVID), he went in for a minor surgery clinic there 2 weeks ago and they have told him they do not do those procedures there.

Any tips would be much appreciated. I am so sorry to add picture but I think it is necessary to see how bad this is.

I can’t see the photo but I agree from the sound of it you need a podiatrist in some form. You can (could) self refer to podiatry in Scotland. My youngest had a terrible time with her she had nail surgery on both but this sounds worse.

I’d also try the pharmacy today, hers got worse in Italy on holiday in 2019 and the Italian pharmacist gave her antibiotic cream which helped (didn’t cure but took some pain until we got it sorted). I don’t know if they can do similar here but worth asking. The cream directly into it seemed to help the infection more than tablets.

Please act responsibly, this is just an ingrowing toenail, the likes of which we see regularly as professionals. NOT A&E. Get appropriate advice from a Podiatrist, and leave it at that. If you are going to soak, stick to the salt and leave the hydrogen peroxide alone as we do not know the medical history of the patient and it is not appropriate for everyone.

Poor lad, that must be so painful. In my area I was able to self refer to podiatry and I had a partial removal of the nail. I would be tempted to present at A&E for one that bad, it's inhumane to leave someone in that much pain.

What a waste of NHS resources to keep throwing antibiotics at it and it's now going to be a bigger job to remove than when he first went to the doctors I imagine.

Oh that looks as if it needs professional help. GP referral to the podiatrist quickly or A&E immediately.

I second paying for private podiatrist under the circumstances.

NHS will treat but you will have a much quicker response privately given the pandemic which will obv be better for him.
It won't cost the Earth either

WowIlikereallyhateyou

She has acted responsibly by going to the doctors, look where it has got her. Not everyone can afford private treatment. To you it may be 'just an ingrown toenail' but I imagine one that bad is pretty fucking debilitating.

Initial podiatry appointment around here is no more than £50. Not sure the follow up but a podiatrist will be able to sort this quickly for you.

Out of interest, what do those suggesting 'A&E now' think they are going to do? Nobody in a&e is trained to remove ingrown toenails. Nobody in a&e has access to different/preferable antibiotics than GP. Nobody in A&E can fast track this to an NHS podiatry service.

In absence of spreading infection, or systemic features of sepsis, which OP knows to be aware for... what do you want A&E to do?

@greyyaa you are totally right. This is not an emergency unless he has sepsis.
This totally falls under GP care.

MandosHatHair, I deal with this for a living! I am fully aware of the discomfort.I have already said drs will get you nowhere. We are in the middle of a pandemic and i have a big enough problem getting NHS podiatry involved if i refer someone for a condition with danger of loss of limb at the moment. Waiting for a nhs treatment for an ingrowing toenail none of us really know the history behind would be cruel, as would clogging up the a& e system if the infection is not tracking. We are talking about spending £40 to get this looked at. And trying to help OP, genuinely sometimes I really don’t know why I bother. However, thanks for your helpful suggestions.

My son had an ingrown toe nail removed on the nhs 2 years ago. I guess it varies on areas?

We went to see gp, gp referred him to podiatry and they scheduled removal. All done within 3 months.

I would contact somewhere specialist like The Open College of Podiatry. It is in Maidenhead Berkshire. Tel: 01628 625689. They specialise with ingrowing toenails.

The Open College of Podiatry in Maidenhead is also free as it is a training college.

Iwantedtobenamed, I know the trainer there but, i think you might find they aren’t open/very restricted as no training courses currently due to pandemic. Also OP has to be pretty close to make it worthwhile.

Unfortunately, in many areas there is little or no podiatry service in the NHS, and it may be severely restricted to only certain groups of people. This isn't, unfortunately, something within the control of a GP. Around here, I know that you can wait up to two years for podiatry, and you'll only get a referral if you have certain conditions such as diabetes. Autism wouldn't qualify. And that was in the good old days. Right now you'd be lucky to get an appointment for anything. So I'm afraid I agree with others - private is the only realistic way to go to get anything done on a reasonable timescale

Holy shit. Poor lad, that looks so sore.

If it were my son, I'd take him to minor injuries/A&E. That seems like an emergency to me. Poor, poor lad.

I am in an area hard hit with Covid. DS has just had his ingrowing toe nail dealt with twice by podiatry on the NHS following 4 doses of anti biotics.
Please persist and question the GP, insist on being seen and ask them to explain their reason for lack of further treatment. Also ask for the details of complaints procedure. You could also change your wording when you speak to them. Rather than say it's an ingrowing nail, tell them it's covered in black growth and he's unable to weight bare. The photograph is awful, DS's was just red/inflamed.

Please just take him to a chiropodist I went last year and it only cost me thirty pounds well worth it the doctors aren't interested in this the same as their not interested in your teeth.
I would be making an appointment tomorrow for him he must be in agony it looks awful poor lad.

Blimey. That's bad. Do you have the money for private OP?

Podiatrist. I don't know where you are but in Scotland DD saw an NHS podiatrist within 2 weeks of asking (would have been shorter but didn't want to have to take public transport). She only had a very mild ingrowing toenail. This was during level 3 lockdown.

Thank you everyone for your advice.

We have taken my nephew today to minor injuries unit and had the toe cleaned and dressed.

I have also contacted a local podiatrist who is going to treat the nail tomorrow. For anyone interested in how much ingrown toenail removal costs - £350. This includes treatment, post op dressings and follow up.

Oh, I am so pleased he's getting it sorted. Hope he recovers quickly.