When it comes to ingrown toenails, we’ve heard it all. If you can think of it, at least one of our patients has tried it. Foot soaks. Cutting a V-shaped notch in the nail. Wedging in pieces of cotton or dental floss. On and on.
Look, we get it. When you’re hurting from an ingrown toenail—especially ones that just keep coming back again and again—you’d try just about anything to get rid of it.
But the truth is that you don’t have to do any of that stuff! In fact, most of those things you probably shouldn’t do. Instead of messing around with conservative treatments or home care, you could visit the team at Foot & Ankle Surgical Associates and just get it fixed—for good. You’ll be better off in both the long and short term.
Removing an ingrown toenail is a relatively simple matter for a trained podiatrist. It’s a quick in-office procedure that only takes a few minutes. We’ll do it right away, on the first appointment—no need to check your calendar and come back another day. Only local anesthetic is required, and the whole procedure should be painless. Even young children usually tolerate it with no problems whatsoever. And once that ingrown nail edge is out, the relief is more or less complete, and immediate.
In addition to removing the existing ingrown toenail, we can also use a chemical process to remove part of the underlying nail matrix as well. This stop that particular edge of the toenail from growing back. In other words, this means instead of coming back again and again and again, the ingrown toenail is unlikely to ever return. We strongly recommend this for most of our patients, especially those with ingrown toenails caused by genetic factors (rather than an isolated injury).
When you consider how quick, easy, and painless it is to get rid of your ingrown toenails for good, why would you bother with anything else? The longer you drag your feet about coming to the office, the more pain you’ll have to endure—and the greater the risk that your ingrown toenail will “blossom” into a dangerous infection.
If you’re ready to be done with your ingrown toenails and get real relief, give us a call today. You can reach the Foot & Ankle Surgical Associates at (360) 754-3388.
