Anyone had a toenail surgically removed?

[Colin_T]

Kind of a gross topic but just wondering if anyone has had a toenail removed by a doctor?
If you have, what was the procedure and how long did it take for the operation and to recover?

Also if anyone knows how to remove a toenail without surgery (ie: hitting the end with a hammer to simulate stubbing the toe), I am interested in that, but the health direct nurses keep telling me not to try.

I have a sore under a toenail and the toe has started to get some pain. I can't bend down to check it and can't find a podiatrist who will see me before next year. I have been doing the ring around to no avail. I have concerns about trying to have a shower with a plastic bag on my foot because the floor tiles in this place are death. They put 12 inch square tiles all over the floor, including in the shower. The tiles are dangerous when wet and lethal when soapy. I have slipped in the bathroom several times already and have serious concerns about going down in the shower due to a plastic bag on my foot.

 

[MaloK]

I'm not a podiatrist,

But get some anti slip shower mats, I got them many years ago and even with two disabled person using the bathroom, I never had someone fall in the last 20 years. Without them, it was hell.

If you ask me for a home remedy, Besides starting to look in your toolbox for a drill and pliers.

You can soak your foot in warm water with Epsom salt multiple times per day, this will help a lot to reduce pain and swelling. You can apply a warm compress to the toe from time to time. Also thoroughly disinfect your foot with hydrogen peroxide and rinse at least once a day.

If the swelling persist and aggravates and you still cant reach for a specialist intervention. And are stuck on your own. You will need to pierce a hole in the nail to relieve the pressure and permit the bad stuff to get out. Don't let it turn black.

I wouldn't wait too long to go the ER, at least a doctor will be able to prescribe you antibiotics to help you fight it off.

 

[Colin_T]

How big are the shower mats you get and how well do they stick to the floor?
I had small shower sticker things about 4 inches square years ago and they weren't helpful.

I don't want to go to hospital. I have lots of open wounds/ sores that don't heal and our hospitals are full of drug resistant bacteria. If I go into a hospital, there's a good chance I catch something that can't be treated and lose my toe, foot or my life.

 

[MaloK]

I was more than 20 years ago... I got the mats from a specialized gears store for disabled person. They are 2X3 feet and 1/4 inch thick, completely covered with suction cups under them.

You have to rip'em off the floor to clean them. They never slipped not even a glitch.

The closest looking thing I can find today is named "Gorilla Grip".

 

[GaryE]

My mother had to have that done. It was tied into diabetes in her case.

I wouldn't do it myself, having seen it done. I can be a little bit of a cowboy about self repair, but that one can cost you a foot.

Honestly, it seems painful, and healing takes time. It really depends on what the sore is under the nail that they're trying to get at.

 

[seangee]

Not a recommendation but a very long time ago I needed an ingrown toenail removed. Doctors told me I wouldn't be able to play rugby for some weeks after. I deemed that unacceptable so whacked it with a brick - and finished the rugby season.
(it worked - but please don't try it).

 

[GaryE]

@seangee - a lot of us have stories like that. I was a baseball player, and I broke my wrist with most of the games left in the season, in a fun, meaningless recreation league. I played every game, and broke it over and over again. I'd wrap it tightly, and hit no home runs. In the final at bat of the season, I didn't hold back and walloped the ball.
I'd say it felt good, and it did in my head. My nervous system didn't agree.

The doctor I went to (only when the season was done) shook her head at the x-ray, and told me I had broken it many times. Then she paused and said "What was the sport". I told her. She told me I was as dumb as her boyfriend.

I mean, he was still her boyfriend and she was clearly a very intelligent doctor, so I think it was a positive statement.

When I suggest not removing your own toenail with an ulcer under it, my male stupidity is intact...

 

[OldFishKeeper]

This is one, weird thread ...now I know where not to go medical advice .

 

[Donya]

hitting the end with a hammer to simulate stubbing the toe

Don't do it. Having experienced a rather less intentional encounter of a brick and a toe, the ensuing pain of having a fracture in that little tippy toe bone is truly one of the sharpest and generally worst pains I have ever experienced, and I have experienced several other fractures and breaks in feet/hands/arms. Those stupid little bones at the end of the toes have way more nerve endings than they deserve. A hard whack to a toe also won't always make the nail fall out; my toenail stayed firmly attached despite growing out strangely for a while after the brick event.