Nail Surgery

If you’re suffering from painful and persistent ingrowing toenails, you could benefit from nail surgery at Sussex Foot Centre.

Ingrowing toenails are a painful pathology which often goes untreated for weeks or even months, causing infection of soft tissue and severe pain. The condition is very common on the big toe due to pressure from footwear. They are often mistreated and waiting lists to have them treated can be lengthy. We offer a comprehensive package for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up care of ingrowing toenails.

Ingrowing toenails present in a variety of ways depending upon severity and duration, often becoming infected with the requirement of antibiotics. Common causes for ingrowing toenails include tight shoes or hosiery, trauma, poor nail-cutting technique, and wide and involuted nail plates.

Ingrowing toenail, showing the area of the nail which would be removed.

Indications for Ingrowing Toenail Surgery

•  Failure of conservative care to resolve the condition
•  Recurring in-growing nails
•  Painful involuted nails  (i.e. chronic curled-in nails).
•  Infected in-growing nails
•  Deformed nail shape
•  Thickened fungal nails can cause pressure on the toe

What do we do on the day of the procedure?

1. The procedure entails local anaesthetic being put on either side of the big toe to make the toe go numb, so you won’t be able to feel anything
2. The toe is then washed and an antiseptic is applied all over the area to prevent any infection
3. The procedure differs slightly depending on the nail pathology, however, it usually involves removing part, or all of the nail
4. Once the offending nail is removed, a chemical called phenol is applied; this is what stops the nail from growing back
5. The nail is then dressed with a bulky dressing to prevent any further trauma or infection
6. We get you back the following day to redress the area
7. We see you between 3-5 times after this to redress and check progress; you will be issued with all your dressings for this period and instructed on how to redress them yourself. Usually, healing time is 3-6 weeks but some nails can take longer

Key Points

• No skin is cut at all.

• There will be NO regrowth of the nail.

• Patients can potentially go back to work the next day, depending on their occupation.