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Had one for a couple of weeks. Sore to the touch and it rather entertainingly squirts “toe custard” if I press it.
Can I treat it myself or do I need to waste a doctor’s time?
I would start with a [url= http://www.chiropodist.org.uk/ ]Chiropodist [/url]
I dug one out with a knife, years ago. Turned out to be a startlingly large spike of nail sticking into my flesh. I got away with it, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it as a course of action. Go to the doc's.
FWIW, you have my sympathies. There are few things quite as high on the 'size of wound : amount of pain' scale, mine was agony.
Why do we need toenails anyway? I've lost a couple through running over the years and have never missed them during the grow-back.
Dug one out with a Leatherman years ago.
Cue horribly infected toe, frowny quack, limpage etc.
Did the same as Cougar. No lasting effects and saved valuable NHS resources. Depends on how deep it's grown though...
Oh, I am not a medical expert. 😛
From the above it's clear that you have to be named after a large North American mammal to dig your own toe nails out of living flesh. Fact.
Dug one out with a Leatherman years ago.
That's how I'd deal with it if you saw me anyways......
DrP
I've dug my own out of both feet, one was easier than the other but both are fine now.
Why would I waste valuable NHS time and money when I can have the enjoyment of doing it myself. The release of pain when you lift it is amazing.
I'm thinking of cleaning, pushing the skin away with a cotton wool bud, anteseptic cream and plasters to start off with.
If that doesn't work I'm going down the "Hostel" route and having a go with an angle grinder.
In all seriousness, if you can 'pick' out the nail after a hot bath, and 'tease' some rolled up cotton wool under it, you can promote it to grow normally.
Don't cut it too short though, or it'll stick back in.
DrP
I used to be bothered with a recurring ingrown toenail as teenager. I tried to cut it and get it to grow correctly but no luck and had the whole toenail removed a few times for good measure. Ended up having the nail bed scraped out. I watched it all under a wee local anaesthetic. Lovely 😀
Agree on the wound/pain scale too, one of the worst moments was when a paraffin gauze had dried into the nail bed after one removal and the preferred method to extract it was a 5 minute soak in soapy water and sharp rip with some tweezers. I'm sure there's still nail marks in the ceiling 😯
I dig them out myself. They keep coming back, but I quite like digging them out so I don't mind.
Leatherman, but use the pliers to yank the nail out in one forceful movement.
Please video this and post the results
save the nhs and go see a podiatrist, £20 later you have a pain free and 'toe custard' free toe.
I've done 3 today thus far...I also love digging them out (with the added bonus of being paid to do it!)
i had them years ago. Had 2 minor ops which removed all of the nail down one side of each foot Never had a problem since.I was told mine would grow back, hence the 'body modification' It was fun watching it being done under a local.
I've done 3 today thus far...I also love digging them out
Jesus ****ing EW
@ carlphillips, Just had a day of Nail surgey... gotta love the smell of lingering phenol..
£20 a pop? That wouldn't keep me in chain lube! 8)
£20 a pop?
I now have visions of £20 being handed over to a bloke pressing his thumbs either side of the offending pussbag
I used a dart that I "sterilised" on the gas hob, this was then inserted along the edge of the nail and used to tease out the ingrown bit. Then a bit of action with the scissors sorted it.
You're not too far from the truth pdf!
+1 on DrP advice but one trick i was told was to cut a V shape into the middle of said nail which allegedly encourage growth back towards the middle and away from the edges.
What ever you do don't cut a wedge in the middle of the nail. It wont work. Ever.
Go and see a Podiatrist/Chiropodist, and if there is any pain/redness/swelling past the end toe joint then go and see your Gp as it is probably infected.
The "custard zone" is in the middle of one side of my big toe nail, taking up approx half the nail's length. It didn't hurt until yesterday, when I dropped something on it, and now it is throbbing.
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Mmmmm, custard.......
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Great thread this, can we have some pictures of the custard.
PS what antiseptic, TCP or do you have Iodine?
Well... you did ask.
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Oof. That picture brings back some painful memories.
I'm thinking of cleaning, pushing the skin away with a cotton wool bud, anteseptic cream and plasters to start off with.
Once you've finished with that and washed your hands, you should probably go and do something about that nail.
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So, did you do some DIY surgery?
Did you press it with a spoon? Dig around in it with a Leatherman? Stick pins in it? Put in in a vice?
We have to know!
@ captain carbon, a wee snip is £20, PNA's around £175 per side...
I had mine done private through work bupa. Was originally going to be a local but on the day the surgeon said he'd prefer to do it under general. I latterly needed a finger ring block anaesthetic for a badly broken finger, which made me glad I went along with the suggestion, so I missed the fun of the seeing the nail bed excision.
The relief after the swelling had gone away and the infection cleared was amazing. Whether you can get it done private or go to a podiatrist or whatever, get it done properly - well worth it!
salford uni has a school of podiatry, I went there with a bad one when I was a student, good service and cheap - Norman Whiteside looked at my skanky toe (was studying podiatry/physiotherapy after he'd packed up playing wendyball)
I once asked my GP for a chirpodist referral. His response was
"you don't want one of those, they just dig about under your nails with pointy things. Just pull it out a bit after a hot shower / bath and let it grow out naturally"
it worked.
I had a recurring ingrower on my big toe. Effing painful. I had the offending nail pulled off under local and the nail bed nuked with phenol. No trace of nail ever came back. But the bit where the nail was is still sensitive. Hurts if I drop a sugarpuff on it!
This would be the opposite of an ingrown toenail
[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8373/8514094408_ed3311aecf.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/90886684@N03/8514094408/ ]image[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/90886684@N03/ ]piemonster[/url], on Flickr
Peat stained for added effect
Cleaning and application of various potions seems to be working. Not seen any "squirty toe custard" since Friday.
Since about ten years old I have had intermittent ingrowing toenails on both big toes, on the inside. Usually dug them out after a hot bath but a few years ago one didn't want to go away for months, that got sorted with a visit to a podiatrist which was about £22 and completely pain-free. Lasted fine for about six months before some muppet stamped on my toe at an eels gig and broke my nail. I have freakishly big big toes complete with a little mop of hair on each and my feet are so ticklish underneath I can hardly even bear to touch them myself. I had all sorts of worries about kicking the poor podiatrist in the face from being accidentally tickled while they fettled my feet but all was well, one of the best £22s I have ever spent. Phenol & surgery seems a bit like an overkill nuclear option, definitely worth going to a podiatrist first.
I had one of these about 2 months ago now, unbelievably painful!
I went to the Dr's and they insisted there wasn't an infection, even though it was bright red and had puss coming out of it.
I self treated it by prodding with sharp things, soaking the nail with TCP and packing it with cotton wool. Seems to have worked too.
Got a feeling I've got one brewing on my right foot big toe as we speak. Can't put pressure on it. Definitely don't think it's anything to do with digging away into the corner of the nail with the clippers on Friday night 😯
A trip to the podiatrist is SO worth it. Have always been prone to this problem but a strip off each side of the nail + phenolisation has put a permanent end to it.
I had mine removed as I kept getting them in grown..
Did what a few others on here did and gouged them out myself a few times before finally going to the Doc
Best thing I ever did.
When they did finally remove them, they where so deep into my toes, the actual nail was shaped like a C..
And they dug loads out.
All nail beds killed off now, and no dramas here to speak of anymore.
Had an ingrowing toenail about 15 years ago,tryed all the usual stuff,went to the doctors and they removed it under local.
When it grew back did exactly the same thing.
In the end i had it removed and nail bed killed off,was done in hospital,and was a bit sore for a while.
is still quite sensitive where the nail used to be
Managed to launch my finger into a cupboard hinge a few weeks ago.Things weren't getting any better so I just cut off the crappy bit with a new stanley blade. Grr!
[img][url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8096/8567272198_ab5cdce714_c.jp g" target="_blank">
[img][url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8232/8567272010_c9e991f084_c.jp g" target="_blank">
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[img][url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8383/8566175017_b8bef325c8_c.jp g" target="_blank">
Nice
Self-treated with a pen-knife blade, pliers, a blow torch and some anti-septic cream when I was 13. I did have an entire box of antibiotics lying round in the bathroom cupboard/holiday bag if I seem to remember as well - probably why it worked and I didn't die. Not as horrible as it sounds, just got the blade red hot, cooled it quickly and then dug around where the ends were pointing in until I worked them loose, then used the pliers to hold them out whilst I snipped the offending part off. Got no idea whether that's the right thing to do but it worked. There wasn't much blood at all so it was probably just at an early stage.
Cue horribly infected toe, frowny quack, limpage etc.
LOL'd 
Also the dude (edit: piemonster) with the falling off toenails looks like he has a serious fungal infection?
It looks a lot worse than it is, submerge your feet in peat for several hours and your feet will look pretty manky too.
But it looks gross, so id thought I'd share it.
I had a third of each of my big toe nails removed (the outside bit) and the nail bed nuked with phenol.
Ridiculously good decision.
Do it!
Had 1/2 of one removed as per hmanchester after having the choice of that, or complete nail removal.
6 years later it looks like a normal nail and no recurrence of the problem.
Highly recommended.
Update – Seeing a podiatrist this evening. Been hobbling about all day and the damn thing is throbbling. Have just removed my shoe and sock to have a look and it seems that the damn thing has exploded. Blood and custard all over the place.
If you hear any screaming in the North Manchester area at about 8:30pm tonight it is me being brave.
Sounds like a photo is in order!
😯
ask if the podiatrist will let you video proceedings.
FCOL it's bad enough with those gruesome pics. 😯
Good luck Harry. 🙂
Most
Revolting
Thread
Ever
Lol
Just thinking aloud here ... when I get my rather large haematoma drained, I could record it. It would comply with the cool quota of blood and gunge accompanied by a whining woman. Whaddya reckon?
Who's got a Youtube account that can be used?
[i] It would comply with the cool quota of blood and gunge accompanied by a whining woman.[/i]
One Born Every Minute but with less bored blokes playing with their smartphones?
The only saving grace is that as the procedure is only costing me £25 it can’t last for very long.
(that sounded all wrong)
Don't Google image search 'bad toe'.
Really.
Even if you think you'll get a good result for 'What can you do for £25'.
It's just not worth it.
Immediately google image searches "bad toe"
Ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch
Don't say I didn't warn you.
*shudders*
Don’t need to google it. I can just have a look in my effing sock.
Think I’ll be driving home without pressing the clutch pedal.
that toe pic just made my gonads retract
I have had ingrown toenails on both big toes
First time chiropodist treated me at home, and cut a slice of the edge of the nail
was fine for a while but grew back into the skin, so I had to go to see the same chiropodist at a clinic
my toes were so infected that the anesthetic wouldn't take
most painful minute of my life, I'm not a strong guy but 4 nurses couldn't hold me still
so get it sorted quickly is my advice
so get it sorted quickly is my advice
T minus 3h:27m
Can we have a live blog?
No.
Well you've got ten fingers,whats the excuse? :O)
Sure I can here sobbing
Hmmm...
Needs a bit of nail surgery tomorrow.
It turns out that my first spin for 6 months in my roadie shoes combined with thick socks has pushed the nail into the skin. Couldn't be sorted today as I will need a local to prevent me from screaming like a tart.
🙁
Job done. Shard the size of half a match pulled out.
Don't wear thick socks with tight fitting cycling shoes kids.
Bet that's a relief 🙂
Oh, and pics or it didnt happen.
Oooh look a tag up there ^^^^^. Haven't seen one of them for a while.