BreezyLimbo
Banned
I don't think I'd watch, I'm not much of a masochist ._.
So I have an ingrown toenail. Should I take care of it myself or go to a doctor?
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TsunamiOfSwagger
Member
I have had three removed, the first was when I was around 16. I constantly picked at my nails at a young age, and I can honestly say my toe looked worse than the OP's pic, it had green pus coming out of it, and absolutely stunk. I got it removed and it was about the size of my thumb nail.
Everything is fine now, but the side where I had the first, and worst one, is the only one you can see has been fixed.
My advice is get it seen to professionally, it will only come back worse than the last time, trust me.
Everything is fine now, but the side where I had the first, and worst one, is the only one you can see has been fixed.
My advice is get it seen to professionally, it will only come back worse than the last time, trust me.
TemplaerDude
Member
I'm gonna say this from experience, at that point you're probably going to need surgery of some kind.
Be a man OP and do it with a screw driver.
But seriously OP, just try to find any way to pry the ingrown nail out using a wedge like a nail filer or a flat thin object. You don't have to drive the wedge underneath the ingrown part, but kind of diagonal starting at the top of the normal part of your toe and pulling until the sides start to pop up.
This is the easiest way, and I would advise it over cutting the nail on the edge and trying to extract it.
Edit: Yours is pretty bad though. If you've been trying to get it out to no avail, just see a doctor.
But seriously OP, just try to find any way to pry the ingrown nail out using a wedge like a nail filer or a flat thin object. You don't have to drive the wedge underneath the ingrown part, but kind of diagonal starting at the top of the normal part of your toe and pulling until the sides start to pop up.
This is the easiest way, and I would advise it over cutting the nail on the edge and trying to extract it.
Edit: Yours is pretty bad though. If you've been trying to get it out to no avail, just see a doctor.
The Albatross
Member
My toes look like a horrific messed from basketball. NYT no ingrown nails as far as I can tell
There might be no greater pleasure than finally... FINALLY getting that ingrown toenail ripped out after you've been digging for a while. Just sayin'
For the ones that bad though, yeah go see a doctor. I did once when I was younger, they put some kind of acid (i think?) on the edge after they were done so it'd never happen again. Looking back, I wish I had just gotten that done to both my big toes. Its a little odd looking being all straight on the edge, but man. Never happened again on that side.
For the ones that bad though, yeah go see a doctor. I did once when I was younger, they put some kind of acid (i think?) on the edge after they were done so it'd never happen again. Looking back, I wish I had just gotten that done to both my big toes. Its a little odd looking being all straight on the edge, but man. Never happened again on that side.
I went to the doctor for an ingrown toenail back in the day, this is what they had me do:
Take a cotton chunk out of a qtip or cotton ball and roll it into a long cylinder and wedge it under the nail on the side where the "ingrowth" is to "prop the nail up, and leave it in there and change it every day. (medical tape or a bandaid on the toe helps keep it in place) I had to do this indefinitely until the nail grew long and stopped digging into my toe. I was told to keep the nail long and only cut the nail to trim them horizontally straight despite the desire to trim the nail to keep it from digging in (makes it worse).
The doctor just gave me these instructions, no medicine, no surgery, and charged me a hefty co pay. If you feel you wanna see a doctor, that's the "best" thing you could do, but this is what I had been instructed to do, your milage may vary.
Take a cotton chunk out of a qtip or cotton ball and roll it into a long cylinder and wedge it under the nail on the side where the "ingrowth" is to "prop the nail up, and leave it in there and change it every day. (medical tape or a bandaid on the toe helps keep it in place) I had to do this indefinitely until the nail grew long and stopped digging into my toe. I was told to keep the nail long and only cut the nail to trim them horizontally straight despite the desire to trim the nail to keep it from digging in (makes it worse).
The doctor just gave me these instructions, no medicine, no surgery, and charged me a hefty co pay. If you feel you wanna see a doctor, that's the "best" thing you could do, but this is what I had been instructed to do, your milage may vary.
luckyboyceo
Member
Definitely get it looked at, OP. They'll give you some anesthesia, which will be painful for 2-3 seconds, and then you won't feel a thing. You'll probably be in and out of the office within 10 minutes.
Way better (and less painful) than trying to do it yourself.
"And there you go. That's all there is to it!"
Way better (and less painful) than trying to do it yourself.
Just casually ripping into his toe with some pliers.
"And there you go. That's all there is to it!"
radios shipping overview
Member
Go to a doctor. I used to get these a lot, and trying to take care of them myself just made them worse. I eventually had a separate operation on each big toe. They removed a small part of the nail bed on each, and after those, I've never had another ingrown. It's quick and pretty painless.
My doctor gave me a brilliant solution to an ingrown nail many years ago. I've never had one as bad as yours, though, so I cannot make any guarantees for you.
Take a file and create a groove in your nail, right in the middle, back to front. No need to file your nail in half, just a groove is fine. I always use a triangular file for this. Regular files are no good. Apparently what happens is your nail retreats from the sides to repair the damage in the middle.
This helped me. 2 days after doing this, my ingrown nail was always magically fixed.
I'd say give it a try before you go with all the extreme measures like operations and cutting and whatnot.
Take a file and create a groove in your nail, right in the middle, back to front. No need to file your nail in half, just a groove is fine. I always use a triangular file for this. Regular files are no good. Apparently what happens is your nail retreats from the sides to repair the damage in the middle.
This helped me. 2 days after doing this, my ingrown nail was always magically fixed.
I'd say give it a try before you go with all the extreme measures like operations and cutting and whatnot.
BreezyLimbo
Banned
I called one, they want 100 bucks for 'consultation' and I imagine that the actual surgery would be more expensive. Gonna try going through my medicare first since there's a local urgent medical center that's in my network.
MindCollizion
Member
I had a few growing up that i went to the doctor for. But after seeing how he cut if off i just did it myself at home.
way more
Member
This isn't an ingrown toenail. He has an open wound that is just begging for a infection.
OP, for gods sake, keep that covered with a bandage and apply neosporin or other antibiotic salves till you can get a doctor to give you something.
Actually, it's not that bad. The scale of the photo makes it look bigger. But soak your foot in warm water with epson salt.
Ninja Scooter
Member
I've dealt with ingrowns for years but nothing ever as bad as the OP. For my right foot I went to a specialist and got it taken care of. Man was it a relief to watch him dig into my toe and rip out those chunks of nail that were buried deep down in there. And they never come back since he cuts the nail straight down. I've got one on my left foot but it's not so bad so far and I can manage it. Gonna need to just go and take care of it soon though.
BreezyLimbo
Banned
True Underdog
Member
Had one worse than that earlier this year. Messed up my toe which destroyed the front of the nail. It grew back ingrown and gross. Waited too long and it didn't even cost as much as I thought.
I have insurance but I have a stupid high deductible that I never meet. My job has a partnership with an urgent care clinic that I can use for free so most things (prescription allergy meds, respiratory meds, etc.) but they didn't cover ingrown toenails. For some reason, my insurance ended up covering some of it and I was only out $160. Without insurance, most places quoted me at ~$300.
Some places even appeared to have payment plans, if money was tight.
I have insurance but I have a stupid high deductible that I never meet. My job has a partnership with an urgent care clinic that I can use for free so most things (prescription allergy meds, respiratory meds, etc.) but they didn't cover ingrown toenails. For some reason, my insurance ended up covering some of it and I was only out $160. Without insurance, most places quoted me at ~$300.
Some places even appeared to have payment plans, if money was tight.
way more
Member
Buy some epsom salt and soak your feet in a warm bath with it. Do that every night. Pretend it's a treat.
It's actually not as bad as I thought. The scale of your picture made me think it was a gaping wound at first.
Crumbs, so glad I'm in the UK! I've had three sides of by big toenails removed as a teenager. The toe never grew back across though so one of my nails is only attached at the bottom. Growing up one or other would get ripped off roughly every six months while playing football or something and now they're a total mess. Get yours sorted properly OP, I just hope it doesn't cost you too much.
by the way...
if you keep doing it wrong, the problem will come back.
I always do the left and I've been told by many that I've been doing it wrong.
Dr.Guru of Peru
played the long game
You cut your nail way too short. Just look at how close you've cut it at the medial border.
This is what you gotta do:
Roll up a piece of floss or cotton, insert it below the nail edge to raise it up off the skin. Change frequently.
Salt baths 3 x a day for 15 mins each. Try lifting up the edge of the nail after each bath.
Stop cutting your nails so short.
See a doctor. That nasty stuff might need to be cauterized.
If not getting better with this, they can remove part of the toe nail. Or part of the skin.
This is what you gotta do:
Roll up a piece of floss or cotton, insert it below the nail edge to raise it up off the skin. Change frequently.
Salt baths 3 x a day for 15 mins each. Try lifting up the edge of the nail after each bath.
Stop cutting your nails so short.
See a doctor. That nasty stuff might need to be cauterized.
If not getting better with this, they can remove part of the toe nail. Or part of the skin.
Doctor.
Got one when I was 13. My mom thought she could fix it herself.
I now have a very high tolerance for pain because it hurts a lot when someone else is trying to slowly hack away at it. Pretty sure she prob just made it worse too. Went to a doc, they fixed me up in a very little amount of time and I could walk easily.
Mine looked similar to yours.
Got one when I was 13. My mom thought she could fix it herself.
I now have a very high tolerance for pain because it hurts a lot when someone else is trying to slowly hack away at it. Pretty sure she prob just made it worse too. Went to a doc, they fixed me up in a very little amount of time and I could walk easily.
Mine looked similar to yours.
I came in here to suggest just soaking your foot in water with epsom salt for a while (based on previous experience) but after seeing that picture I would say go see a doctor, and soon. Spoiler tagged images really needs to come to mobile, I was not prepared at all for what I saw in the OP.
PeskyToaster
Member
Yours looks pretty bad. What I do is take a thumbtack and pry it up periodically. It just slides right under the nail then I slowly pull up and out to get the nail to stop from digging. Feels good. It's the perfect tool.
speculawyer
Member
Deal with it.
Freshmaker
I am Korean.
Hoo boy, alright. I hope it's not too expensive then ._. How much did it cost you? And that single hair is a fighter, ok![/QUOTE]
It's not too expensive if you just make an appointment with your regular doctor or at a doctor's office in general if you don't have a regular one. I had one worked on in high school. They numbed it up, and I was out of there in about half an hour IIRC.
Though I had a giant bandage on my toe for a few weeks.
Generally if you catch 'em early you can soak your nail in hot water for a while then wedge a little bit of cotton under the ingrown area with a toothpick. It'll lift the nail out of the flesh and you'll be able to trim it so it's not prone of digging in more after a few days.
That's been working pretty well at preventing them from settling in for me ever since.
When I was getting toe surgery once they had trouble getting it numb. The repeated insertion of the needle almost made me puke.
yo wtf. that sounds awful 8(. im sorry to hear that.
eddievanclaylen
Member
It's this easy to fix.
Get a pedicure.
I had a painful ingrown toenail and got a pedicure, and the lady doing my feet easily pulled that fucker out. It was huge but ultimately painless and super cheap. Like 35 bucks.
Do it.
Get a pedicure.
I had a painful ingrown toenail and got a pedicure, and the lady doing my feet easily pulled that fucker out. It was huge but ultimately painless and super cheap. Like 35 bucks.
Do it.
My Uncle had bad ingrowing toe nails and got both his big toe nails removed, but they grew back way worse apparently. I'm not sure what happened the second time though. It was so bad he couldn't walk from what i've heard.
I had an ingrowing toe nail once in school during the summer due to me not cutting them properly. I would cut them all the way round not just the top. Stuffing some cotton wool under the nail helps the nail to grow outwards instead of into the toe, but looking at OP picture I think you're past that point now.
I had an ingrowing toe nail once in school during the summer due to me not cutting them properly. I would cut them all the way round not just the top. Stuffing some cotton wool under the nail helps the nail to grow outwards instead of into the toe, but looking at OP picture I think you're past that point now.
User 100115
Banned
Yeah that looks infected to me. Doctor it is!
DontBeThatGuy
Member
I fixed it myself and it only came back about a decade later, and then I fixed it myself again. Huzzah!
True Savior
Member
I got a funky smell after i clicked. This is some paranormal experience.
I have an ingrown toenail right, looks as bad as pic in op. It was painful to walk but I have been wrapping it up with medicine and that helps.
I have it cut years ago, took 3 of the toe shots to numb me up. Each shot felt like the needle was going directly into my fucking soul and every instinct told me to kick that doctor straight in his smug face, but I was luckily held down.
I'm afraid if I go back, it will just regrow again.
-edit- costs $90 at a clinic
I have it cut years ago, took 3 of the toe shots to numb me up. Each shot felt like the needle was going directly into my fucking soul and every instinct told me to kick that doctor straight in his smug face, but I was luckily held down.
I'm afraid if I go back, it will just regrow again.
-edit- costs $90 at a clinic
BreezyLimbo
Banned
$90 at a clinic doesnt sound too bad. Ill update the thread on hopefully monday. Ill post some after pics when/if I get surgery
GifGafIsTheBestGaf
Member
by the way...
if you keep doing it wrong, the problem will come back.
my whole nail clipping life is a mistake
Mostmanlyman
Member
Ingrown toenails suck. I had one before when I was in middle school and had to get it removed by a doctor. After that I have kept good care of my nails.
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