A nail surgery is a minor surgical procedure that is performed by your podiatrist in the comfort of their treatment room to offer a permanent solution to ingrown toenails.
Your podiatrist will provided you with an extensive questionnaire to fill out to ensure you are a suitable candidate before the date of the procedure.
The surgery, known as a Partial Nail Avulsion, includes administering a local anesthetic injection into the toe to ensure the procedure in as pain free as possible. Once numb, your podiatrist will place a tourniquet over the toe and safely remove the offending portion of nail. A chemical called phenol is then used to assist eliminating nail regrowth, making the procedure permanent in 90% of cases. The surgery- including administration of local anesthetic, removable of the nail, phenolisation and dressing will take approximately 1 hour in total.
You will be required to remove the initial dressing applied by your podiatrist in 48 hours and to re-dress the digit with betadine and dressing daily, as well as performing salt water baths to reduce your risk of infection. Post- operative care instructions will be provided by your podiatrist to which you must follow until the area has fully healed and has been assessed by your podiatrist. Healing of the surgery site usually occurs between 4-6 weeks, but can be dependent on the individual.
