Ingrown Toe Nails (Ouch!)

You know it's time to see a professional when an ingrown toe nail interferes with water aerobics.

I had been managing to remove the ingrown part for years, but it got to the point that it was coming back faster and faster. It became too sensitive to the touch, and being in the pool for longer than 20 minutes made it even more sensitive. This was truly a time when the phrase "no pain, no gain" would be painfully proved wrong.

Yesterday morning, I overslept and arrived late to the podiatrist's office. The staff was really understanding and kept me at ease. As scared as I was of taking a needle in my toe (I hate needles), much less having it cut on, I was determined to have it done.

The nurse was sly all right. She sneaked the syringe by hiding it in her pocket. I needed to call my friend I work with at my job to check and see if some paperwork had been submitted to our office. She asked me where I was at, and I told her I was in the doctor's office getting ready to have my toe stuck with the anesthetic. By then, the nurse had sprayed something called "skin freeze" to deaden the sensation where she would be injecting the needle. After I got off the phone, she told me she was trying to keep from laughing because when I made my remark, she had already stuck me with the needle. All I can say is, "Damn, she's good."

The procedure was much quicker than I anticipated ... and painless, too. Oh, I do love painless! They wrapped my toe in gauze and then used this stretchy sticky outer wrap. I saw they were using red, so I jokingly asked her if the color was to hide the blood. She chuckled then responded that they had several colors and didn't think to ask because I was wearing a red outfit that morning.

By the time it was okay for me to get down from the reclining chair, my big toe, second toe, some of the middle toe, and an inch of flesh below the toe bases were numb. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I didn't anticipate the difficulty I had driving home. You see, it was my driving foot that was operated on. Although there was no pain operating the pedals in my truck, I had absolutely no sensation when I touched the accelerator and brake pedals. I had no idea how hard or how little I was pressing on the pedals. The podiatrist's office was less than five miles from my house, and it was an adventurous trip to say the least. I ran a stop sign, nearly rear-ended two different vehicles, and scraped the chain link fence that separates the front yard from the back yard. I had planned to go to work after the procedure but changed my mind when I got home. My job is 32 miles away; you think I'm going to attempt the trip after my near-mishaps? Uh-uh!

I don't know what kind of anesthetic they used on my toe, but it sure lasted a good few hours. Even when it wore off, my toe still didn't hurt.

This morning, I took off the bandage and got a good look at my toe. The area in which the nail was ingrown was still sensitive, but not like it was earlier. I need to soak the foot twice a day in warm water with epsom salt. He told me that if the toe felt okay, I could resume water aerobics Monday. I'm ready!

Below are three different views of my foot: with the protective bootie, the bootie removed and the red bandage showing, and then the toe after the bandage was removed. Trust me; it doesn't feel as bad as it looks.



Folks, there's no need to suffer with an ingrown toenail. There are effective and nearly painless treatments out there.