Does Ingrown Toenail Surgery Hurt?

After years upon years of caring for people’s feet, we are no longer surprised about how long people will wait before they book an appointment with us. Sometimes people won’t come to see us until they feel as if their feet are going to fall off.

When we ask why we often receive one of these answers:

• What if the cure is worse than the disease?
• I’m afraid that treatment is going to hurt me.
• I’m worried that I am going to need surgery.

Well, when it comes to ingrown toenails, you never have to worry about these things. In fact, you will start feeling much better as soon as you begin to receive treatment through ingrown toenail surgery.

Where Does the Pain of an Ingrown Toenail Actually Come From?

When it comes to the pain of an ingrown toenail, most people know that they have a well-deserved reputation for causing discomfort. In short, the pain can be absolutely excruciating. In most cases, it won’t even feel like an exaggeration when you say, “my toe is killing me”.

Now, not all ingrown toenails will hurt this much. However, they are definitely very uncomfortable. If you don’t treat it, it can even become infected and become even worse.

The cause of all this pain is very straightforward. You have the border of your nail literally growing into your skin, causing a lot of pressure in that area. All it takes to remove the pain is removing the nail border, thus removing the cause of the pressure. After ingrown toenail surgery, the discomfort will go far quicker than you can imagine.

Okay, But What About the Ingrown Toenail Surgery Itself?

This surgery doesn’t hurt. In fact, it is pretty painless. The reason why is that before the surgery, we will give you a fast-acting anesthetic on the toe.

The shot of medication is actually the worst part of the process. After your toe has been numbed, we will put on a drape and begin to remove the toenail. We will also elect to remove the nail matrix if you’d like us to which will stop it from growing back into your toe. Some people keep having ingrown toenails come back and removing the nail matrix will alleviate that from happening again.

From there, we will dress the wound using gel, some gauze, and a bandage. The whole procedure takes less than 10 minutes, and you won’t experience any discomfort. 

What About Aftercare?

There will be some aches and mild swelling during the healing process. We will give you a kit including wash, wound dressing, gauze, and bandages. You should try to protect your toe as much as possible though because stubbing your toe during this time could be very painful.

You should also avoid swimming or heavy exercise for a little while after the surgery.

When the anesthetic wears off, you will notice that without the nail digging into the skin, your pain will be way better than before the surgery. Most people even return to normal activities of going to work or school the very next day.

The Bottom Line

Going through ingrown toenail surgery is a no-brainer. This is why we recommend it in any situation where symptoms persist beyond two days. The minute you walk in our door for ingrown toenail treatment, you will know you have made the best decision!

Let’s go through some of the most important parts of this article to recap:

• Downtime is very minimal. 
• Your ingrown toenail will no longer be causing you extreme pain because there will be no pressure on the toe anymore.
• You will begin to feel no pain due to a fast-acting anesthetic within minutes of seeing us.
• The entire surgery is painless and very quick.
• By the time the anesthetic wears off, your pain will be significantly reduced.

So, if you’re looking for a quick and painless solution with instant results to relieve pain that comes with an ingrown toenail, come in and see us at Heartland Foot & Ankle Associates. You can schedule an appointment by calling our office at 309-661-9975 or contact us online. Don’t put off treatment any longer because you don’t have to live with pain from an ingrown toenail any longer!