ingrowing toe nail...

I had ingrowing Nails and made the summer of 2002 an absolute nightmare. I got them on both feet simultaneously and both my big toes were as sore as heck.

My first course of action when the one on my right big toe developed was to see a chiropodist and she trimmed it up nicely and cured the ingrowing nail on my right leg. But whatever she did to my left big toe (I left her clip my nails too) it began growing in and about two weeks later my left big toe was aching and my right one had started ingrowing too.

Anyway my toes were killing me mid June and I was limping and could not walk right. I went rooting at them myself then with scissors, stanley knife blade and a razor blade. I pulled out a bit of nail and then proceeded to wear sandals for the next week in the hope that exposing my toes to the air would help them heal quicker, my right toe got infected and it began ooze pus and smell rotten. My left toe continued sore and ingrown but did not get infected.

I then went to my doctor and he performed this on both my toes, after injecting me with local anaesthetic. It was the sorest thing ever as the anaesthetic only sort of half worked. Cost €20 To the OP €200 sounds like lunacy you were robbed mate.

Anyway after about 3 weeks of recovery my feet were fine until about a month later when both flared up again. I went back to my doctor and he performed the same procedure as above on both toes twice again. €20 again After 3 weeks my toes were cured and my right big toe has never bothered me since.

But bloody hell my left Big Toe grew in again about another month or so later, so my doctor scheduled me for surgery at Bantry Hospital in Cork, so after about maybe a month waiting I went in for it mid-September and they injected my toe and split the skin down the left side of the left toe and performed the same sort of procedure as above but instead ripped out the roots on the left side and used one stitch. Surgery cost €26.

It worked fine but the pain after the anaesthetic wore off was about my second worst pain ever, (after cramp). I have didn’t have problems with it since although for about a year after I experienced some sort of phantom pains where I could feel the ingrowing toenail event though it was fine. I never had trouble with them since except a week later as I was limping up to the top of the Canal End for the 2002 Kerry V Armagh All-Ireland Final when some 20 stone Armagh oaf stood on it (having forgot my steel toe capped boots) and the pain was excruciating as it tore the stitch through the skin and separated the partially healed flesh. To make things worse Kerry lost the final and I had to limp all the ways to Heuston Train Station. More reading here

I have a problem now on my finger and it like an ingrowing finger nail and it is very sore and irritating. My parents call it a quip or a "wicklow"?? Anyone got any info on this??

legs11 wrote:

netwhizkid:

i dont think i was too ripped off, if you listen to your story,.

your gp took off you nail (for pittance) several times, and then you had to eventually go to a hospital. after months (of agony). and even then it wasnt right until another visit to the hospital.

dr toe, i call him, who i went to specialises in this ****......so i wasnt waiting 6 months to get it done for 20e in a hospital or what not, i wanted it off there and then. the nail now looks like normal, he sliced off just the bit that was in growing and killed the nerves of that bit, its all good. so you get what you pay for? it took him 30minutes and he treated my other toe nail as well.
the actual cost was 250e, but this includes 5 free visits over the next 5 weeks and all the bandages and etc to go with it, 60e worth apparently.

I went to the hospital once only, after the heavy Armagh fella stood on it I took out the torn stitch myself and taped it up with two steristrips and it healed perfectly. I was in a good bit of pain I know, but wasn't left waiting like 6 months to be called to hospital. However if I could have got it done privately as yourself I would have had as getting rid of that pain was worth any amount of money and I would have paid the €250 like yourself in jigtime to get rid of it. However down here there is no Mr. Toe or any private healthcare as such except for the Bon Secours Hospital in Tralee.

One good thing was that while recovering from the Toe I took to the Internet bigtime and joined Boards.ie that September and have been here since.