Foot and Laser Surgery

How Does It Form?

Interestingly, most people think that an ingrown nail must be painful or infected to be called an ingrown nail; this is not true. Most ingrown nails are ingrown or curved well before there is pain or infection. When left untreated, pain and infection begins. Infected ingrown nails are most commonly caused by improperly trimmed nails, or "picking" at your toenails. It can also form as a result of direct injury, such as someone stepping on your toe, something falling on the nail, or when playing a sport such as soccer. The propensity for developing an ingrown nail may also be hereditary in nature.

Symptoms

Pain, bleeding, drainage, redness, swelling and curving of the nail are most commonly seen.

Diagnostic Test

Most of the time, ingrown nails are so obvious to the experienced doctor, just by the appearance.

Treatment

At Foot First Podiatry, our treatment is unique in that we use a state-of-the-art procedure including a LASER to treat the ingrown nail edge. The goal in treatment consists of removing the ingrown border completely, cleaning and reducing infection, and preventing recurrence. To reach this goal, a surgical treatment plan may be used.

Surgical Approach

The surgical treatment consists of the use of LASER. Foot First Podiatry utilizes a LASER in our state-of-the-art facility here on site. The affected toe is numbed with a local anesthetic. The affected nail border is then excised and the base of the area is LASERed to ensure that the root of the nail will not grow back into the side of the toe, and it reduces the amount of bleeding postoperatively. Most patients will return to normal activities immediately and in their own shoes. Typically, an office visit may take between fifteen to twenty minutes. Afterward, cream or a Band-Aid may be used to cover the area to facilitate healing.