Ingrowing Toenail or Onychocryptosis Ingrowing toenails mainly affect the greater toe and can be caused by footwear, trauma, sporting activities or could be hereditary. The nail bed is damaged which results in the nail growing abnormally up the side. The skin may become broken by the nail which could result with an infection, the toe can swell and antibiotics may be required. Some patients have this condition for years as the nail bed will never right itself, here treatment on a regular basis is required by cutting the nail back along the side, however this is not a permanent solution and treatment can be painful, also any future trauma can cause infection. Surgical procedure available Together we have performed hundreds of these procedures and Karen’s thesis at university was on this technique. Patients should bring an open-ended toe shoe to accommodate the dressing.  A small anaesthetic injection either side of the toe is necessary to numb the area, this is done with a small dental needle. A small ring like tourniquet is used on the toe so no blood is visible.  Sensation is checked and sterile instruments are used.  The offending side of the nail is removed and a chemical is used to close that small part of the nail bed.  The tourniquet is taken off and a dressing is put in place. The whole procedure takes about 20 minutes and the patient can walk out. A day of rest after is recommended. A few weeks will pass where dressing appointments will be given.  It is important to note that most of the nail will remain and cosmetically it would be hard to see anything was done. This situation rarely returns but if so will be done free of charge. If any further information is required please contact us at our surgery. (Home)