Hi, I first got an ingrown toenail in my big toe in May (2011), I went to my GP and they prescribed me some antibiotics to get rid of the infection and told me to visit a podiatrist to have it removed. I did so, getting a sliver of nail removed from my toe. Problem solved, so I thought.About a month and a half ago it came back. So back to the podiatrist again to get it removed again. They did so, but this time said if it comes back again, I should think about getting a procedure done where they cut into my nail bed and it should never come back again. The weeks following the procedure the toe healed back to normal and you would never of thought it had ever been ingrown.
However, in the last 2 weeks or so, it has returned. I still have a lot of antibiotics left so should I start taking them again? Should I get the nail bed procedure done? What’s most effective as I don’t want it to come back again, it so annoying!
My big toe (right foot) is red around the side of the nail, it has pus too.
Firstly when you went to the Podiatrist for your procedure known as a partial nail avulsion,did they cauterise the nailbed using a chemical called phenol ? If they didn’t the nail will grow back !
If they did cauterise, there is a minimal time that the phenol needs to be applied to the nailbed to successfully destroy it to ensure you don’t get regrowth - normally between 2 to 3 minutes.
I would suggest that removing the nail bed, a procedure called a Winograds is probably not what you need.