Ingrown Nail Surgery

The Total Foot and Ankle Clinic – Ingrown nail surgery, makes ingrown nail surgery quick and effective with no need of hospital admission or day surgery. All surgical procedures are conducted in-house and patients are back on their feet straight after the procedure!How they occur?- Ingrown toenails occur when the nail penetrates the skin at the side of the nail plate. This causes a wound (or foreign body reaction) that can become infected. In some instances this results in extra tissue forming and becoming inf lammed.

Ingrown nails causes many complications and give rise to possible infection of the toe and pain.

They can be cause my many factors, however the most common is either poor nail growth or poor nail care.

What are the common symptoms?

Pain and swelling in and around the corners of the toes
Bleeding / weeping, pus may also be present (signs of infection)
Bad smell or odour (signs of infection)
Difficulty in wearing shoes and walking

Patients are advised NOT to try and remove the nail themselves as this will cause more trauma to the nail and increase the chance of infections. Patients are advised as soon as they see redness or discover soreness around the nail, to seek professional consultation and advice.

What does the surgical treatment involve?

The most common and successful nail procedure is the Partial Nail Avulsion (removal) which involves destruction of the nail bed / root. This most common procedure is removal of the side of the nail down to the root which prevents re-growth. This is usually achieved by using a chemical (phenol).

Before the procedure, patient will be placed onto broad-spectrum antibiotic for prophylaxis (caution) and continue to course through the surgical procedure and the following 3-4 days after the procedure. The procedure will be conducted under local anesthetic (digital block) and under sterile means. This is a highly successful operation and less invasive then other surgical procedures. The partial nail avulsion using chemical rarely causes any significant discomfort or pains after the procedure. If so, normally a light pain killer will be prescribed.

Are there any risk or complications?

There are risks and complications with all operations and these should be discussed in detail with your Podiatrist. However, this operation has a very low complication and risk rate. Although every effort is made to reduce risks and complications, they are generally uncommon and not serious. possible complication may include:

Regrowth of nail (low about 5%)
Risk of infection (may require another course of antibiotics)
Phenol burns (will heal over time)

The Podiatrist will go through in detail about possible risks and answer any questions you may have. What happens after the Procedure? The patient’s toe will be dressed with a sterile dressing and be redressed 3-4 times over a course of about 1-2 weeks.

It is important that the patient does not change the dressing themselves and only the Podiatrist change the dressing for them. This will reduce the chance of infection and lengthen healing time. The nail-bed takes on average 1-3 weeks to heal, which the Podiatrist will sign off as completed when the toe is healed and the surgical wound is closed. The patient may still walk and go about on day-to-day task.

Cost for Surgical procedure?

The initial pre-surgical consultation will cost $80. The surgical procedure can range in cost between $550-$700 for one side. The cost includes:

Cost of Local Anesthetic
Procedure under sterile means (including instruments)
Room hire
Dressings (including the follow up dressings)
3-4 follow-up visits
There are no hidden cost, the price is set for the cost of the complete procedure from beginning to signing off.

Surgical procedures will NOT be conducted on the same day as the Initial consultation and will be booked in advanced so correct preparation is undertaken. Health funds You can check with your health fund if you are covered. The initial consult item number is (004), and the nail procedure item number is (546). Please keep in mind that even-though you are covered, you may need to pay a GAP.

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