Nail extraction procedure

Hey everyone...😁
Calling this "nail ripping" felt a little aggressive, but that's basically what we're talking about... I've got ingrown toenails on both big toes. Everything was fine during the summer, but now that I've switched to closed-toe shoes, it hurts like hell—one foot is even starting to get infected. I kept telling myself it would just grow out and I'd fix my trimming technique later, but nope, nothing works. I went shopping for winter boots the other day and there wasn't a single pair I could actually wear without the nails digging into the skin and causing total agony. So, if anyone here has dealt with nail removal, please let me know... how bad is the pain, how long does recovery take, how long until they grow back, etc...
Thanks, thanks, thanks...🙏 🙏

No, this isn't some trivial matter like pulling a fingernail😉

It’s actually a minor surgical procedure. They remove a section of the nail root from each side to ensure the nail simply stops growing in that specific spot.

The whole thing is done under local anesthesia, and the wounds heal up pretty quickly.

If you do it to your toes like > described, you end up with just the middle of the nail left. They don't pull the whole thing out, but a new one eventually grows back.
Fortunately, I haven't dealt with this personally, but I've seen it happen to people close to me: they use local anesthesia, and the actual procedure is super quick. However, you're basically sidelined for a few days, constantly having to swap out bandages, and you'll be walking around with heavy padding on your heels. From what I’ve observed, it actually took a few weeks before the person could even think about wearing normal shoes again.

Here is another case I know about:
As soon as the issues started with her toes, a girl I know went to a podiatrist who basically trimmed away the excess tissue (I know they sometimes use silver nitrate to cauterize the area and stop the overgrowth, among other things). Basically, everything cleared up for her, and she didn't even need to head to a clinic.

Just find a decent manicurist and everything will be fine—no painful pulling involved.

Not every issue can be fixed at a nail salon, and even if they manage to patch it up, it might not stick.

Kenneth Hernandez67 said:A pedicure isn't a magic fix for everything, and even if they manage to sort it out once, there's no guarantee it'll stay that way.

Look, I get it—sometimes a nail tech just can't work miracles. But honestly, half the battle is just staying on top of your maintenance. If you stop taking care of things, everything goes to hell pretty quickly.
Personally, I’d hit up a specialist first because, frankly, I'm a bit of a neurotic about this stuff, 😁but you really have to go in with realistic expectations...

You guys move fast... I just got back from downtown and the replies are already waiting...🙂
I went to my nail tech, but honestly, she didn't do anything spectacular. When I told her it was hurting, she just clipped the edges of my nails down—which obviously stops the pain once they're shorter... Look, I'm not saying I grow out long nails, but if you have to hack half of them off just to stop the pain, I feel like you haven't actually fixed the problem. Of course, as soon as they started growing back, the pain came right back... I get the feeling we're all just following one after another, and when she sees you're younger, she'd rather just send you home... Like, "don't you dare mess with me..."😕
There's zero chance I'm going to the other place because I KNOW several people ended up with infections there and had to get their nails professionally cleaned out...
😲 😕
I don't see much point in "feeding" these places with my hard-earned money if everything ends up the same way... It’s obvious they just aren't high quality...
Then again, I'm the type who says, "if it needs to come out, let's just pull it," and deal with it... It hurts, but then I can go back to being a ballerina...😁 ..just kidding...
Anyway, thanks everyone...🙏
Hoping for better luck next time...👋

A friend of mine finally hunted down a decent pedicurist here in Washington, D.C., mostly because she’s the type who panics if her grooming slips even slightly. I honestly have no clue what the gold standard is for a good pedicure, but she was raving all summer about this one specialist she’s found—someone she says she’ll be loyal to for life 😁 over on Fifth Avenue, just past Republic Square (if you’re heading west from the Square, it’s on the left side, not too far down). I don't have the specifics like the exact street number or the business name, but hey, maybe it'll come in handy for you.
She sounded genuinely thrilled about it (which is saying something, since she’s never once brought up nail care in her entire life 😲 ).

Kenneth Hernandez67 said:Nah, it's definitely not just about pulling at your nails.😉

It’s actually a minor surgical thing where they take out a little piece of the nail root on each side, so basically, the nail just stops growing there altogether.

They do it under local anesthesia and the wounds heal up pretty fast.

biip 🙂 is totally
wrong

So, uh, I’m speaking from experience here...

I had to go through this once when I was a kid, ended up in the hospital because of it... basically, they just sliced that part off—meat and all, including the mother nail... they didn't even really fix the underlying issue... and honestly, even now, my nails still grow in all crooked, no matter how much I try working with manicurists or whatever to get them straight...

You seriously have to stay on top of it yourself... like, use a basin, touch up your feet, and REGULARLY trim those sharp edges with thin, fine scissors, cleaning everything out before they can even grow enough to start digging into your skin...

So, I actually had a slightly different experience with this. It was my fingernail on my right ring finger that ended up being pulled. Something weird started happening with it—first it turned yellowish, then it began peeling away, and eventually, it was barely hanging onto the finger at all. My surgeon, who happens to be a family friend, told me it really needed to be pulled out completely just to give the healthy nail enough room to grow back straight and looking good.

It wasn't painful, though the local anesthetic they inject into the finger is a bit gross, and there’s definitely a creepy cracking sound when he pulls it. Also, once the numbness wears off, it hurts quite a bit if you accidentally bump the spot through the bandage. My nail grew back in about three or four weeks, and I just wore the wrap for a few days. To be fair, dealing with a hand is a totally different story since it doesn't have to fit inside a shoe... 😁
Plus, it actually worked out well for me because I was already at that stage where I couldn't practice the piano anyway, so I had the perfect excuse! 😁

So, here’s my horror story from back in '98:

I had this absolutely brutal—and I mean soul-crushing—issue with a toenail on my right foot. First, I hit up my regular doctor, who basically told me to head straight over to the hospital in Washington, D.C., and just show up first thing tomorrow morning. Being the good little student I was back then😉 I did exactly what I was told. There were two people ahead of me in line, a kid and some older guy, both dealing with the exact same thing. Honestly, don't even ask me about the nightmare I endured just sitting in the waiting room, listening to them react to whatever was happening in the surgery unit😱. Finally, it was my turn. Prep went fine, everything seemed okay, until I saw the tool the doctor was planning to use to... fix? extract? whatever... and seeing all that blood smeared everywhere like a crime scene...😱 😱 😱 😱 —I literally bolted out of there in my underwear, ran back to the waiting room, begged a nurse for clothes, and 🙂
The official report just said: patient refused procedure at own risk.
Ended up going to a podiatrist instead, who fixed the whole mess without any drama. Knock on wood, I haven't had a single issue since.😎

I honestly don't get what people are complaining about. I went into the minor surgery suite (not at the big city hospital), and everything was perfectly sterile—not a single bloodstain in sight. The doctor and the nurse were decked out in those standard green scrubs, masks, gloves, and all the necessary gear. I didn't even have to strip down; I just laid down, and they covered me up with sterile sheets. Thankfully, it never crossed my mind to actually look down at my hand to see exactly what they were doing. There weren't any weird noises either, so between that and the anesthesia, you don't feel a thing.

Honestly, I didn't even feel the anesthesia kick in... but man, once it wore off, it was pure hell... they ended up cutting out a chunk of flesh right along with my nail...
I mean, I wasn't gonna say anything earlier because I didn't want to freak anyone out...

Poor 😢
They gave me anesthesia by poking me in three or four different spots on my finger, and then the surgeon just sat there waiting for it to kick in. He kept asking me to try lifting my finger, and he wouldn't even start poking around near my nail until he was absolutely certain I couldn't feel a single thing...

I’ve had such a nightmare dealing with my toenails. I actually ended up needing surgery twice in just one year..
Every single time I went to Vineyard Hospital.. and everything went fine.. the doctors were really nice.. they chatted with me the whole time..

Before the first surgery, and honestly throughout the whole process.. I had to soak my feet in warm water with potassium permanganate dissolved in it.. that purple powder stuff..

I even went to a pedicurist once.. and I was literally screaming because of the pain. I started getting ingrown nails, and the nail itself had basically rotted into the flesh.. my toe was completely swollen

At the doctor's office, they pulled out the entire nail once.. and the second time they just took a small piece.. but after a few months, it grew back into the skin and caused more complications..

It still happens to me even today... though sometimes I manage to trim the nail myself so it doesn't dig in

You have to cut your nails straight.. and you really need to switch up your footwear.. like alternating between dress shoes and sneakers..

If it gets really inflamed and starts turning into raw flesh, your best bet is to see a surgeon. For me, there wasn't even any pain during the procedure because I had local anesthesia.. sure, it hurts a little afterward, but it's manageable. Honestly, I actually thought it was kind of funny getting those ridiculous green hospital slippers every time and having to walk around school in them😁

So, looks like you guys have been through this before...
I was honestly starting to think I was the only one dealing with this mess..😁
I haven't made a call yet... I'm trying to tough it out for a bit longer, but who knows how much more I can take. Looking at it, it feels like the ingrown nail goes way deeper than I thought... if it just grows out, maybe I'll be fine... but I'm stressing out here...😢
I don't know.. I talked to a few people who know their stuff about this, and they said they give you anesthesia first, then use some kind of probe to lift the nail and wrap it up like an Eva sardine tin.😕
It’s not the procedure I’m scared of, it’s whether it’s permanent... though the person I spoke to mentioned it doesn't have to be a forever thing—you can actually go back. My grandmother had this done a few times herself.😢
As for my footwear... yeah, I'm changing my style. I have enough shoes to rival Imelda Marcos, but since it was summer, I was mostly in sandals with my toes looking perfect and all that... so I guess even they didn't see it coming.
For now, I'm just suffering in silence...
Later...
👋

My bad...
Totally forgot to say thanks for sharing all your stories... 🙂
So, THANKS... 🙏
👋

Yikes!
Since I am incredibly sensitive when it comes to nail issues, I honestly couldn't even finish reading everything you all wrote about extractions and all that... just give me a break...
But what’s actually bothering me right now—and this is the worst part—is that something is starting to happen with my big toe. The area right next to the nail is getting red, it's painful, and there's this slight bleeding (at one point there was even some pus, but now it's just blood)... I can't tell if the nail is actually growing into the skin or not. I always try to be careful not to cut them too short so that the edges don't dig in, but now I'm wondering: is it possible for a nail to heal incorrectly on the side of the toe (where it's still embedded in the flesh)?

..if it’s just slightly ingrown and isn't causing you massive pain yet, you should probably hit up a podiatrist to get it handled before things get ugly..

as for what you asked... I haven't a clue 😕 but my guess is the nail grows normally and then you clip it wrong, so it starts digging into the skin..

..regarding Megan Cox8--she's right, they use that tool to basically pull the nail out bit by bit.. it's gross.. but you barely see it or feel it happening..

..I don't think surgery can really fix it permanently.. like, you might deal with this forever.. but if it's ingrown, the nail has to come out because there's no other way. Better to have a doctor do it than some random technician..