What to expect with an ingrown toenail?

All I can say is… Well, first of all, no matter what keep strong and go into that clinic to be treated since they can get quite out of hand. Secondly, I remember my boyfriend telling me that he kept getting ingrown toenails on the same foot and I think the same toe. The doctors kept cutting it out (I think they gave him an anaestecic, however you spell that, so he wouldn’t feel it)… Finally, they put something in there where they would go away and it never came back. And honestly, if they treat it right you should probably be able to do all your normal things in a few days or less :)

Anaesthetic*

My sister had allot of problems with ingrown toenails. She also had to have it operated. They won’t take out you’re whole toenail, unless its really bad. Usually they cut the edges of your toenails, in the nailbeds, off and “burn” it with a lazer so they don’t grow in the nailbeds any more - thus no more ingrown toenails. You will feel no pain during the op, because they will give you anaesthetic. The only pain you’ll feel is when they inject you with the anaesthetic and it’ll burn a little bit. But that is really not so bad. There might be a little blood, but nothing more than an ordinary bandaid won’t stop. You can also expect some swelling and a bit of pain. My sister walked funny for 2-3 days and then she was fine. But don’t worry about the pain, because your docter will prescribe you antibiotics and pain meds, so you’ll be fine. He/she will also give you advice on how to take care of your toe and what you can expect. As for playing Rugby or going to that band thing… You should ask your doc. He/she will know, but I’m sure it will be ok in 2 weeks time. :-)

I’ve been through the same thing. It doesn’t matter really if you take advil or not, just let them know you did. If they decide to cut the nail (sounds like a case here that would require nail cutting) they’ll inject shots of Novocaine into your toe; as long as they go slow injecting it it doesn’t hurt too bad. My toe the doctor gave I think 5 shots then I didn’t feel it at all anymore. Then what the doctor does is he/she cleans your toe, gets out a knife like an x acto knife, and carefully cuts and eventually removes a good sized chunk of toenail. Hopefully this part goes differently for you; the doctor put gobs and gobs of neosporin like stuff, then stuck a huge pile of gauze on it and taped it down. Make sure when you go you wear either someone elses crappy shoes larger than yours, cause you’ll need the extra room. Wear old socks too theres a good chance you’ll have to throw them out afterwards. Then you can’t shower normal for a few days, the whole thing is a pain. You’ll be fine just read a magazine while the doctors cutting.