What To Expect During Toenail Removal In Houston?

There are many instances where one might require a minor surgical procedure for toenail removal in Houston. However, before you sign up for this surgery, you must be educated about everything related to this procedure. You must know that it is not a major surgical procedure and there aren’t any big risks involved with it. In this procedure, the doctor either removes your entire toenail or a part of the toenail that is damaged or causes pain.

Most of the times, people who go through this procedure are the ones who have experienced trauma to the toenail or have an ingrown toenail. In many cases, the fungus begins to grow on the nails and therefore, a person needs to get his toenails removed. Many people use conservative treatments and use this procedure as a final resort.

If you are suffering from a fungal infection that doesn’t seem to go away but just keep on spreading then you should visit your doctor who would give you a few antibiotics. If those don’t work as well or if you are diabetes patient, then one must have his toenail removed. Doctors recommend this surgical procedure so your infection or fungus doesn’t spread to other fingers and nails as well.

Sometimes, the doctors don’t go for a complete removal. Instead, they just remove a part of your toenail to see if it would stop the spreading or if the problem goes away. This way, he would also get a chance to examine the nail bed properly and the surrounding tissue to make an estimation of the damage that has been one to the nail. If the procedure doesn’t seem to help, then the doctor moves on to the complete removal.

What to expect during a procedure:

You must know that it is a fairly simple procedure and you don’t have to worry about anything. Moreover, it would only take about 15 to 20 minutes and you would be done before you know it. If you are going to get your toenail removed, then you must visit a podiatrist office who would inject a local anaesthetic to numb the area so you wouldn’t feel any pain. After that, he would move on to removing the toenail or a part of the toenail. Even when you get the nail removed, it can grow back and the infection can return as well. To prevent this infection, the doctor can remove the nail matrix so the nail doesn’t even grow back at all. This is because the matrix contains keratin that is the chemical that grows the nail. But if you get it removed then there would be no way for the nail to grow back. After the procedure has been performed, the doctor applies an antibiotic along with a bandage so the wound can make a full recovery.

Recovery from the surgery:

After you have your toenail removed, you have to make sure that you are keeping your wound clean and dry. Don’t put it directly under water or it would hinder the healing process. Most probably, you would have to wear the bandage for about two weeks and therefore, you can expect limited mobility during this time frame. If you haven’t gotten your nail matrix removed, then it would take a few months for your nail to grow back. Most of the times, people experience pain and discomfort after a toenail surgery but nobody complains of anything more serious.

However, many times the nail that grows back has an abnormal shape or appearance.