Those Pesky Ingrown Toenails

This past weekend I listed intently as a friend told a group of us how he had hated anyone touching his feet. He was kidded a bit and then told how us how he experiences repeated ingrown toenails and how that had made him not allow anyone to touch his feet.
     His story was fascinating as he told of using a cuticle scissors to dig out the ingrown nail. People cringed when he told how he could feel the little bits of sharp nail, which he could not dig out, grow until they poked through the skin on the side of his big toe—and how he had to dig into his skin to pull them out.
     I asked him why he didn’t just have his problem toenails removed. Honestly, he said, he had never thought of the option. I told him how many ultrarunners and adventure racers have their bad toenails removed to save them the pain and trauma of both ingrown toenails and black toenails.
    I wonder how many people have suffered with ingrown and black toenails and never consider this option. For many, toenails can be pesky. Some people are prone to ingrown toenails. No matter how carefully they trim and file their nails, they become ingrown. If this fits you, please talk to your doctor or podiatrist about toenail removal. The procedure is short and done on an outpatient basis. I have never met someone who had one or more toenails removed and was sorry they had done so.
     The photo shows a healed nail bed four weeks after toenail removal. The photo is credited to Lisa Bliss, an MD who documented a series of photos when she had a problematic ingrown toenail removed.