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Toenail removal aftercare or soaking for ingrown toenails

Posted by Book2075 @book2075, Jul 4, 2017

I wanted to post this information for people dealing with Toenail pain or recovering from Toenail removal surgery.
Supplies:
1 inch or 2inch small gauze rolls
Iodine Solution or Peroxide
Pain-free wrap tape (First Aid Tape)
White paper tape ( First Aid Tape)
Foot Bucket
Epsom Salt ( Foot care aisle)

Soak the foot in a bath of warm water and Epsom Salt for 15 minutes twice a day for three to five days. It helps to soak the foot three times a day if the toenail bed dries out and cause you given greater pain. If it really hurts, quickly dunk the foot in the water three times for the first three days.

Place a cap full of Iodine of Peroxide on the wound rinse the germs off the wound.
Wrap gauze around the toe a couple of times.
Tape with white paper tape.
Wrap with pain-free wrap tape to keep gauze in place.
Cover wrap tape with paper tape to keep the bandage in place.
Wear extra large sock or spa sock to keep foot warm.

The pain will be a 6 or 7 on the pain scale for about a week. The first 72 hours is the worst. My podiatrist says it takes a month for the toenail bed to heal and form a protective layer of thin skin.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Chronic Pain Support Group.

barb37army | @barb37army | Jan 15, 2019

That was pretty good advice. Thank you.

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mwilffert | @mwilffert | Feb 2, 2019

I had my toenail removed due to fungus. Dr said remove and replace gauze after 2 days. I removed all that was easy and then soaked my foot for 4 hours to remove stuck on piece. Didn't work. Then i tried saline water. Also did not work. What can I do. This is way to painful to try and pull off.

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lioness | @lioness | Feb 2, 2019

MwilffertI had my toenail removed from toebed . Leave it alone as to soak it more it will come off may take longer .just rewrap it with a sterile nonstick gauze then soak again later

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1 reply
mwilffert | @mwilffert | Feb 2, 2019
In reply to @lioness "MwilffertI had my toenail removed from toebed . Leave it alone as to soak it more..." + (show)
@lioness

MwilffertI had my toenail removed from toebed . Leave it alone as to soak it more it will come off may take longer .just rewrap it with a sterile nonstick gauze then soak again later

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Thank u, i was finally able.to speak to my Dr office and they said the same thing. Patience.

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linda68 | @linda68 | Jan 27, 2020
In reply to @dlm5148 "I recently had both of my big toe nails removed. I had chemo back in 2012..." + (show)
@dlm5148

I recently had both of my big toe nails removed. I had chemo back in 2012 ( I am 67 yrs. old today) and had lost all of my fingernails and toenails. They all grew back healthy and normal with exception of the two big toenails. They grew back thick, at an odd angle and were horribly painful. My logic is that as a child I dropped a heavy metal dresser drawer on the left toe and then in my 30s I dropped some canned goods and they landed on my right toe. I am thinking the trauma of those events may of caused some damage unlike my fingers and other toe nails. Just a thought. Regardless they became very painful, so thick that a Dremel drill was needed to trim them and they looked like I had a snail shell on my toe. I have neuropathy in my feet due to the chemo also so it was a constant discomfort. I am very happy having them removed and could almost immediately feel relief. I had one done and two weeks later had the other one removed. They are healing nicely and of course have had some tender moments but not really painful. It has been a month today for the first one and both are on track for a healthy healing. The after care was soaking twice a day with Epsom salt or Dial liquid soap and warm water for 20 minutes. Then bandage with Neosporin for two full weeks. After that the soaking stopped and I was to apply Betadine and leave them uncovered as much as possible unless I had a shoe on and then was told to wear a band aid for protection. That has worked well. I go back in four weeks and I am assuming I will have no further daily treatments at that time. I can assure you I am being careful to not drop anything on them at this point. To answer your question about walking with out the nails, I walked completely normal from day one but found it was a relief to do the soaking treatments. Having the toes bandaged, plus wearing socks and shoes was bit of a crowded feeling. It is a relief to take the socks and shoes off and wear a slipper while being at home.

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Thank you for this info. I had my big toe nail on right foot removed. Doctor felt it best as damage to nail and nail bed was bad. I can’t tell you how many times I dropped full shampoo bottles on my toes. Anyway someone suggested using Vaseline instead of neosporin. I had this removed Jan 21st and decided to try the Vaseline Jan 26th. I woke up about 100 am in excruciating pain. I got up took off the bandage and wiped off what was left of the Vaseline And put neosporin on it and a new bandage. Still hurt but not as bad. Ended up taking Motrin to finally get some sleep before work. I didn’t soak it sat or sun so not sure if the issue was the Vaseline or the bandage too snug or not soaking. I was wondering how long I need to soak this and do I want to keep it wet like with neosporin or let it dry. When at home I remove sock and banadage and let it out in the air.

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lioness | @lioness | Jan 27, 2020

@linda68 I had my big toe nail removed Dr told me to soak in Epsom salts in warm water till water got cold dry it off use Neosporin and bandage till bleeding stopped after it looks like it's healing leave to air but when bandaged use Neosporin

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birdartist | @birdartist | Dec 14, 2020
In reply to @JustinMcClanahan "@book2075, thank you for sharing information about tonenail removal aftercare. I don't think I have come..." + (show)
@JustinMcClanahan

@book2075, thank you for sharing information about tonenail removal aftercare. I don't think I have come across this sort of information on Connect in my team, it is interesting.

If you don't mind me making an assumption, have you gone through toenail removal surgery? If so, what was the root cause of needing the surgery? I imagine that walking without a toenail could be rather painful, how did you manage with that part of the aftercare?

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i had my big toe nail removed last week. i had snapped the whole nail off when my bare foot hit the ground riding a motorbike, many years before. (yes, i knew should have been wearing good shoes!) it grew back and got thicker and thicker and higher till few shoes were comfortable, and it was very ugly. finally got it removed. when numbing agent wore off a little while after i left the dr.'s office, it was no more than "sore" -- while walking...it had been usually sore when walking anyway, for months before. never considered taking any pain pill. the next day when i removed the big fat gauze and bandage, soaked it, and put on a thin bandaid, there was no pain at all. i'm guessing the fat bandaging was applying some pressure. it looks almost normal; just a toe with a ghose impression of a nail. i'll paint a toenail on next summer! feels just fine. this is now 4 days after the removal. and no, it is LESS painful to walk with no nail on your toe!

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Erika | @erikas | Dec 15, 2020

@birdartist Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect, a place to give and get support.

You had a successful surgery. May I ask how long your estimated recovery time is?

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shellmats | @shellmats | Mar 24, 2022

I had my toenail removed yesterday. The numbing shot hurt somethin awful! Tried to soak my foot and take the bandage off today but it was stuck after soaking for 30 minutes. So I decided to put a ton of Neosporin on it and soak it. Then the bandage came off with just a tiny bit of pain where the bandage was stuck on my cuticle. I know I should’ve washed it but I was so exhausted from the pain and anxiety so I just put more neosporin and a bandage on. Hopefully tomorrow it won’t be so sore and I can wash it. The only time it doesn’t hurt is if I am in bed with my foot elevated. Walking really hurts still.

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berard10 | @berard10 | Mar 24, 2022

I had my toenail removed due to fungus and I was told to pour peroxide over it. Well let me tell you that was the worst pain ever and I have an extreme high tolerance. Three times of that and I was done I cannot tell you the profanity that came out was not pretty to say the least. I called my Dr and asked if I could you betadine instead and he said yes well what a relief (soothing) not painful like peroxideTake it from me if your Dr says use peroxide opt for betadine or another antiseptic

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