Toe

I saw a podiatrist last Thursday because of an ingrown toenail. I've never had one in my life and I didn't even know what it was until I saw a doctor a few weeks ago. It was getting more and more painful and wasn't healing.

He cut away both sides of the toenail with surgical scissors and bandaged it up, and after some minor initial pain when the anaesthetic wore off, it feels much better now. My pain tolerance is much better now than it was a year ago. It was odd not feeling anything while he sheared away the nail, and seeing the blood when he was done (although there was very little blood). It also felt odd not feeling my big toe when I walked out and for another hour before the anaesthetic wore off.

When I was in the hospital last summer, my feet swelled a lot due the lack of circulation from lying in the hospital bed for so long. It got so bad that I couldn't even put my shoes on. They gave me anti-embolism TED stockings that compress the foot and leg to prevent swelling. The compression is supposedly what caused the ingrown toenail.

I'm glad I had a podiatrist do it, because the doctor I initially saw wanted to remove the entire toenail. That might cause complications, as it could dig into my skin as it grows back and, along with the discomfort, would require repeat visits back to the doctor to fix.