MY TOE

	I had an infected ingrown toe nail which kept me off work for all of August 1998 and I was also off work between November and January. Initially the Doctor removed the nail but it went wrong once it grew back, eventually they had to remove the nail so it never grows back. Don't ponder here too long if you don't want to see the pictures, but hey I had to live with it ! You can see the red inflamed protrusion that stops me wearing shoes.
The thing goes through stages, first it gets inflamed, then sore, then it seeps green or yellow stuff, then it goes all crunchy and then we are back to inflamed
Now its gone all crunchy in the corner, time for some quality picking I think !
	12-1-99 This is a few hours after my 10.00am operation to remove the infected nail. There is not a lot of pain however I took it easy and did not move around a lot.
16-1-99 I saw the nail without the dressing and I was very shocked to find that the surgeon had only removed the corner of the nail and not the complete thing. I was under the impression that they was going to remove the whole nail and the nail bed to prevent the it from re-growing. Well it is mixed emotions because I did not want to loose my nail completely but I also do not want a reoccurrence. I have to see the doctor tomorrow so perhaps he can explain...
18-1-99 It looks like the surgeon decided there and then not to remove the entire nail, so no wonder there was not a lot of pain. I just hope it grows back properly, I would hate to go through all this again.
	20-1-99 Here it is at last, the first look at my to after the operation. The nurse recommended that I remove the dressing and bath it, but I wanted to get this photo first. There is still some discharge but I guess this will disappear when it scabs over.
	It is still very tender at this point so I still can't really put my shoes on yet but I don't think it will be too long before I am back to normal.
I mentioned again to the doctor that I was curious as to why the surgeon had not removed the entire nail and if the part removed would grow back again. He suggested the surgeon may have used a chemical to burn away the bed of the nail so it would not grow back again. I do remember them applying something for about a minute at the end of the procedure so perhaps the nail will not grow back. Click here for more information about the operation and latest pictures