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Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Painful Ingrowns? You Don't Have to be Stuck at Home

Dr. Belinda Dotter, myself and one of the medical assistants

Within 5 minutes of running on the treadmill I felt a sudden sharp, stabbing pain in my toe. From past experience, I knew exactly what it was- an ingrown toenail. It was too painful to continue my workout so I headed home.

An ingrown toenail doesn't sound like much, but these can cause a lot of pain if left untreated and can affect simple tasks in your everyday life.  If yours are anything like mine, then even the smallest touch will make you cringe. An ingrown toenail is a common condition in which the corner or side of one of your toenails (usually the big toe) grows into the soft flesh of that toe. The result is pain, redness, swelling, and sometimes, an infection.

The old me would have taken matters into my own hand and tried to remove the ingrown toenail myself. You would think from past experience I would know this is a big no-no but that never stopped me before. I always made it 10x worse trying to remove the corner of the nail myself. The new me works for a podiatrist, so at this point I know better.

The following day I decided to schedule an appointment with Community Foot Specialists. I wanted to get back into a regular exercise routine, I wanted to take my children to the park, I wanted to do regular every day activities without the almost unbearable pain from the ingrown toenail.

At Community Foot Specialists, we try to get our patients in as quickly as possible so I was relieved that I was able to be seen for an evaluation the next day by Dr. Dotter at our Main Street location in Dayton, Ohio.

Based upon the doctor’s professional opinion, I was able to be seen the following day for the procedure. And I was a nervous wreck. I’m not sure why... it’s not like I didn't know what was going to happen. But the thought of my toe being numbed and my nail being clipped out had me ready to cancel my appointment.

Once I had arrived at my destination the medical assistant got me right back to a room. Within minutes, the doctor came in and talked to me about what was going to happen. She then numbed my toe. She was very gentle and to be completely honest I couldn't really feel it. I waited for my entire toe to numb before she came back to remove the nail. It only took a couple of minutes and she only took out the corner. As a woman, I was worried that the doctor would take off more toenail than necessary. I mean, it IS Summer and I love my flip flops!

Relief! That’s all I could think. I couldn't believe how easy and quick the procedure was.


If you are dealing with an ingrown toenail, or what you think may be an ingrown toe nail, I highly recommend coming in to see the doctors at Community Foot Specialists. And I’m not just saying that because I work here. At Community Foot Specialists our doctor’s mission is to provide patient centered, high-quality foot and ankle care, delivered by knowledgeable, compassionate podiatrists and a professional, caring staff… and I experienced exactly that.

Community Foot Specialists - Podiatrists/Foot & Ankle Surgeons Serving Dayton and Springfield, Ohio Call today to schedule your appointment! (937) 426-9500

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