Partial nail avulsions are our most popular and effective solution to ingrown toenails – permanently. If you’re thinking about having this procedure and have heard that it involves removing a small part of the problematic edge of your toenail, you may wonder what your nail may end up looking like after it has healed.
The simple answer is that, in our clinic at least, your nail won’t look very different from its pre-surgery state. Our experienced podiatrists are careful to only remove the smallest area of nail we need to, to get the ingrown portion of the nail out confidently, while allowing us to get down to the nail-growing cells at the base of your toenail to prevent them regrowing in the future – so the problem nail edge no longer continues to give you trouble.
The result is a very straight nail edge that doesn’t curve downwards into the toe. Our patients often describe this as being unnoticeable until they point it out to someone, with which the response is “oh yeah I see what you mean”.
With this said, overall the results do vary from person to person, as everyone has natural differences in the shape of their toenail, the size and features of their toes, differences in the amount of skin surrounding their toenails, and more. More than this, some people only have minor ingrown toenails when they have the procedure, while others have severely swollen ingrown toenails, on both sides of the toenail, that have been bleeding for weeks and they’ve had to take antibiotics for the infection. All these features, particularly where there has been new excess tissue growth, can also affect the outcome and appearance of the toe once it has healed. This is something that we’re always happy to discuss with you at your first appointment when we can have a look at your toe, and help you answer any more questions you may have.
To help you get a better idea of what you can expect, here are some examples of nails after their procedure, both from our clinic and from others.
Before & three months after images of one side of the toenail being treated
Two sides of the toenail having the procedure:
Before, two weeks after, and six months after the procedure
Before, two weeks after, and six months after the procedure
One side of the toenail, after surgery
Surgery on the left side of the toenail only
Want to know more about ingrown toenails or the nail correction procedure?
You’ve come to the right place! We’ve shared all about ingrown toenails and why they develop here. To learn more about our three treatment options for ingrown toenails, clinic on the links below:
For our commonly asked questions around ingrown toenails, please visit our FAQ page or our blog.
Ready to finally get rid of your ingrown toenail with Auckland’s experts?
Ingrown toenails are our speciality, and we’re the only clinic in Auckland to have a section of our practice completely dedicated to permanently resolving ingrown toenails. Book your appointment online here or call us on 09 523 2333
