Forget Curanail - go see a podiatrist! (not for the squeamish!)

Hezzawithkids

For years I've had a rotten toenail - discoloured, too thick to trim, so unsightly that over the last few summers I've resorted to wearing a false nail on it then painting over it. Also spent a small fortune over the years on Curanail & the like, no result. Some time back I showed it to my GP and as a result sent off some clippings to check for a fungal infection - twice. Both times the result came back negative.

This summer it started to get quite painful, so back I went to the GP to check for ingrowing. She referred my to a podiatrist, and my appointment with this afternoon. I had to go as a private patient costing £36 for half an hour but OMG - I'm cured!!! :j He removed most of the offending nail, completely painlessly, revealing a sliver of new nail growth. He then tidied up the rest of my toenails on both feet, clipping, buffing and shaping them like the best pedicurist. I handed over the cheque with a huge smile on my face and walked out of there as if I was floating on air! My nails grow very quickly so hopefully by next summer I will have a fully-grown, brand new nail to show off instead of hiding it away.

Wish I done this years ago!!

asparagus1968

happy ending, lovely

vixarooni

Ohh. I've had a fungal nail for over 10 years. My own stupidity in just wacking nail polish over it so i don't think about it. I have a nail, but only 1/4 of it is attached to my skin so the rest of it just floats about looking ugly.

How does your nail look now? I'm tempted by the fact it can be possibly removed but unsure about the time of re growth!

Hezzawithkids

vixarooni wrote: »

Ohh. I've had a fungal nail for over 10 years. My own stupidity in just wacking nail polish over it so i don't think about it. I have a nail, but only 1/4 of it is attached to my skin so the rest of it just floats about looking ugly.

How does your nail look now? I'm tempted by the fact it can be possibly removed but unsure about the time of re growth!

There's just a small sliver of healthy nail there now, underneath the skin in bruised where I've obviously whacked it recently (do that so often I don't pay any attention any more) which will heal. My nails grow very quickly so It'll be hidden all winter then I'm hoping that by next summer it will be more or less fully grown again.

One thing I was advised to do is keep the exposed skin soft, i.e. bathing it daily and scrubbing any hard skin away. This will allow the new nail to adhere to the skin as it grows rather than just sit on top of hard skin.

Honestly, go get the nail removed. It's completely painless and it will give you the best chance of the nail healing. You can only get podiatrist treatment on the NHS if you have a chronic condition, i.e. diabetes or you are in acute pain with it. But for £36 it was worth every penny!

Toothsmith

In a similar way to teeth and stuff around the mouth doctors are pretty rubbish on feet! Unfortunately, they always seem keen to 'have a bash' rather than tell people to go to the right place to get it sorted properly!

I would always go to a podiatrist/chiropodist with foot problems, and also, an optician would always be my first call if I had an eye problem.

wondercollie

My oldest son was told he'd never get into the military or police by an optician. He was devastated. He went to an opthamologist was re-examined and found out he was fit. Currently a Combat Engineer waiting to get into the RCMP.

I don't really trust opticians that much because round my way they are more interested in selling specks and bounce everything they can't figure out to the opthamology department at the hospital

pmduk

Toothsmith wrote: »

In a similar way to teeth and stuff around the mouth doctors are pretty rubbish on feet! Unfortunately, they always seem keen to 'have a bash' rather than tell people to go to the right place to get it sorted properly!

My GP has always happily admitted he's no expert on anything to do with eyes.