DIY: Ingrowing toe nail

This is just as it sounds, DIY.

I've just cut out about a 5mm width of nail right down my big toe!

When I was a child I had the most horrendous ingrowing toenail, it went on for months. And eventually my mother dragged me down to the doctors', an elderly village doctor to be precise. "Now this is going to hurt," he said. And bloody hurt did it! He took a special tool which was like a length of metal with a V blade at the end. He grabbed hold of my foot and shoved this blade right the way down the side of my nail. It throbbed as I left the surgery. Each time my heart beated I could feel it in my foot.

Now upto the present day...

A few years back I bought one of these cheap £2.99 manicure sets from the garage that you get when you buy £10 worth of petrol. And what was in it? An implement with a V shaped blade at the end.

Wearing heels and alike, well, you simply can't do it if you have anything wrong with your feet. And as the heels have become more daring, so has my pain threshold of my big toes. It's not so much that there was anything wrong just that things could have been alot better.

A few months back my right big toe was starting to hurt in it's 3-monthly cycle. Normally I'd just trim it and that'd be all! But with my new found implements of torture I thought I'd try something. I sat myself down on the bathroom floor with a towel. Oh, and some pliers out of the toolbox, and some tweezers, and some snips. It's best to be prepared.

Here's what you do....

a. Get prepared, get everything you could possibly need in one place.
b. Take two pain killers
c. Make a cup of tea
d. With your foot on the edge of a box...
e. Very slowly push the V blade down the side of your nail starting at the top
f. Just keep on going (it hurts!!)
g. And keep on going (very very VERY slowly)
h. Twist the implement to push the nail up
i. Pull the nail off/out with the pliers
j. If there's anything left, keep on going again

I simply can't emphasize how much this hurts, but with the experience as a child and the benefits, it's just so much worth it. You'll barely find anyone who is prepared to do it for you in the current day, for fear of inflicting the slightest pinprick of pain.

My right toe I did about a month ago and it's just brilliant. The toe took about 3-4 days to heal up, ending up much neater and better shaped. My left toe which I've just done is throbbing right now but it'll be worth it.

6" heels here I come!!

Seriously though. This is how the old doctors used to do it, quick and straight to the point. Just keep on telling yourself the benefits afterwards.

Just thought I'd share that with you.. I was going to do a video.