If completely removed, fingernails may take 6 months to grow back. Toenails may take 12 to 18 months to grow back. Injured nails may look different when they grow back.
Permanent Toenail Removal
In this procedure, your podiatrist destroys the nail matrix to prevent a new toenail from growing. The matrix is the part of the nail bed that produces keratin to make nails. This may be necessary in cases of severe, long-lasting infection or the development of scar tissue on the nail bed.
Keep the nail bed dry, clean, and covered with petroleum jelly and an adhesive bandage until the nail bed is firm or the nail has grown back. Apply a new adhesive bandage whenever the bandage gets wet. Watch for signs of infection such as increasing heat, redness, pain, tenderness, swelling, or pus.
Keep your wound covered both day and night for the first week. You can let your toe remain uncovered at night in the second week. This helps the wound heal.
Moderate redness around the nail surgery site and yellow or clear drainage are normal. This will usually decrease each day. If it doesn't seem to get better after 4-5 days, but the redness expands to other parts of the toe, swelling occurs, and drainage continues, you may have an infection.
“Toenails are like our appendix,” Krebsbach says. “They do serve a purpose, but we can live without them.”
Yes. The resin can be used to create a 'replacement nail'.
Whether it is caused by a fungal toenail infection or a traumatic injury to the toe, it is common for a toenail to detach and fall off. This condition can be painful and cause an unsightly appearance to your toe.
You should avoid running, jumping, or strenuous activity for 2 weeks after the surgery. Teenagers should not participate in physical education activities for 1 to 2 weeks after the procedure. Infection may develop in the toe during the first few weeks after the surgery.
Everyone is different but on average it takes four to six weeks to heal if part of the nail is removed and 10 to 12 weeks if the whole nail is removed. During this time, you will be able to walk and carry on your life as normal, although you should avoid swimming and sporting activities that may injure the toe.
It is important to dry the toe after soaking and to use sterile gauze for dressing until the wound is healed. The sutures will be removed after seven to ten days. This depends on the speed of wound healing. Shoes should not be used for the first seven to ten days after ingrown toenail surgery.
It may be hard to imagine anything remedying the situation. Outright removing your toenails, however, is the absolute last resort option for treating toenail fungus, and only performed in very rare cases.
Following a complete or partial permanent toenail removal, you are to continue soaking the foot until all drainage has stopped. This may take one to two weeks. Soak twice a day for the first week, then if needed, once daily during the second week.
We advise the use of open-toe shoes for a week after the procedure.
Once the toe is numb, you will not experience any pain while the nail is removed. After the procedure, when the anaesthetic wears off, the toe will be cushioned in a protective dressing. It may feel a little tender but should not be painful at all. You just need to take care not to knock it against something!
The Epsom salt soak eases discomfort and draws pus out from the area around the toenail. It can also loosen the skin, so it can be pulled away from your ingrown toenail. When your ingrown toenail is most acute, soak several times per day.
The nail bed is moist, soft, and sensitive. It needs to be protected from injury for the first 7 to 10 days until it dries out and becomes hard. Keep it covered with a nonstick dressing or a bandage with ointment.
Onycholysis is when your nail separates from its nail bed. It often appears after an injury to your nail, but it may have other causes, including fungi. Treatment may only involve cutting away the separated nail as it grows out, or you may need to take antifungal medications or stop using certain nail products.
Toenail reconstruction is a procedure that aims to rebuild a damaged nail. Damage can occur as a result of trauma, fungal infection, or other medical problems, you could also have toenail reconstruction after having nail surgery. Layers of a special resin are applied to the cleared toenail area.
Can You Apply Acrylic Toenails If Your Nail Is Completely Gone? Unfortunately, no. You need some natural nail for the acrylic to adhere to. If you have a partial toenail you can apply a nail tip to your remaining natural nail and then apply acrylic to that.