Ingrown Toenail Removal

When the edge of your big toenail digs into the skin, every step hurts, your safety boot becomes a punishment and the toe turns red, swollen and sometimes full of pus. At Clínica Hispana Nueva Salud La Porte we treat ingrown toenails under local anesthesia in a single visit, with no appointment and in Spanish or English, so you walk out with relief.

Why toenails become ingrown

• Cutting the nail too short or rounding the corners
• Narrow shoes or steel-toe boots that squeeze the toes all shift long
• Repeated impact, such as in soccer or from kicking
• Constant sweat and moisture inside footwear
• Naturally curved or thick nails, from heredity or fungus
• Diabetes or poor circulation, which also make infection set in faster

What we do depending on the stage

Early (pain and mild redness, no pus): we lift the nail edge, place a small spacer and teach you warm salt soaks and how to trim the nail. Often that is enough.

Infection or severe pain: we perform a partial matricectomy: with local anesthesia at the base of the toe, we remove only the side strip of nail that is digging in (2 to 3 millimeters), not the whole nail. If the problem has recurred, we apply a chemical (phenol) to the root of that strip so it does not grow back on that side. The procedure takes 15 to 20 minutes, and the nail keeps an almost normal appearance.

Abscess or heavy pus: we drain the infection, remove the nail portion and, if there is surrounding cellulitis or you have diabetes, prescribe an antibiotic from our pharmacy.

After the procedure

You can walk out of the clinic; bring a sandal or open shoe because the toe will be bandaged. The anesthesia lasts about 2 hours and afterward the pain is controlled with acetaminophen or ibuprofen. The next day, start warm salt-water soaks for 10 minutes twice a day and change the dressing. You can return to most jobs in 1 or 2 days; if you wear safety boots, it is better to wait 3 to 5 days or use a protector. The area heals in 2 to 3 weeks. We check you in a week to confirm everything is going well.

Keeping it from coming back

Cut the nail straight across, without rounding the corners, and not too short. Wear footwear with room for your toes and socks that absorb sweat; change them if they get wet. If you are diabetic, check your feet every day and come at the first sign of redness. If your nails are thick or yellow from fungus, treat the fungus, because it deforms the nail and encourages ingrowth.

When not to wait

If you have diabetes, poor circulation, or the toe is very swollen, with pus or red streaks running up the foot, come the same day. In these cases an ingrown toenail can turn into a serious infection.

Ingrown toenail treatment in La Porte, no appointment needed

Our medical center is at 9606 Spencer Hwy Ste D, La Porte, TX 77571, on Spencer Hwy, open Monday to Saturday from 9 AM to 9 PM and Sunday from 9 AM to 7 PM, so you can come after your shift. No health insurance needed; the procedure has a flat price we tell you beforehand. We serve workers and families from La Porte, Deer Park, Pasadena, Shoreacres, Morgan's Point and the greater Houston area.