Mum has 'deepest ingrown toenail doctors had seen' removed after pedicure
Mum-of-two Tiana Howden experienced excruciating pain following a pedicure.
The 39-year-old from California, US, was left in agony and unable to walk, wear shoes or even put a blanket over her feet after the routine spa appointment.
A mysterious black spot had appeared on her foot. When she went to a doctor, they discovered that the root of it was an ingrown toenail, ‘the deepest’ they had ever seen.
We’ll warn you now, the image below is quite graphic.
The shocked mum, who had never had an ingrown nail before, shared the gruesome pictures of her toe to help others spot the signs.
Tiana had to have a painful treatment to remove the nail earlier this month.
She said: ‘When I first saw the doctor put the ingrown on the medical tray I just stared at it.
‘It boggled my mind how all that was hiding underneath my skin and I couldn’t believe it hadn’t hurt earlier.’
Ingrown toenails occur when the nail curves and grows into the flesh.
Doctors were surprised that Tiana hadn’t felt the effects of the nail until she had a pedicure.
‘After I’d had my nails done, my toe started to feel tender and I really believed the technician may have accidentally stabbed my toe because a black dot appeared and it felt sore,’ Tiana said.
‘But by the following Friday I could feel my heartbeat in my toe, I couldn’t wear anything but flip flops.
‘That evening I couldn’t sleep because the weight of the duvet on my foot was so painful.’
When the pain worsened, Tiana finally saw a GP.
Doctors had to numb her foot before cutting away the skin at the side of her cuticle to trim the excess growth from the main nail and pull it away from the bed with pliers.
‘When I went home I looked online and I couldn’t find anything that looked like mine or was as deep as mine had grown,’ added Tiana.
Tiana was given a course of antibiotics to help fight infection and advised to rest her foot while keeping a close eye on her nails in future to make sure they don’t start growing into her skin again.
She added: ‘The next day it felt like my toe was on fire but since then my recovery has been pretty good.
‘It’s still a little sore but I’m walking normal again and I’m just happy it’s gone!’
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