Deformed nails after surgery - Nail Problems Message Board

peter77 · 02-08-2008, 04:56 AM

Hello! I have this problem for about 8 years. I never did anything for this because I thought there was no painless cure.I had suffered a lot of pain in nail removal surgery due to ingrown toenail and I was afraid to do anything else after that. I had 2 operations on my right foot and one on my left. Anyway after the removal of the nails, when the new nails grew they were ugly and deformed. My right foot's toenail is really thick and yellow or green. My left foot's nail is even worse. I don't think there's a cure for it. It is thick and yellow but the shape of it is also affected. It grows spiral, this is the best way to describe it. I feel embarrassed to expose it, so i rarely go swimming or remove my socks in front of other people etc. Is it a fungus problem, or this is the side effect of the surgery? Is there anything I can do in such a case?

Marti · 02-08-2008, 06:13 AM

You could have two things going on here. Whenever a nail is removed, if the doctor does anything to the matrix (where the nail plate cells are developed), it can cause th enail plate to grow in 'damaged'. The thickness and discoloration could very well be from a fungal infection, but the green discoloration sounds more like a Pseudomonas bacterial infection. You really need to go back to the doctor for a proper diagnosis.

peter77 · 02-08-2008, 07:00 PM

Ok, so it's possible to heal my nails. If not both just the right one that has no shape deformation. It's thick and discolored. I had bought some liquid medicine from a pharmacy that I applied with a tiny brush on my nails but I can't recall its name. It didn't seem to work.

Marti · 02-10-2008, 12:21 PM

If it is thick and discolored yellow and has apparent debris in the area of separation, then it is fungal. Try using one of the OTC drugs for fungus nail infection.

djnnichols1 · 02-19-2008, 04:53 PM

I had ingrown toe nails fixed (big toes) about 10 years ago. My left big toe has a weird shape to it (concave). I've checked with several doctors and since the nail itself looks healthy (except the shape), they say there is nothing wrong. They said that sometimes this happens after this type of procedure. I don't wear open toed shoes anymore since I don't want people to look at my toe.