Merrida

I've had this for years, - a growth beneath the nail, on the very tip of a toe. When I was a youth I was embarassed by it, just knew it was abnormal but would pitch a fit if my mother tried to bring me to the doctors about it.

When I was in my twenties it became painful, not just an embarassing oddity, so I saw two dermatologists who convinced me it was a single wart growing under the nail bed and manifesting itself as a lump which made the toe appear longer, or appeared as if I was growing one pointy nail on that toe. If I attempted to trim it back it was incredibly painful.

So one brave, adventurous day I decided to let the 2nd derm treat me and remove it. (Now that I'm all grown up I totally can't believe how I behaved about this). Well as he prepped me he stopped, stood back and said he felt it was a bone spur, not a wart, and that if he tried to remove it, it would be the same as cutting bone.

This freaked me out at that time (hey, in your 20s this stuff does that) and I ignored it until in my late 20's I broke my foot. An XRay confirmed it, I had this freaky bone spur - like an extra digit, literally growing OUT of the skin beneath the nail, and skin grew around it.

In my surgery, the doctor "clipped" it very crudely while he was in there chopping, sawing, and drilling -- sort of as a courtesy perk.

Well, now it's been 15-20 years and this sucker is really hurting. When he clipped it, he should've probably clipped it shorter, but now it gives me what feels like nerve pain. It's very sharp and zingy, affects what shoes I wear, and I have to make sure that I keep that nail as short as possible. But even trimming it hurts, and the fresh cut causes tenderness too.

Is this really a totally bizarro thing, or has anyone else ever had anything like this occur?