The procedure
The podiatrist will give your local anaesthetic injections, usually on either side of the toe to numb the area before the surgery. Once the toe is numb, the podiatrist will either remove the ingrowing side of the nail or the whole nail. A chemical will then be applied to destroy the root of the nail to prevent it from growing back.
A dressing will be applied to the toe and you can go home immediately after the procedure. An appointment will be made for you to come back to the clinic to have the dressing changed. Our podiatrist will explain how you can change your dressing at home.
Consent
Prior to surgery you will be provided with an online consent form. Provide your podiatrist with a list of your current medication. In particular blood thinning medication such as Warfarin. Inform the podiatrist of any allergies you may have.
As with any surgical procedure and the use of local anaesthetic (LA), there are associated risks. With nail surgery, these risks are low; most frequently occurring risks are listed in more depth on the consent form.
How long does nail surgery take?
Nail surgery is usually a simple procedure, but is something that can take some time.
For this reason we recommend that patients leave up to 90 minutes for their nail surgery appointment.
Follow up review appointments are required to check the progress of healing and to change dressings. These are usually short appointments taking up to 15 minutes. As always please contact our reception team is you have any queries.
What should I wear and what should I bring?
Shorts or leggings are best to allow us to perform relevant assessments, and for us to be able to clearly see and analyse your feet.
As the toe will be dressed and bandaged after the procedure. We recommend that you bring slides or open toed shoes to the appointment to wear on the way home, so to not put any pressure on the toe.
Post-procedure arrangements
You should arrange to be picked up from your appointment by a carer. After a local anaesthetic your toe will be numb for 2-4 hours. It is not advisable to walk or take public transport. If under the age of 18, patient’s should be accompanied by their parent or legal guardian.
Nail surgery is an extended care service and has a variable fee schedule. The appointment costs for nail surgery depend on the complexity of the procedure.
The initial cost of this procedure includes removal of a single edge, phenol sterilisation of the affected nail matrix and two follow up appointments to check the status of the nail.
If edges on other affected toes are suggested by your Podiatrist to be removed, they can be done on the same day with an additional fee for each additional edge. It is quite common that the other edge on the same toe requires removal.
This procedure is claimable under Podiatry with your Private Health Insurer if you have appropriate cover. These procedures are also claimable through DVA or TAC where relevant.
The table below outlines our current fee schedule.
We are here to help.
Please feel free to contact the clinic on (03) 9889 1078 should you have any further queries or questions regarding your surgery.
(03) 9889 1078
Open 7 days