What is ingrown toenails?
Ingrown toenails, especially toenails, may occur due to congenital incompatibility between the nail bed and the nail. Inappropriate shoe selection and wrong nail cuts can make this problem even more obvious. An ingrown nail can sometimes be single or double-sided in the same nail.
General Precautions
Those with a tendency to ingrown nails should keep their nails as long as possible and cut straight. When choosing shoes, it will be more appropriate to choose blunt-toed shoes that do not squeeze the foot.
Common mistakes made in treatment
Unfortunately, in our country, our people commonly apply to hairdressers in the treatment of ingrown nails. However, these applications, which are done unconsciously by people who are not doctors, lead to both incomplete healing of the nail problem and inflammation. Let’s not forget that such procedures that are not performed in competent hands may result in permanent nail disorders.
The most common wrong treatment approach for ingrown nails is to remove the nail completely. In some cases, complete removal of the nail may be inevitable, but this treatment will only provide relief during this time, as the removed toenail will regrow in approximately eight months. However, when the nail grows back, the ingrown nail will inevitably recur as the problem that caused the ingrown remains.
What is matrix cauterization with phenol?
In the treatment of nail disorders and ingrown nails, in the treatment of nail disorders and ingrown nails in patients with recurrent ingrown nails despite following the general precautions, it is the process of removing the nail completely or partially removing the nail matrix (the layer that gives rise to the nail) with phenol. In the phenolization treatment, only the ingrown part of the nail is removed by cutting, and the layer (matrix) that gives birth to the nail is destroyed so that the nail does not grow again.
How is matrix cauterization with phenol performed?
For this procedure, it is sufficient to allocate a period of half an hour to the patient in the outpatient clinic conditions. After the medical cleaning of the area is ensured, first regional anesthesia is performed. Then, after removing the meaty parts of the nail, the layer that gave birth to the nail in the ingrown part is destroyed with 88.8% pheno using a cotton-tipped stick. After the procedure, oral antibiotics are used and a dressing is applied every two days for about a week.
As a result, it is very rare for ingrown nails to recur with this method. However, rarely, pain, bleeding, infection and allergic reactions due to the applied anesthetic may occur in the treated area.
