Earlier this month, we met a new reconstruction client who had had several toenail surgeries to correct ingrown toenails.
The client suffered with severe ingrown toenails for years and so had both sides of her left big toenail removed (we call this a partial nail avulsion in the biz!) and the big toenail on her right foot removed completely (a total nail avulsion). In both instances, the person undertaking the surgery had applied a chemical, called phenol, with the intention of stopping the nail from growing back. As can sometimes happen, a small portion of the nail on her right toe regrew over time.
While the client was happy to be pain free, she wasn’t as happy with the look of her nails and attended clinic to discuss whether she might be suitable for a toenail reconstruction.
Before Reconstruction
While it can sometimes cause problems when nails regrow after surgery, in this client’s case it has never caused her any pain and actually made her a much better candidate for reconstruction.
It is possible to create a reconstruction where there is no remaining nail with Pedisafe, we tend to call this a “prosthesis”. When reconstructing a nail of this kind, the prosthesis is attached only to skin, which sheds every 5-7 days. As a result, the prosthesis only remains attached for a short period and must then be reattached using a type of skin glue.
As a rule of thumb, we look for around 10% of the natural nail to be present in order to create a Pedisafe reconstruction.
Reconstruction Complete
We were able to use Pedisafe products to create nails that looked reasonably natural in shape and colour, although in this instance the client was looking forward to finishing her reconstructions off with a gel polish.
Given the amount of nail remaining on the right, we were reasonably confident that the reconstruction would last past the duration that we’d expect for a “prosthesis”. As there was so little nail remaining, however, we did warn that there would likely be some lifting on the side where there was no natural nail which would mean that the client would need to be careful not to catch the nail on anything.
We always advise that reconstructions are removed within 8 weeks (we never infill) to ensure that we can check that there are no issues, or no worsening of already present issues, with the underlying nail.
Flip Flop Ready
The client chose to finish off her nails with a white gel polish with a iridescent sparkle over the top so that she was flip flop ready for a trip to the coast!
We’ll see her in 8 weeks after a lovely holiday!
Want to see more?
Why not check out more of our work over on our nail reconstruction page?
