LEAH CLAYDON

Ingrown Toenail Surgery

Hi my name is Leah.

As a highly experienced Podiatrist, I take immense pride in helping my patients find relief from painful foot conditions, particularly ingrown toenails. Fixing ingrown toenails is not only one of the most rewarding aspects of my profession but also one of my specialties—aside from meeting the wonderful individuals attached to those toes, of course!

With over 33 years of experience in podiatry, I have performed hundreds of toenail surgeries, each one with precision and care. My expertise was honed further during my 11-year tenure working with the Army, where I developed advanced skills and a passion for delivering top-quality foot care.

At my state-of-the-art clinic in Buntingford, Hertfordshire, I specialize in a range of advanced treatments for foot health. From expert ingrown toenail surgery to Class 4 ASA laser therapy, I offer cutting-edge solutions tailored to alleviate foot pain, treat infections, and manage chronic conditions. My clinic is fully equipped with the latest technology to ensure you receive the highest standard of care in a comfortable and welcoming environment.

If you’re struggling with the discomfort of an ingrown toenail, you don’t have to suffer in silence. My meticulous techniques ensure a virtually pain-free procedure with long-lasting results, helping you get back on your feet in no time. For those seeking faster recovery or relief from persistent foot pain, our innovative Class 4 ASA laser therapy promotes accelerated healing and provides effective pain management for a variety of foot conditions.

At my clinic, every patient receives personalized, professional care with a focus on comfort and positive outcomes. Conveniently located in Buntingford, I am proud to serve clients from across Hertfordshire and beyond. Whether you need relief from an ingrown toenail or are exploring advanced laser treatments for foot health, I am here to help you walk comfortably and confidently again.

Aesthetic result is important

I aim to preserve as much nail as possible to achieve a great aesthetic result. We don’t want a runway strip and I don’t like removing the whole nail if it can be avoided. If you have a bit left then it’s something we can work with in the future if you need a prosthetic nail. I have completed dozens of nail surgery audits and consistently score 5 out of 5 for the experience, pain and result and as strange as it may seem most of my patients would agree that the procedure itself was a positive experience.

Who needs nail surgery?

Nail surgery becomes necessary for the following reasons:

a diseased/distorted/curved nail persisently irritates or breaches the side of the toe
repeated infections
constant pain
impossible to cut due to distorted nail plate
self care becomes impossible

How do we do nail surgery?

a thorough medical history and written consent is obtained
the toe is cleaned and then numbed with anaesthetic (if you don’t like needles we can supply a special cream to numb the skin before the injection)
our needles are hair thin and most of patients agree the injection is not too bad
we paint the toe with some antiseptic
we apply a toe tourniquet, elevate the nail and take the smallest piece of nail necessary to achieve our goal of stopping the nail growing in
we use an acid called phenol to kill the nail matrix (growing cells)
we then dilute the phenol, remove the tourniquet and dress the toe
WE DO NOT CUT ANY SKIN, THERE ARE NO STITCHES, NO SCARS
It takes about 9-11 minutes

Can a nail surgery be fun?

Well no-one likes an injection (unless you are a bit weird) but it really can be made pretty painless. We do everything properly with all correct sterile procedures but in spite of all that we can still take a relaxed approach. You can lie, you can sit, you can bring your favourite teddy, bring your best friend or mum, munch on a Mars Bar, you can film the whole thing for TikTok, I really don’t mind.

Nail surgery – is it expensive?

Although the procedure only takes a few minutes, the paperwork, the cup of tea, can take a bit of time. We allow for and hour and half in the diary in case of any glitches and there is a lot of sterile packs to open, home dressing kits and PPE so this adds to the cost. It costs £450 per toe. Many insurers cover this procedure.

Who can’t have Nail Surgery?

We need to talk if you are on blood thinning drugs such as Warfarin.
1st trimester of pregnancy? No, sorry, we’ll have to manage the situation another way.
Infection down to the base of the toe? We’ll get you on some antibiotics first.
Drove yourself to the clinic? Your insurance doesn’t cover you if you crash with a numb toe! Don’t drive!
Blood clotting disease like haemophilia. No, you will have to talk to your GP.
Do you have a serious phobia of needles or blood? Please discuss this with me.
A known allergy to any of the medications anaethetics we use.

Can anything go wrong?

During the procedure itself not much can go wrong, a few toes, but not many, bleed a little bit after the procedure, most are almost bloodless procedures. In 33 years I have had 2 people faint, 1 person be sick on me! It is not uncommon for people to feel a bit light headed when they have a needle. Statisically around 3% of nail surgeries (not mine) might experience some regrowth. Mine are less than 1%. For the first year, due to the tourniquet and elevation of the sides of the nail, the nail will look a bit different from the final aesthetic result. It might be a bit yellow at the sides, the part where the nail used to be might have some flakey dead skin at the side, you might get a horizontal line that will grow out with time. Post operative infections are not impossible, feet are smelly things that live in shoes and so infections are a fact of life, don’t worry, we can deal with that. Rare complications are: periostitis (inflammation of the toe bone covering), hypergranulation (over healing), delayed healing (taking longer than anticipated to heal), acid burn (when the phenol has spilled out the side of the nail), permanent numb patch (damage by the needle or tourniquet) – I want to reassure you, these are rare.