The Perils of Treating Loved Ones: My Wife's Ingrown Nail Surgery

Introduction

As a podiatrist, I've learned that treating family members can be a slippery slope. My wife's ingrown nail surgery reminded me why it's best to draw a professional boundary when it comes to loved ones. Let me share our story.

Unique Feet

My wife has some of the most interesting feet I've ever seen. Her toenails grow up instead of out, and some even grow into the edges! She's a podiatrist's dream (or nightmare?). When she complained about her toes, I jokingly told her to see a qualified professional – not me!

Referring Her to a Colleague

I sent her to my partner, Dr. Feldman, who performed a matrixectomy procedure to permanently remove the ingrown nail edge. All was well until she noticed redness around the nail edge and worried about an infection.

She asked me for antibiotics, but I wisely told her to consult her doctor (Dr. Feldman). He prescribed antibiotics, and all was well... until six months later when a small piece of nail started growing back!

Lessons Learned

I was relieved I hadn't performed the surgery myself, as it would've been a never-ending "toe-tal" disaster! Treating loved ones can lead to endless scrutiny and criticism.

Now, my wife needs occasional maintenance to remove tiny spicules, but not by me.

Next week, I will share the husband-and-wife wart treatment. Can you guess who it is?

Ingrown Toenail Instruction

Part of my enjoyment in being a podiatrist is teaching patients. We seem to have a magic superpower as doctors at times to get people better but many times it is a little more understanding about the topic compared to other people.

I think sharing is good but not everyone does. A few years ago I put together a YouTube video where I taught about how to treat the six different types of ingrown toenails. If you want to watch the video you can click HERE.

What I found interesting is some podiatrists reached out to me and thought it was not good I was teaching how to care properly for ingrown toenails.

They were scared that other doctors would learn the tricks and do them on their patients or patients would try on their own.

In truth I have not seen any reduction of patients because of this old video.

Anyway if you want to learn to do ingrown toenails go ahead by watching the video HERE.

If you get stuck give us a call for an appointment and we will fix you up.

How many triathlons has Dr. Feldman completed?

Now for the answer to last week's question. Dr. Feldman has completed 7 triathlons. That is a lot of work but even more training. I thought you would enjoy a picture of him with all of his medals. He did a blog post about running a series of races called Leadman. Check out that blog HERE.

What was Dr. Feldman’s fastest marathon?

He runs fast and long, but what do you think is Dr. Feldman's fastest marathon time? How fast do you think he ran 26.2 miles? Hit reply and send your best guess. I will give you the answer next week.

Stop suffering with ingrown toenails!

Call us at 508-757-4003 for an appointment with Dr. Neil Feldman, Dr. Donald Pelto, Dr. Benjamin Saviet, and Dr. Vicki Stone. You can also book your first visit on our website.

Keeping your toes pain-free!

- Dr. Pelto