It’s only 8:30 AM and this morning I have already performed a small nail surgery.  The young man in the photo below had an ingrown nail for 3 weeks but could not make it in to see me because of his work schedule. He finally called in sick and came in with an extreme pain in his right big toe. (click any picture to enlarge)

Treatment: I performed a local anesthesia block with 1% lidocaine.  This entails two injections to get all four major nerves of the big toe.  Then, I removed the medial (inside) border of the nail.  I prescribed antibiotics to be take twice daily for five days.  He will follow up in one week.