Hello. So the entire story is very long winded, so to make things short and to the point… I need a toe/toenail specialists in the Kansai area (preferably one that can speak English). I am really nervous to go see anyone though because I am worried I will not be taken seriously. I’m being told my toenail may never grow back properly, but I don’t want to believe that and I wanna hear from someone who will actually listen to me. This has been a very very stressful and upsetting situation. It was due to the lack of help in the beginning when this all started that caused me to be where I am at now. Don’t get me wrong, I love and appreciate Japan, but this situation has really taken me aback because of the poor treatment I have received here.
Does anyone have any recommendations of toe/toenail specialists that you trust from personal experience or people you know who trust someone in the Kansai area?
Thank you to anyone who can help.
3 comments
I’m sorry I don’t have anyone, but just wanting to check, which type of doctor did you visit? I think dermatology is the usual doctor for toe/toenail issues. If you can’t find anyone in Kansai and can come to Tokyo, there’s a podiatrist who runs a private clinic. I’ve never been myself, but since they are an actual specialist and Western trained, they’d probably be able to help.
My own situation was a broken toenail that had ended up being angled and pressing against skin. It was excruciating.
At the hospital they suggested effectively ripping it off, cleaning up the nail bed, and letting a new nail grow back. That seems to be the standard treatment for toenails.
I didn’t want that and found a place called Dr Nail (ドクターネイル) that installs and uses metal wires and the like to lead the nail to grow correctly. Basically like tooth braces, but for nails.
I went three times, and they effectively redirected my nail. It’s fine now. Obviously my sample size is one, others may have horror stories!
i’m sorry i don’t have any recommendations for you, but perhaps my experiences can provide some advice and hope. i managed to keep both my toenails in the end. they’re not perfect, but they’re still mine and that’s what counts.
tldr: you want to visit a nail specialist as soon as possible. don’t worry if they don’t speak english, just try and get it sorted however you can. take a friend, coworker, hire an interpreter if you must. things get a bit graphic below, so fair warning.
so… i got a bacterial infection in both big toenails simultaneously (no definitive answer as to how this happened). went to a dermatologist and we eventually got rid of the infection and i was able to get both toenails removed at a university hospital. this was all very painful and messy, but really it was only the beginning of 4 years of constant pain.
as my toenails grew back, and once they had almost reached the ends of my toes, i developed granulomas (肉芽腫) over, under and around the edges of my new nails, on both sides of both toes but to different degrees of severity/size. this put a lot of pressure on the surrounding skin and caused my nails to dig into the granulomas resulting in pain and bleeding. feet being feet, i got a couple more minor infections in this time, but these cleared up as i got used to keeping them clean – lots of bandages, antibiotic gels and careful washing.
my dermatologist was a good dermatologist, but in hindsight he had no idea what to do with my problem because he’d never dealt with granulomas of this size. he was probably stringing me along a bit too. i don’t see him anymore. we tried to reduce the size of the granulomas with acid for a while and then liquid nitrogen, both of which were absolutely excruciating. they worked to reduce the smaller granulomas, sometimes very well for the larger ones too, but the treatment couldn’t keep up and couldn’t reach certain areas effectively.
eventually i went for another surgery to remove 5mm off the outside edges of my toenails, the granulomas and part of the nail beds. this was to reduce the chances of the nail regrowing in such a way as to cause the granulomas to reform.
two years on, my nails have fully regrown and the shapes are good. my left toe suffered some damage to the nail bed so the nail is bumpy with some vertical streaks, but nothing to draw strange looks. i’m able to cut my nails normally, as well as play sports, kick balls (and butt), wear sandals, go walking and bathe without issue – these are all things i was unable to do properly before.
i should have seen a specialist sooner, but the treatments i received were showing positive signs so i stuck with them. a mistake, perhaps, but i was also determined to keep my toenails! depending on the damage, your nail may never grow back properly or at all, but seeing a specialist may increase you chances of a positive outcome.
something to bear in mind is that one function of your big toenail is to keep the bone underneath it straight. if you walk a lot with no toenail, the bone will begin to push upwards closer to the skin, which can get in the way of a regrowing nail. it should sort itself out eventually once the nail grows out, and isn’t really painful, but i thought that was a fun fact to mention.