Expert Specialist Toenail And Verruca Surgery Services in Wellington 

The Podiatry Clinic Podiatrists are registered with the NZ MOH under the Podiatrists Board of NZ Scope of Practice for Podiatrist.

Kathy holds the New Zealand College of Podiatric Surgery Post Graduate Diploma in Podiatric Surgery.

We specialise in the surgical management of ingrown and deformed/thickened toenails and the surgical debridement of verrucae. 

Our surgery is done utilising local analgesia which alleviates the surgical risks associated with General Anaesthesia.

At The Podiatry Clinic we specialise in the surgical correction of infected and deformed ingrown toenails.

Infected ingrown toe nails caused by inappropriate self treatment or trauma are common occurrences. Often the congenital (inherited) shape and texture of a toe nail can result in the nail margins eventually irritating the skin of the nail grooves they are troublesome and very quickly can become chronically inflamed and impossible to manage by ones self. 

Success in palliative (routine clinical) treatment depends largely upon how long the problem has existed. The more chronic they become the more likely they require surgical intervention. Early treatment treatment is therefore encouraged if surgical management is to be avoided.

Often in chronic cases surgical treatment is unavoidable and the only long term solution to what can otherwise be a lifetime of recurrent infection and chronic discomfort. Recurrent chronic infections, if uncontrolled, can lead to more severe symptoms involving the bone beneath the toe nail which can become infected (osteomyelitis). This condition is very severe sometimes with an outcome of dire consequences.

PARTIAL/TOTAL CHEMICAL NAIL MATRIX ABLATION

With a success rate of over 98% the surgical techniques of choice for ingrown toenail surgery at The Podiatry Clinic is the permanent removal of the toe nail margins (or total nail plate) under local anaesthetic utilising strong chemicals such as Phenol or Sodium Hydroxide. When applied to the exposed nail bed and the soft structures of the nail root these chemicals destroy the cells which form the small section of nail root and nail bed corresponding to the small sections of nail which have been removed. The application of either phenol or Sodium Hydroxide means that the removed sections of nail will never regrow thus resulting in correction of the ingrown/deformed edges of the toe nail.

A couple of bonuses associated with this procedure are that it can safely be performed on infected toenails as these chemicals are highly antibacterial in their action and the other +ive is that the phenol application causes prolonged analgesia to the operation site. The end result with both chemicals being that in most cases only mild discomfort is experienced post operatively once the local anaesthetic has worn off.

Patients leave the clinic ambulating and usually wearing open sandals/jandals as large dressings are employed to absorb bleeding and also offer some protection. The first follow-up dressing usually takes place in 1-3 days post operatively and after assessing that all is well the patient usually self dresses the toe/s over the following 3 weeks or so after which they return for a final follow up & discharge.

We maintain the strictest principles of sterile procedure in our surgical facility, with all instrument sets guaranteed to be sterilised for every surgical patient. The same principles are employed at the start of all general clinical appointments and treatments too.

Verruca Surgery

At The Podiatry Clinic, we also offer surgical removal of verrucae where indicated. Usually the benefits of surgical removal of verrucae are dependant mainly on age of the patient, situation of the verruca and how long it has been noticed.

Verruca surgery may require the administration of a local anaesthetic which is sometimes an uncomfortable experience and may prevent surgery being chosen as a treatment option. Other times it may be that the verruca is overlying a prominent weight bearing piece of bone or joint which may result in an elevated risk of lifetime scarring and ongoing discomfort even though the verruca has been removed.

Physical surgery on verrucae is by way of "Blunt dissection" which means that the hard encapsulated mass of the verruca is literally peeled away from the softer underlying structures in total and then the area is treated with a high frequency spark to seal the area and coagulate any bleeding blood vessels.

Healing is often slow because of the weight bearing nature of the foot but surgical management is often but not always 100% successful.

SWIFT THERAPY

An increasingly more popular and less invasive verruca treatment option is utlising SWIFT short wave therapy.

You can find out more by clicking here.

Your podiatrist will discuss the pros and cons of any of the surgical treatment options at the time of your consultation.

Our main objective is to provide you, our patients and clients, with the best and safest possible surgical and general treatment and service whilst under our care both in our clinic and once you return home. 

Our principal practitioner has over 30 years individual experience in both surgical and general private practice including long involvement, over those years, in the delivery of both undergraduate and postgraduate podiatric education.