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Aftercare

Nail surgery aftercare: caring for your dressing

Looking after your dressing properly is the best way to help your toe heal quickly and reduce the risk of infection. This guide explains what to do at home between your appointments.

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Foot resting on a treatment couch with a clean dressing on the big toe

The first few days

  • Keep your original dressing on, clean and dry, until your first redressing appointment, two to five days after surgery.
  • Rest with your foot raised as much as you can for the first day or two. This helps reduce throbbing and swelling.
  • Some throbbing is normal once the anaesthetic wears off. You can take your usual pain relief from a pharmacy or supermarket, such as paracetamol, if needed.
  • If blood seeps through the dressing, don't remove it. Add another layer of dressing on top and keep your foot raised.

What you'll need

  • Sterile non-stick dressings
  • Gauze
  • Tubular bandage or tape
  • Salt for salt water bathing, or the solution we give you
  • A clean bowl

How to change your dressing

  1. Wash your hands thoroughly before you start.
  2. Remove the old dressing gently. If it sticks, soak your foot in warm water for a few minutes to loosen it. Don't pull it off.
  3. Bathe the toe in warm salt water for about five minutes. Use about one teaspoon of salt in half a litre (about one pint) of warm water.
  4. Dry gently by patting around the toe with clean gauze. Don't rub the wound.
  5. Apply a fresh non-stick dressing over the wound.
  6. Cover it with gauze, and hold it in place with tubular bandage or tape. Don't wrap it too tightly.
  7. Wash your hands again afterwards.

Change your dressing every day, or as Iain advises.

What's normal

  • A clear or slightly yellow, watery discharge from the wound. This is part of normal healing after the nail bed has been treated.
  • Some redness close to the wound.
  • Mild tenderness for the first week or two.

When to contact us

Please get in touch on 07745 972664 if you notice:

  • Redness or swelling spreading up the toe or foot
  • Increasing pain, rather than easing pain
  • Thick green or smelly discharge
  • Red streaks running up the foot
  • A high temperature, or you feel generally unwell
Get urgent help: if you have pain or swelling in your calf, or you are short of breath, call 999 now. These can be signs of a blood clot.

For other worries when the clinic is closed (Saturday after 13:00, Sunday, and evenings), call NHS 111 on 111 or visit 111.nhs.uk. Then let us know on 07745 972664 when we are open.

Day-to-day tips

  • Wear loose shoes or open-toed sandals so nothing presses on the toe.
  • Keep the dressing dry when showering, for example with a plastic bag or waterproof cover.
  • Avoid baths, swimming pools and hot tubs until the wound has healed.
  • Avoid sport and long walks until we say it's safe.

The wound usually heals in four to five weeks. Keep caring for it until it's fully closed and dry.

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