Chiropodist visit - any need for antibiotics?

[Gemma]

Jim has an appointment with a chiropodist this afternoon as he has an ingrown toenail (maybe now he'll listen when I say he's cutting his nails too short ).
Anyway, I think it's just a question of trimming the nail (and the other 9) for now and the treatment also includes rough skin removal etc.
Can't see any info on prophylactic antibiotics for this on the ACC website, so assume it isn't necessary. Has anyone here been for the same kind of treatment, and if so did you take antibiotics beforehand (like you'd do for dental treatment)? I'll get him to phone his GP when he finishes work to check but thought I'd ask the experts too .
Thanks guys .
Gemma.

 

[tobagotwo]

I think it's a toss-up. Based on the invasive/intrusive theory, it's marginally intrusive. Marginally.

Also, the sites that discuss BE, which is really the concern here, do express that intrusive procedures are not considered the primary causation for BE. The mouth is particularly septic, and has a very high blood volume, which is what differentiates it from most other bodily sites.

I'm sure you'll get other opinions, but my tuppence' worth is that he doesn't take meds every time he has to put a bandaid on something, so he's probably exempt for this, too. He needs to keep it clean, though, and make sure it gets out in the air some during healing; not always trapped in nasty shoes.

Besides, that other problem you occasionally mention is exacerbated by antibiotics, and may even have been caused by them in the first place.

Best wishes,

 

[Gemma]

Bob,
1 - That's pretty much what I thought, I guess if he was actually having the nail or part of it removed that might be a different story, but for now I think it's a general tidy-up.
2 - True, if he took meds for every scrape, he'd be on them every week - a combination of scratches at work and motorcycling (inc. trials riding - pics coming soon) related grazes/cuts .
3 - The nasty shoes may be responsible for the ingrown toenail (too much pressure as the too short nail grew) as Jim tends to wear the same 2 or 3 pairs all the time. One pair in particular has stretched a bit so I think as he walks it's putting pressure on his big toe. Of course, being a woman I have at least 35 pairs of shoes and no ingrown toenails. Proof, if any were needed, that we really do need that many pairs of shoes!!
4 - ha ha ha!! I told you, I'm not mentioning that any more .

 

[Gemma]

Right, well he's been and had it sorted - no antibiotics required .
Apparently his toenails are very wide and a bit was hidden under the flesh at the side of his toe, hence the pain. Wide fitting shoes in future methinks.
The offending nail has been trimmed down and dressed with iodine, and Jim's to bathe it daily in salt water until it's healed up.
The moral of the story is - don't have big toenails!! Or if you do, let them stay longish so they don't get stuck under your skin, and get big shoes!!
Gemma.

 

[tobagotwo]

You may not be talking about it anymore, but once you've let it out, you can't take it back...

Wait! I meant...These things just don't blow over that quickly...

Er, no...no...Just because you don't discuss it, it doesn't mean it isn't in the room with you every time the topic comes up...

uh, no, that didn't...let's see...Well, you used to make a lot of noise about it...

Oh, gosh, no. There has to be a way to say it. Hmm, if we think about it, something will bubble up, I'm sure...

Heh. Oops. Sorry. Guess it's just a lot of hot air, anyway...

,

 

[Bryan B]

My personal opinion is that if there is going to be bleeding present, premedicate regardless of where that might be. You'll be surprised how much bacteria is present on the skin. That's why they usually do blood cultures from 2 different sites...it's very easy to get false positive results if any bacteria is present on the skin at the site of where they take the blood. Of course I've had BE, so I'm probably going to err on the side of caution given my experience.