Dr Ashley Ng

Feet are weird. A few years ago, I decided that I will make more of an effort to look after my feet. Although I’ve developed a greater sense of appreciation for them (and podiatrists) over the last few years, I still feel really uncomfortable when people touch my feet. Someone tell me I’m not the only one please!

Anyway, the pain in my toes started a couple of years ago. They were made worse by inheriting nice boots that were a size too small for me. Coupled with the fact that I’m not flexible enough to cut my own toenails properly, I ended up with ingrown toenails. #gross 

For 12 months my podiatrist talked to me about getting nail surgery, which would fix the problem. But I was convinced that I wouldn’t be able to handle seeing my toes being cut open while being awake. I know I wouldn’t be able to look away either. But the start of the year, I was so frustrated with the pain that I decided to bite the bullet and get it done.

I was originally scheduled to get one side of a toe done, as a way to see how I would handle it. Thankfully the podiatrist who did the surgery was so cool, calm, collected and quick. I’m so grateful to the podiatrists for ensuring that I was doing okay, distracting me and explaining each step.

The worst part of the surgery was getting the local anaesthetic, which made my toes look like little stumps. At this point, I also stupidly wondered out loud if this was what neuropathy felt like to very amused podiatrists. I did warn them that I made stupid jokes and comments when I’m anxious!

Overall, the process looked ridiculously easy and I felt silly for being so anxious about it. I even ended up getting my other toe done as well at the same appointment! What I didn’t expect was for the ‘minor surgery’ to take so much out of me. I was exhausted by the time I got home. Of course, then my sugars were running higher than normal because of the lack of physical activity and the stress from the surgery over the next few days.

It’s been a few days now since the surgery and I’ve just had my follow up appointment where everything seems to be looking well. Since I’ve got diabetes as well, I need to be extra mindful to keep an eye out for signs of infection and to make sure the wounds are still healing well. Sadly, that means no closed-toe shoes for the next week or so and certainly no gym, which I’m quite upset about. But these short-term sacrifices are definitely worth it to minimise the risk of any complications, which would see me out of action for even longer periods of time.