Stomach-churning video shows a patient who needed most of his toenail removed to try to get rid of a nail and skin infection. Video supplied / Caters
Revolting footage has revealed a patient who needed most of his toenail removed to try to get rid of a nail and skin infection.
The man had both a fungal nail infection and a condition called paronychia – infected skin around the edge or beneath the nail.
In the stomach-churning clip, a foot specialist uses nail clippers to hack away at the thickened nail until pus begins to ooze out.
Treatment took around 20 minutes at the Harley Medical Foot and Nail Clinic in London, with the man apparently feeling "not much pain".
He is left with a gaping hole in what is left of the big toenail on his left foot, but the condition healed well after the therapy, the Daily Mail reports.
Ms Wing Chie Yau said it was the first time she had seen so much pus come out from under someone's toenail. Photo / Caters
The treatment was done to relieve an infection called acute paronychia, which is when the skin around the edges of a nail becomes painful, red and swollen.
In this case the man appears to have had an infection in his nail bed and a large section of the nail had to be cut away so the pus could escape and relieve the pressure underneath the nail.
His condition appears to have been triggered by a fungal infection on the toenail itself.
The foot specialist who performed the brutal-looking procedure at the clinic on Harley Street said it was the first time she had seen so much pus.
Therapist Marion Wing Chie Yau said: "I was pretty excited because I knew that there was something underneath the nail but was very surprised that there was so much pus coming out.
"They would have felt a little bit of pressure but not much pain and the treatment took around 20 minutes.
"This was the first case that I have seen this large amount of pus.
After the brutal-looking procedure removes a large proportion of the man's toenail, the toe is washed with a small water jet to clean off any pus or nail fragments. Photo / Caters
"We needed to cut the nail back to see where the pus can be released and at the same time I removed as much of the fungus as possible.
"But it healed very well."
To begin with only the corner and edge of the nail are cut away, though it is thickened and yellow because of the fungal infection.
But as Ms Wing Chie Yau cuts deeper into the nail, pus begins to leak out.
She cuts down to the base of the nail, where a hole appears, and then washes the toe off with a small water jet.
Fungal nail infections are common but they can take a long time to get rid of – symptoms include a yellowing of the nail, and over time it will become more brittle and potentially break.
In the grotesque video the man's toenail is clipped right back to the nailbed as the specialist tries to tackle an infection of the nail and the skin around it. Photo / Caters
To avoid the infections make sure your feet are kept cool, dry and clean, and you don't share towels, nail clippers, shoes or socks with other people.
Visit a pharmacist if you think you have a fungal nail infection – they may be able to provide antifungal or nail-softening cream to treat it.
