Drill Baby, Drill!

Silly title — serious drill. No this is not an ode to energy independence and a call to drill anywhere where there might be oil. It is in fact praise for a new type of podiatry drill.

All podiatry drills have two problems. The first problem is that podiatry drills create dust which can be harmful to the patient and the doctor, and the second problem is they create heat which can be painful to the patient.

Vacuum systems can deal with the dust; however dealing with the heat is more difficult. Some doctors just do a less thorough thinning of the toenail while some stop and spray alcohol to cool the toenail.

We recently purchased an expensive Canadian drill which employs a disinfecting and cooling alcohol spray aimed precisely at the spinning nail burr. We have found that this allows us to thin down toenails much more effectively without dust and to do so with absolutely no discomfort to the patient. To our knowledge we are the first office to have this type of drill in Austin.

A new drill to thin down toenails won’t solve a big problem like energy independence, but it can go a long way toward comfortably solving your toenail problems!