An ingrown toenail is the result of the sides of a nail growing down into the skin that surrounds the nail. Signs of the condition are often unmistakable and may include discomfort or pain in the area, tender red skin, swelling and even infection in more serious cases. Fortunately, most ingrown toenails are relatively minor and clear up after a little extra attention and time.
Causes
Ingrown toenails are a common problem, according to the American Academy of Dermatology, especially on the largest, innermost toe of your feet known as the big toe. They occur for various reasons, the most frequent of which include injuries, cutting your toenails incorrectly, peculiarities of how your toenails and surrounding skin grow, repeatedly standing incorrectly and wearing improper shoes. Once you manage to overcome an ingrown toenail, the problem can return if you do not avoid behavior or situations that caused the issue in the first place.
Corrective Treatments
Treating an ingrown toenail typically requires first identifying and correcting what caused it initially. For example, if you cut your toenails incorrectly in the past, you should cut them properly in the future, making sure not to trim the edges too roundly or too short. Other ways to help ingrown toenails heal include wearing looser footwear and shoes with shorter heels and rounder toes to reduce pressure on your toes, keeping your toenails clean and trim and avoiding bumping your toes against objects to prevent injuries.
Additional Measures
In addition to correcting the specific problems that caused your ingrown toenail, you can try other solutions to decrease discomfort and coax your nail into growing correctly again. Soaking the affected foot in warm water for about 15 minutes several times each day can reduce symptoms, as can taking a store-bought pain reliever as needed and rubbing an antibiotic product into the skin around the ingrown nail. Either you or your healthcare provider can also place cotton underneath the nail to encourage it to grow the proper way.
Considerations
If self-treatment is not enough to correct your ingrown toenail, consult a trained healthcare professional for advice on your options. Severely ingrown toenails that refuse to separate from surrounding skin or ingrown toenails that occur over and over again may both require more drastic approaches. Such treatment could involve using a medical instrument to forcefully remove the ingrown part of the nail, which is called a partial nail avulsion, and/or the tissue underneath it. Signs of a severely ingrown toenail include pus and greater or persistent pain.
Warning
People with diabetes, poor circulation or nerve damage in their foot or leg are at increased risk of infection. They must be particularly careful when they develop an ingrown toenail and should never treat the problem on their own, warns the National Institutes of Health. If the nail becomes infected, you should also consult a qualified healthcare practitioner immediately in order to avoid complications, which could include a severe infection in the bone beneath the toenail.
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