If you’ve ever had an ingrown toenail, you know that it’s far from pleasant and comfortable to experience. Depending on the severity of the infection, it can become so painful that it can be hard to do simple things such as walking or wearing shoes. It can even get to the point where it’s hard not to think about it.
Nobody wishes to have an ingrown toenail nor do people plan to have one, but once you have one, you really wish you could have prevented it. Fortunately, there are ways to prevent ingrown toenails! Here’s everything you need to know about ingrown toenails, why you get them, how to prevent them, and what to do if you have one and need to seek treatment.
How Do I Know If I Have an Ingrown Toenail, and Where Do They Come From?
Ingrown toenails occur when a part of your toenail, usually the top corners or the sides of your big toenail, grows into the tender skin surrounding it instead of growing straight. You’ll know you probably have one when the skin becomes red, starts to sting, swells, aches, throbs, and in most cases, becomes infected in the surrounding soft tissue.
Health conditions such as diabetes and some hereditary factors like having unusually curved toenails can cause an individual to become more susceptible to having ingrown toenails. In cases such as those, ingrowns aren’t so easy to prevent. Still, there are also other reasons you may have an ingrown toenail that you can take control of and prevent.
What Can I Do to Ensure I Don’t Get an Ingrown Toenail?
Here are some causes of ingrown toenails that are actually preventable:
#1: Wearing shoes that don’t fit you properly
Let’s say you go to the mall and find a pair of shoes that you adore, but the only pairs left are either above or below your size. You might think it’s okay to get a pair just a half size too small; that won’t hurt anything, right? Although it’s often reasonable to make sacrifices for fashion, the health of your feet and toes/toenails is not one of those things that you should ignore. Shoes too small can crowd your toenails, causing pressure that can bend the toenails into the skin, irritation, and oftentimes even—you guessed it—ingrown toenails.
#2: Cutting your toenails the wrong way
Yes, there’s a wrong and a right way to cut your toenails. You should only cut your nails straight across. Failure to do so is how they can grow sideways or underneath the nail bed or surrounding tissue. It may seem like a good idea, looks-wise, to cut your toenails into a curve that aligns with the rounded top of your toe, but again, that’s an ingrown waiting to happen. When it’s time to get a pedicure, be sure to go to a professional you trust.
#3: Injuring your toenail
Of course, no one tries to injure their toenails, but we often forget to protect our feet. Many often lose sight of the fact that our feet are like the foundation that supports our bodies, and we need to be careful with them as they take us where we need to go. As we mentioned, you need to make sure that your shoes fit correctly, but you also need to wear the right kind of shoes. If you work in an industrial environment or construction, try wearing a pair of shoes with reinforced/steel toe protection. Also, if you tend to stub your toes a lot walking around the house, try to wear house shoes with some structure when you can.
I’m Pretty Sure That I Have An Ingrown Toenail. What Should I Do?
If it’s too late to prevent an ingrown toenail, there are options available for treatment. In mild cases without severe infection, you can try home remedies! Try this: soak your feet in warm water for 15 to 20 minutes three to four times a day, then take fresh cotton and place it under the ingrown edge to encourage growth above the skin edge. Next, apply an antibiotic ointment like Neosporin, bandage the toe, and take an over-the-counter pain-relieving medication like Tylenol, Advil, or Aleve.
Suppose you can’t self-diagnose or properly self-treat your ingrown toenail. In that case, it’s time to visit a podiatrist or, in less severe cases, your general practitioner. Before your appointment, try to track your symptoms, pain level, and appearance of your affected toe and toenail. At your appointment, your doctor will decide whether they recommend the methods mentioned above of at-home treatment or if your ailment requires a minor procedure or surgery.
For ingrown toenails with signs of severe infection, your doctor may partially remove or trim the toenail and part of the affected tissue in your nail bed after injecting the toe with a numbing anesthetic.
Suppose your ingrown toenail shows signs of an even more serious infection, or you have consistent issues with ingrown toenails. In that case, your doctor may resort to removing the nail and the tissue underneath altogether. Although this is not always the case, your toenail may not grow back, but that’s a small price to pay to prevent potential tissue death/decay known as gangrene, a condition that results from a lack of blood flow.
If you believe you may have an ingrown toenail or another condition relating to the health of your feet or toes, or if you have any other related questions, contact us today! We would love to set up an appointment with you at any of our four locations, and we will create a treatment plan that works best for your podiatry needs.
