What is an Ingrown Toenail?
An ingrown toenail can occur when part of the nail (often the edge) penetrates the skin during the normal growth of the nail. This can be due to trauma, poor nail cutting technique or an unusually curved shape of the nail. The nail is then open to infection. As the nail continues to grow and the infection becomes worse the painful ingrown toenail develops. The big toe is often most affected, although the lesser toes can also be susceptible.
What Does An Ingrown Toenail Look Like?
The appearance of an infected ingrown toenail can vary significantly from very mild to very severe or somewhere in between. Some ingrown toenails will present with only slight redness and/or swelling while others may appear quite severe, inflamed, pussy and infected with a visible discharge. It’s important to have your problem assessed by a podiatrist and diagnosed as soon as possible in an effort to avoid the need for ingrown toenail surgery.
What Causes Ingrown Toenails?
- Cutting nails incorrectly can cause nail problems. Nails should be cut along the contour of the toe or straight across. Never trim down the edges or pick at toe nails.
- Poorly fitted footwear or shoes which are too tight or small can restrict room for nail growth. The resultant pressure on the nails can lead to ingrown nails.
- Incurvated nails are sometimes observed where the nail edge curves into the skin either due to trauma or an inherited disorder.
- Chubby toes are a trait seen in some individuals where the skin at the side of the toe is more likely to be traumatised or pierced by the nail as it grows straight out.
Ingrown toenails often begin with pressure on the tip of the toe, and with growth of the nail, inflammation and pain begin to develop. Pressure from shoes or socks can aggravate the condition. If the skin is broken, infection can develop leading to possible throbbing or severe pain. Often the weight of a blanket is enough to cause discomfort.
You can book an appointment online or call 8362 5900 so one of our
experienced podiatrists at Posture Podiatry can help.
How To Treat an Ingrown Toenail?
Many options exist when it comes to ingrown toenail treatment. You need to be careful when determining just what to do for an ingrown toenail because, whilst it may only seem like a small problem, an infected ingrown nail can escalate into a much more serious problem and lead to blood poisoning. It’s important to seek professional podiatry advice if you suspect you have an infected ingrown toe nail.
Ingrown Toenail Home Treatment Options
At the first sign of pain you can check the corner of your nail to see if there are any visible sharp edges or spicules that are putting pressure on the surrounding skin.
If the offending nail cannot be removed easily and safely, you should seek help from your podiatrist who will be able to remove the offending edge before the condition gets worse.
It is imperative to keep the toe clean with daily salt baths and dress with an antiseptic and a loose sterile absorbant dressing such as a sealed band-aid.
Professional Treatment Options
Podiatrists are professionally trained to deal with ingrown toenails just as your dentist is professionally trained to care for your teeth. The severity of the ingrown toenail will guide the podiatrist with their nail treatment options.
How to cut an ingrown toenail…
The nail edge is usually trimmed carefully with sterilised nail clippers and the offending nail edge can be carefully removed using skilled techniques acquired by podiatrist.
How to remove an ingrown toenail using local analgesia…
If standard removal of the ingrown toenail is not possible or inappropriate, your podiatrist may decide to remove the offending nail edge via resection under local anaesthetic to ensure complete removal and infection resolution occurs.
How to stop ingrown toenails…
Long term management can involve a partial nail avulsion (PNA) with phenolisation. This is a nail surgery procedure which can be performed under local anaesthetic. Once the offending nail edge is removed a chemical will be applied to the nail edge and nail root to stop the nail regrowth. This nail surgery procedure is permanent and has proven to be very successful over many decades with only a small percentage of nails experiencing regrowth.
The permanent ingrown toenail surgery described above is usually the best way to cure ingrown toenails which have a tendency to repeatedly return.
You can book an appointment online or call 8362 5900 so one of our
experienced podiatrists at Posture Podiatry can help.
What Happens To Untreated Ingrown Toenails?
Infection and trauma can affect the growth of the nail which may result in permanent disfigurement or recurring problems.
If there is severe localised infection, antibiotics may be required. Antibiotics can help settle the infection but without removal of the offending nail edge, the infection is likely to return.
In severe cases septicaemia or blood poisoning has been reported and has been known to be life threatening. This is why it’s important to address the cause of the problem and not just the symptoms.
Who Should I Contact To Treat & Manage Ingrown Toenails?
Our experienced local Adelaide Podiatrists at Posture Podiatry have been trained specifically to deal with foot conditions including ingrown toenails. As tempting as it maybe, if a nail becomes problematic or ingrown, it is best to avoid self treatment or ‘hacking’ of the nail’. We advise you to seek professional podiatric help for safe and effective management.
All nails are different, all cases are unique. There may be various reasons why partial or complete nail removal may be required. Posture Podiatry have the experience, knowledge and skill to successfully manage ingrown toenails.
How To Prevent Ingrown Toenails?
General advice given by our podiatrists to prevent ingrown toenails will include:
- Cutting your nails straight across
- Filing the corners to remove any sharp edges
- Avoid shoes that place pressure on the nail
- Seek help by a trained registered podiatrist
- Regular toe nail management by a podiatrist can be an effective way to avoid ingrown toenails especially if you have Diabetes, thickened nails or peripheral vascular disease.
For the most part, ingrown toenails can be prevented and managed conservatively without surgery by our skilled podiatrists in our clinic rooms at Posture Podiatry. However, if an ingrown toenail is particularly bad or frequently recurring, the podiatrists at Posture Podiatry have other methods to help!
If this is you, book an appointment or call 8362 5900 so one of our experienced podiatrists at Posture Podiatry can assist. We’re here to help!
For more information about ingrown toenails or to schedule an appointment, please call 8362 5900 or BOOK ONLINE anytime by clicking here.
