Ingrown toe nails are very painful, and sometimes debilitating.
The podiatrists at The Fresh Foot Centre deal with ingrown toe nails regularly. With such, you need not worry any more; the excruciating pain caused by your ingrown toe nail will trouble you no more.
There are two kinds of ingrown toe nails and these are:
- Nails that curve or turn-in on the side of the nail bed – this causes pressure and a corn to develop down the side of the nail. This type of ingrown toe nail is very painful but is easy to manage using conventional measures. At times, genetics play a part in the shape of the nail.
- Nails that penetrate through the skin – this can often lead to bacterial infection. In addition, it may also lead to swelling, redness, weeping, and development of pus. This type of ingrown toe nail needs to be treated immediately to lessen pain and prevent infection.
Some patients simply need a non-surgical clearing of the nail, while others may need minor toe nail surgery. Toe nail surgery is the removal of the offending side or sides of the toe nail. Once surgery is done, a chemical is applied on it to prevent the ingrown from coming back.
The surgery is performed in our clinic with local anaesthetic under sterile conditions. We would advise you not to drive home and that you should have a rest for a few days from school or work, so as to allow the toe nail as well as the skin underneath to recuperate. It may take 2 to 6 weeks for the affected nail to heal completely – and the length of healing depends on the individual’s immune response. We would also counsel you to wear non-occlusive shoes or open-toe shoes, because your toe nail would be wrapped with a large bandage.
Preventing ingrown toe nails:
HOT TIP! Cut toenails in a fairly straight line, and don’t cut them too short.
Don’t dig the clippers into the sides of the nails to try cut the ‘edges.’ that will increase your risks of developing ingrown toe nails.
