Ingrowing Toe Nail

Ingrown toenails occur when the edges or corners of your nails grow into the skin next to the nail. Your big toe is most likely to get an ingrown toenail. You can treat ingrown toenails at home. However, they can cause complications that might require medical treatment

Causes of Ingrowning Toenails?

Ingrown toenails occur in both men and women.
Many things can cause an ingrown toenail, including:

• Cutting toenails incorrectly (Cut straight across, since angling the sides of the nail can encourage the nail to grow into the skin.)

• Irregular, curved toenails

• Footwear that places a lot of pressure on the big toes, such as socks and stockings that are too tight or shoes that are too tight, narrow, or flat for your feet

• Toenail injury, including stubbing your toe, dropping something heavy on your foot, or kicking a ball repeatedly

• Poor posture

• Improper foot hygiene, such as not keeping your feet clean or dry

Symptoms of ingrowing toenails

Ingrown toenails can be painful.

• skin next to the nail becoming tender, swollen, or hard
• pain when pressure is placed on the toe
• fluid building up around the toe
• A foot deformity, such as a bunion or hammertoe
• Calluses or corns on your feet or toes

If toe becomes infected, symptoms may include:

red, swollen skin

pain

bleeding

oozing pus

overgrowth of skin around the toe

overgrowth of skin around the toe

DIAGNOSIS

Physician will most likely be able to diagnose toe with a physical exam. If toe seems infected, you might need an Xray to show how deep the nail has grown into the skin.

MANAGEMENT Ingrown toenails that aren’t infected can normally be treated on outdoor patient basis.

Treatment

• soaking feet in warm water for about 15 to 20 minutes three to four times per day

• pushing skin away from the toenail edge with a cotton ball soaked in olive oil

• applying a topical antibiotic, such as polymyxin and neomycin , to prevent infection

If the toenail does not respond to home treatments or an infection occurs, you may need surgery.

Surgical treatment

There are different types of surgical treatments for ingrown toenails. Partial nail removal only involves removing the piece of nail that is digging into skin.
During a partial nail removal, the sides of the nail are cut away so that the edges are completely straight. A piece of cotton is placed under the remaining portion of the nail to keep the ingrown toenail from recurring.
Total nail removal may be used if your ingrown nail is caused by thickening.