What’s an ‘Ingrown Toenail’?
April 8, 2010
An ingrown toenail is one that has grown into the skin that can result in pain, redness, swelling, even infection. Cutting nails too short or not straight across, injury to the toenail, and wearing tight shoes are culprits.
For mild cases, soak the foot in warm water, keep it clean, and wedge a small piece of cotton under the corner of the ingrown nail to lift it off the skin. Minor surgery can remove all or part of the nail.
Posted in Just Ask Dr. Scott!
May 19th, 2010 at 3:08 AM
Great post! An Ingrown Toenail occurs when the nail pierces the soft-tissue fold (nail sulcus) and is a common disorder.
It can be extremely painful, will become reddened with mild swelling and can also become infected, often bleeding and producing pus.
Soaking your feet 4 times a day in warm water can help an ingrown toenail, as it can soften the nail so that it becomes less painful. Make sure you keep your toe clean and keep a dressing on it if the skin is broken. The best sort of dressing are non lint ones which will not stick to the skin. This will help reduce the risk of infection, as if it becomes infected you will need to seek the attention of your podiatrist who may be able to offer you anti-biotics to reduce the infection.
June 23rd, 2010 at 9:21 AM
Thank you! It would seem like such an easily preventable problem — it’s very common. Good fitting shoes can help prevent this. Thank you Manchester!