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Have Reoccurring And Painful Ingrown Toe Nails. How To Get Rid Of This?
Question: I have reoccuring ingrown toe nails that are extremely painful. I don't wear tight shoes and can't think of anything that I could do differently to prevent them from reoccurring.
Hi XXXXXXX,
Thanks for writing in to Healthcare Magic!
The ingrowing toe nails cause problem for two reasons-
One the nail buries itself at the side angles into the toes skin and causes local pressure and pain.
Two the dead epithelial tissue and dust collects under the ingrown part and gets packed there due to tight structure of toe nail, which causes increased local pressure and can get inflamed and infected to increase the trouble.
The solution is threefold-
1, When you pair the nail or get it snipped at pedicure make sure that the side angle are not cut/removed, because it causes wrong local forces and helps the skin to wrap on the lateral angles and exaggerates the ingrowing nail problem(although it relieves the symptoms transiently).
2, So next time nip the tip of the toe nail and spare the side angles, use a poke/curved peg to take out the dust and dirt that is packed under the toenail edges by manually pulling apart the covering side skin.
3, With the above two changes you would reduce the symptoms by 90% in 2-3 months and full relief by 6 months. If these techniques do not help you then the surgery is the answer, Get review to a surgeon who would remove the side slips of the toe nail or can cauterise it under local anesthesia to reduce growth of nail on lateral sides.
If you have any further query please let me know I would try to answer it for you.
Wish you a great health!
Thanks for writing in to Healthcare Magic!
The ingrowing toe nails cause problem for two reasons-
One the nail buries itself at the side angles into the toes skin and causes local pressure and pain.
Two the dead epithelial tissue and dust collects under the ingrown part and gets packed there due to tight structure of toe nail, which causes increased local pressure and can get inflamed and infected to increase the trouble.
The solution is threefold-
1, When you pair the nail or get it snipped at pedicure make sure that the side angle are not cut/removed, because it causes wrong local forces and helps the skin to wrap on the lateral angles and exaggerates the ingrowing nail problem(although it relieves the symptoms transiently).
2, So next time nip the tip of the toe nail and spare the side angles, use a poke/curved peg to take out the dust and dirt that is packed under the toenail edges by manually pulling apart the covering side skin.
3, With the above two changes you would reduce the symptoms by 90% in 2-3 months and full relief by 6 months. If these techniques do not help you then the surgery is the answer, Get review to a surgeon who would remove the side slips of the toe nail or can cauterise it under local anesthesia to reduce growth of nail on lateral sides.
If you have any further query please let me know I would try to answer it for you.
Wish you a great health!
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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