How to fix ingrown toenails?

Ingrown toenails can become a real problem and they tend not to fix themselves. A true ingrown toenail occurs when a spike, sharp corner or edge of the nail actually penetrates the skin (becomes ingrown) and can become swollen and infected. A lot of people have pain down the edge of the nail that is not technically an ingrown nail but it is a spike, sharp corner or edge of the nail pushing on the skin, but not actually penetrating the skin. In some cases, a corn or callus may even form down the nail sulcus from that pressure from the nail. We see a lot of ingrown nails at Croydon Total Footcare.

What can be done for an ingrown toenail?

This will depend on what exactly is causing the pain, if the nail has penetrated the skin and just how far down the side of the nail the problem is. The podiatrist will meticulously remove the offending piece of nail and smooth the edge of the nail. If it is deep and maybe infected, a local anaesthetic may be needed.

If the nail is very curved and goes deep down the side, this may be an ongoing problem, so a minor surgical procedure may be needed to remove that side of the nail and a chemical used to stop that part of the nail from growing back. This is often the case if the nail progresses to this stage:

If the nail looks like that, the only solution is the removal of the edge or bit of the nail that has penetrated the skin. Not topical cream or antibiotic is going to take that bit of nail away.

What can you do to fix an ingrown nail?

If it looks like the picture just above, then there is not much you can do, so come in and see us before it gets any worse.

If the nail is not infected, the the best thing that you an do for it is to NOT cut down the egde as that can leave a sharp corner or spike and it could become worse. If you are able to use a nail file to keep the edge of the nail smooth, then that may help.

Your best option is to probably come in and let us have a look at it, clear out the edge of the nail to relieve the pain and discuss the different options you have for the long term and what else you could do to manage it yourself.