Your Podiatrist should be the first point of contact when it comes to a painful ingrown toenail. On a daily basis, Podiatrist’s manage many ingrown toenails. It is unfortunate that some painful ingrown nails presenting to the clinic have been through a variety of different treatments and multiple antibiotic courses with hardly any relief. If the nail remains to pierce through the skin, antibiotics will be ineffective. We can either gently trim the nail away, or can numb the toe and remove the problematic edge on the day of your treatment – no fuss!
What is an ingrown toenail?
By definition an ingrown toenail is a nail that has pierced through the skin. It is often highly painful due to the sharp edge of the toenail pushing through the soft skin on the sides of the nail. Infection is often present and you may notice redness, pus discharge, swelling and bulging tissue on the side of the nail. Please see your Doctor IMMEDIATELY should you notice redness tracking away from your toe.
What are some causes of ingrown nails?
- Poor nail trimming techniques
- History of ingrown toenails
- Curled or pincer nails
- Thick toenails
- Genetics (curved nails, fan shaped nails)
- Smoking
- Tight fitting footwear
- Pointed toed shoes
Treatment options
Your Podiatrist will assess the toe and let you know what is the best method of treatment.
If the nail is minimally infected and can be managed through a gentle clearing of the nail edge they will perform this immediately.
If the nail is more advanced with infection or pain is preventing clearing the nail edge, a local anaesthetic will be used to numb the toe, and the problematic edge will be gently trimmed away. To avoid future incidences of the nail ingrowing, your Podiatrist will use a chemical which will destroy the problematic nail edge to cease it from growing again. After this, your nail will grow back normally just without that pesky ingrown edge! This is an in clinic procedure and is usually completed in less than half an hour. It does not involve stitches or deep cuts into the skin which results in fast healing.
Read more about ingrown toenails here.
Please chat to your Podiatrist further about this option for advice specific to your situation.
Why persevere with pain? Get your ingrown nail fixed today!