How to treat an ingrown toenail?

Ingrown toe nails can be a common issue that can be rather painful and they do not get better by themselves. Ingrown nails usually are amongst the most frequent disorders seen by foot doctors. The leading reason for an ingrown toe nail can be a combination of a rounded toe nail and a bad toe nail cutting technique.

The treating of the ingrown nail would depend on whether it is infected or not. When it is, the podiatrist may organise prescription antibiotics. Even though this should help the infection, it won't resolve the issue because the bit of ingrown toe nail which can be causing the concern is still there. A highly skilled Podiatrist can easily get rid of the edge or spike on the edge of the toenail which has dug into the skin and is creating the condition. Podiatrists usually accomplish this with comparatively little pain. Unless that problem little bit of toe nail that may be creating the ingrown nail is taken off, the infection will likely persist and the issue is still growing in. Following this, correct wound treatment and also the use of dressings is necessary to help get the infection treated properly. In case the pain lasts following this initial remedy, this might be as a result of there being another splinter of toe nail much deeper down inducing the ongoing problem.

If the ingrown nail is severe, or maybe conservative treatment is difficult, or if the ingrown toe nail will keep returning then a minor operative intervention can be generally recommended by the podiatrist. The minor surgery is commonly a simple and easy treatment that is successful for long term alleviation which is permanent. There are a selection of different minor surgical procedures that may be used by the Podiatry practitioner for ingrown toe nails with the majority of these being carried out under local anaesthetic. The commonest surgical approach will be the removal of a portion of the toe nail along the side of the nail that is creating the problem. However, after a nail or portion of the toe nail taken off, it would re-grow because the growing cells at the base of the toe nail remain. Most commonly an acid solution can be used to get rid of the growing cells to prevent regrowth with the section of toe nail which is extracted. There are other alternatives to prevent the nail from coming back such as operatively scraping the growing region or perhaps using a laser. For some unknown cause a few percent can happen again. Generally, following the ingrown toe nail procedure you will have to keep the foot elevated for a few hours and rest is recommended. The following day, you should be able to resume school or work. The podiatry practitioner will generally suggest for you to not take part in sporting pursuits, for instance jogging for up to 14 days following the surgical procedure. The use of an open toe footwear is often very helpful. This makes certain that there isn't any pressure pushing on the wound to restrict recovery.

For those who have an ingrown toe nail or are prone to ingrown toe nails, then it would be a good idea to obtain advice from a podiatrist in regards to what your best choices are to take care of and prevent ingrown toenails.