An ingrowing toenail is one of the most common nail problems, and involves the nail growing into the toe. As you can imagine, this can be agonizing. Usually occurring on the big toe, it can also affect the other toes. The toe may become red and swollen and, in some cases, the nail will curve and dig into the flesh.
What Causes Ingrowing Toenails?
There are various causes of an ingrowing toenail. It may be that you need to have your feet measured, as the condition could be caused by wearing the wrong size of shoes. You should also be careful with the way you cut your toenails, as if they are too short, it can lead to ingrowing toenails. An injury to the toe could also lead to a problem in this area.
Home Remedies for an Ingrowing Toenail
This can quite often be treated at home. You may also need to treat any nail fungus that occurs as a result of an ingrowing toenail. The first thing to do is to ensure you are wearing shoes that fit properly and are not squashing your toes. Wearing wide shoes or sandals would be much better than wearing high heels or stilettos. If you give your feet a good soak in warm water every day for a few days, this should also help to ease the discomfort of ingrown toenails. If they are causing you pain, you may want to take some painkillers too.
These toe protectors are ideal for reducing the discomfort caused by ingrown toenails.
Gel Toe Caps
Treatment for Ingrown Toenails
If you take the above steps to try and resolve this issue, but there is no sign of it improving, it may be time to take a trip to your doctor. Your doctor will be able to undertake a thorough examination and check what’s going on. If it is an ingrowing toenail, they might offer you some antibiotics until it clears up.
What’s the Best Way to Cut Your Nails?
If the other treatments are unresponsive, the doctor may advise removing some or all the nail. In order to ensure this doesn’t happen again, keep your nails neat and tidy, but don’t cut your nails too short. Cut the nail across the way, without going into the edges and make sure you wear the right shoes for both size and comfort.
This handy tool makes light work of ingrowing nails, easing the pain, and ensuring they don’t return.
ZIZZON Ingrowing Toenail File and Lifter
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