When you trim your toenails, you may taper the corners so that the nail
curves with the shape of your toe. But this technique may encourage your toenail
to grow into the skin of your toe. The sides of the nail curl down and dig into
your skin. An ingrown toenail may also happen if you wear shoes that are too
tight or too short. Any of your toenails can get ingrown, but it's most likely
with your big toes, Once the nail plate has intitiated ingrowth and become
an ingrown nail, the basement membranes of the cuticle are increasingly
susceptible to bacterial invasion and action is needed to stop progression. When
a toenail is ingrown, the sides or corners of the nail curl down and dig into
the skin, causing swelling, pain and redness. The following conservative
measures should be initiated as soon as possible and may be sufficient to render
surgical treatment unnecessary:
- The edge of the nail must be elevated from the bed. This elevation can be
accomplished by simply rolling a cotton wisp or waxed dental floss from the
lateral side of the nail gently under the edge of the nail (in the case of a
lateral ingrowth). Forcing the cotton wisp or floss in from the tip is much
more painful.
- If the nail is too ingrown to do this without pain, try soaking the foot
in warm water with an antibacterial agent. Soaking may soften the nail enough
to allow elevation of the edge without much pain.
- If soaking fails, paint the skinfold at the margin of the ingrown nail
with tincture of merthiolate or gentian violet or tincture of idodine if not
allergic to any of these compounds.
If these measures fail to resolve the
problem you will experience signs that the problem is getting worse which
include increasing pain, swelling and drainage of the area:
