Medical Questions » Nails Questions » Question No. 706
| Question: | My life is a misery because of constantly ingrowing toenails. What can I do? |
| Answer: | It is often the small problems that can cause significant disability, discomfort, inconvenience and pain. An ingrown toenail may involve only a small corner of your big toe, but it can totally disable you. Almost invariably, it is the big toe that is involved, but the smaller toes can occasionally develop the problem.
Ingrown toe nails are caused by tight shoes (particularly those with high heels), tearing nails rather than cutting them, and poor foot care and hygiene. If the corner of the nail is not allowed to grow outside the flesh of the toe, tearing and damaging the nails may lead to the formation of a spicule of nail that will steadily grow into the tissue, causing severe pain and eventually an infection.
Obviously, prevention is better than cure, and correct foot care, with particular emphasis on careful nail cutting and properly fitted shoes should prevent most cases of ingrown nails. Treatment will depend on the severity of the condition, and the degree of infection present. Pulling back the proud flesh that overgrows the ingrown nail and inserting antiseptic, antibiotic or antifungal creams and lotions may be all that is necessary in early stages. Antibiotic tablets may be necessary in more severe cases, and carefully cutting a wedge from the centre of the nail seems to relieve the pressure at the sides.
Severe or recurrent cases will require a more long-lasting surgical procedure. Several of these are available, but the most common involves cutting away the edge of the nail and the proud flesh over the ingrown part of the nail, as well as removing part of the nail bed, in a procedure known as a wedge resection. This is normally done under local anaesthetic by your own general practitioner or a surgeon.
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