Do’s and Don’ts for Dealing with Ingrown Toenails

Ouch! Your big toe is blown up and swollen. It’s also red and warm and very tender to the touch. At Texas Foot Specialists we recognize these as the telltale symptoms of an ingrown toenail—a common and very painful condition that we treat often at our Sugar Land (281-242-4448), Pasadena (281-991-0600) or Houston (713-664-6677) offices. Below are some do’s and don’ts for preventing and caring for ingrown toenails.

Do: trim your nails regularly. Nails should be cut short, but not so short that the edges of the nails are easily overlapped by the skin surrounding them.

Don’t: file toenails with tapered edges to match the curve of your toes. This causes them to grow back down into the skin. Always file toenails straight across.

Don’t: wear shoes and socks that are very tight on the toes, squeezing them together up against one another.

Do: soak your foot in warm, soapy water if you feel that a nail is starting to become ingrown. You may do this several times a day and then gently try to massage the corner of the nail out of the skin.

Don’t: delay seeking treatment if the ingrown nail seems to be getting worse instead of better. Once the nail punctures the skin, bacteria may enter through the open cut and cause an infection.

Don’t: attempt your own “bathroom surgery” to cut out an ingrown nail. Treatment is best left to our podiatrists, Dr. Bruce Miller and Dr. Gregory Mangum. If an infection is present, the foot doctor will prescribe an antibiotic. If the infection is severe or a nail repeatedly becomes ingrown, the podiatrist may perform a minor surgical procedure known as a partial nail plate avulsion, where the ingrown part of the nail is removed under local anesthesia.

Like most podiatric problems, ingrown toenails will only get worse without treatment. If you suspect you have an ingrown nail, contact us as soon as possible.