An ingrown toenail is a very common nail condition that causes pain, swelling, and warmth at the nail border. As the nail continues to grow into the skin, bacteria can get into the skin and lead to a soft tissue toenail infection called paronychia that results in redness, pus, and a bad odor. Once paronychia occurs, it is important to see your podiatrist as you may be prescribed oral antibiotics to rid the infection and then treat the ingrown toenail. Some risk factors of ingrown toenails are improperly trimming the nails, tight-fitting shoes, or trauma. Your doctor or podiatrist may recommend some at-home care treatment options for ingrown toenails without an active infection such as warm water foot soaks with Epsom salt and wearing proper shoe gear with plenty of room for the toes. However, home care treatments do not address the underlying problem of the ingrown nails and frequently reoccurs.

Often times, your doctor will also perform a minor toenail procedure in the office using local anesthetics to surgically remove the ingrown toenail without pain. If the ingrown nail grows back and becomes a chronic recurrent problem, your doctor may further recommend to permanently remove the offending nail at the nail border. This is called chemical matrixectomy as the nail roots and matrix are chemically destroyed. Partial nail avulsion is one of the most common toe surgeries and is very effective in resolving a painful ingrown toenail.

Your doctor or podiatrist may advise various treatment options as discussed above. So, if you are having painful ingrown toenails, call your podiatrist today to best treat them and to prevent ingrown toenails by learning how to properly trim toenails.

Please visit our website for more information or call 614-885-3338 (FEET) to schedule an appointment with us at our Columbus or Gahanna office