What to do with an ingrown toenail: symptoms, causes, traditional treatment, home methods and prevention

The article talks about what to do with an ingrown toenail. This problem occurs quite often, it does not depend on the age and characteristics of the body. When it appears, it is first of all necessary to think about what could lead to its occurrence in order to avoid similar situations in the future. It also describes in detail what prophylactic methods exist, what symptoms happen, and also consider methods of official and alternative treatment.

What is it about?

In medical terminology, this problem is called onychocryptosis. Most often, it spreads on the legs, since it is they who receive the greatest load by weight during the day and throughout life. But in some cases, ingrown nails can appear even on the hands. The danger of this problem is that it leads to suppuration. This, in turn, can lead to serious complications when it will be impossible to do without the intervention of a surgeon. Note that the ailment is not only dangerous, but also quite unpleasant in feelings. It is accompanied by an inflammatory process that causes pain, especially when a person walks in closed shoes.

ingrown toenail photo

Causes

So, before wondering what to do if the nail has grown into a toe, we will deal with the possible causes of this situation:

  • Congenital problem. Very often it bothers people who naturally have a round shape of nails. Because of this, there are too many soft tissues under the nail that cause ingrowth. In addition, you must know that this disease can be inherited. It is also worth considering that flat feet can lead to the appearance of onychocryptosis.
  • The curvature of the fingers under the influence of valgus bones.
  • Incorrect pedicure procedure. Very often, a similar problem occurs after a person does the wrong manicure or turns to a non-professional master. The fact is that you can’t cut your nails too short. It is necessary to leave the corners of the nail plate intact and trim or file the nail while holding the tool in parallel. After that, the corners of the nails can be rounded with a nail file using a couple of movements. It is also best to trim the nails after steaming the legs. In this case, the skin becomes softer and more supple, and making a pedicure is much easier. But do not be too zealous and cut off the excess parts of the nail plate.
  • Received injuries of nails or fingers. Even minor injuries can lead to the appearance of an ingrown nail.
  • Wrong shoes. Very often, the toenail grows into the skin of those people who wear shoes that are not in size or do not take into account the features of their feet and wear high heels, wear too tight shoes or thin soles. It should be remembered that the shoes should be made of quality materials, because increased sweating can also trigger the appearance of onychocryptosis.
  • Fungus. Very often, as a result of this disease, a thickening of the nail begins to occur, which leads to the fact that such excessive layering changes the direction of growth. In this case, do not delay the treatment and immediately fight the fungus.
  • Neglect of hygiene. Sometimes a similar problem can occur due to foot hyperhidrosis.
  • Features of the structure. It happens that the disease occurs in people who have disproportionate and too long thumbs. Still at risk are people with wide fingers and a wavy shape of the nail plate. It differs in that it resembles an eagle claw and has characteristic roundings on the sides.
  • Incorrect crossing of fingers. Very often, even from childhood, people get used to crossing their fingers incorrectly due to tight or inappropriate shoes. In adulthood, this habit can cause a disease.
  • Great physical activity. Excessive physical exertion on the legs or excess weight can cause problems with the ingrown nail.
  • Non-compliance with seasonality. If you wear closed shoes in warm weather, you can cause excessive sweating of the legs, which will lead to softening of the nail plate. From this, the skin will swell and the direction of growth of the nail plate may change.

Children at risk

What to do with an ingrown toenail in a child? It would seem that such a problem should not concern children and adolescents, but this is not so. She suffers as adults, such children. That is why parents should always monitor the cleanliness and frequency of cutting nails. The negative point is that in young children a similar problem can occur on any finger. The reasons for the appearance are also many. Starting from birth defects and ending with improper care.

ingrown toenail photo

Symptoms

Most often, the toenail grows on the thumb, but do not forget that this can happen with any finger. To give a complete description of the symptoms, it must be clarified that they may vary depending on the stage of the disease. Also note that in 95% of cases, the ingrowth is always one-sided.

At the first stage, a mild inflammatory process occurs, which a person feels like slight redness in the affected area and swelling. While walking, he may feel a slight throbbing pain. In the second stage, the situation is exacerbated. The corners of the nail can penetrate the skin, which can cause injury, which will lead to the appearance of blood. Immediately after this, suppuration begins and the infectious process actively progresses. In the third stage, inflammation continues, which is characterized by severe bleeding. If at this final stage nothing is done with the problem, then it can become chronic and will be repeated regularly. In addition, it must be remembered that prolonged treatment can lead to a permanent distortion of the nail plate. That is why it is better to consult a doctor as soon as possible.

Note that in a chronic form, this disease causes relapses. Doctors, comparing onychocryptosis with other inflammatory ailments, rank it in second place in terms of the rate of infection. Strong suppuration can lead to the fact that other tissues will suffer, which will cause other diseases. In some cases, the problem starts so much that it can only be solved by amputation of the fingers.

the nail has grown into a toe

Conservative treatment

So what to do if a thumbnail grows in? To begin, consult a doctor. Most likely, he will offer you a conservative method of treatment, which consists in removing pus, eliminating inflammation and stopping pain with various medications. After that, doctors adjust the growth of the nail plate, trying to level it. The main difference between conservative treatment is that there is no need for surgical intervention, but the effectiveness of this method is rather doubtful, since in most cases the problem repeats. Nevertheless, the method is used, resorting to various baths for nails and antiseptics.

The most commonly used ointment is Levomekol, which has excellent antimicrobial properties. The patient is advised to apply gauze soaked in a special agent to the affected area at night. If possible, the doctor is trying to slightly raise the nail plate and put a cotton wool with ointment on it. In some cases, these manipulations are effective for the reason that it is possible to stop the inflammatory process. A prerequisite is cutting off the nails in a straight line to avoid a recurrence of the problem.

Orthopedic treatment

Suppose an ingrown toenail is inflamed. What to do? You can try the orthopedic treatment method, which is that the doctor gradually adjusts the growth of the nail plate using special braces and springs. As a result of such actions, the nail is gradually leveled and begins to grow in the right direction, gradually removed from the skin. This method is often compared to aligning teeth with braces. The course of treatment takes about 3 months, during which the patient must change the plate 3 times.

The advantage of this method is that it is quite convenient and does not require special efforts on the part of the patient. In addition, it should be noted that, it does not limit human activity and does not spoil the appearance of the nail. Women can even varnish orthopedic appliances. An ingrown toenail, the photo of which we see in the article, lends itself to orthopedic treatment.

the toenail grows on the big

Surgical intervention

This treatment method is used only in the most advanced cases, when other treatment methods were applied and did not bring results. In this case, it is necessary to partially or completely remove the nail to a sick person under local anesthesia. At the same time, surgical intervention can have several varieties, which depend solely on the skills of the doctor and the need to apply one or another technique in a particular case. An ingrown toenail, which is treated surgically, undergoes a long recovery period. A person has to use a lot of anti-inflammatory drugs and take pain medication, as pain can significantly limit domestic and professional activities.

Consider the possible methods of surgical intervention that are considered effective today. To begin, consider the traditional method, which is that the nail is removed with a scalpel. This is the most complex and traumatic method of surgical intervention, since the recovery period can take more than 2 weeks. In addition, the patient feels great discomfort and severe pain, and also experiences problems with wearing shoes.

Doctors also practice laser removal, which is much less traumatic. Using the tool, the tissue is cut and the ingrown part of the nail plate is evaporated. After that, the doctor processes the damaged areas. The big advantage of this method is that it passes quite quickly, eliminates bleeding, and allows you to save the maximum part of the nail, due to the fact that the tissues are damaged minimally. The big bonus is that with laser processing all fungal infections are completely destroyed. Naturally, the recovery period here is much shorter, and cases of relapse or possible complications are minimal. But it should be noted that the cost of such treatment is at a high level.

Another method that is used in modern medicine is the removal using radio waves - this is a painless method that takes several minutes. For work, a special apparatus is used, which is easy to adjust the strength of the intervention and the depth of exposure. The undoubted advantage of this method is that the nearest tissues are not affected at all.

Nevertheless, the removal of an ingrown toenail in any of the listed ways does not fully guarantee that this problem will not recur in the future.

photo of an ingrown toenail large

Folk ways

Note that in this case, the doctors themselves advise resorting to folk methods. The main thing is to listen to their recommendations and include logical thinking. In fact, home procedures and baths can really ease the course of the disease and even solve the problem in the initial stages. So, let's say you have an ingrown toenail on the big toe. In this case, treatment can be carried out without fear if you have previously consulted a doctor. For treatment, you can use a huge number of different products and ointments. Consider the most effective.

The most effective remedy is aloe. It is necessary to cut off part of the plant, and cut the leaf along. After this, it is necessary to heat the mass over a fire or pour a small amount of boiling water. Then the plant is applied to the sore spot and is fixed with a bandage for several hours or night. If the disease has just begun, then there is a high probability that in the morning the ingrown nail will separate from the healthy part of the plate. You can also try to raise the edge of the nail and put a piece of the plant there.

The second most effective is considered butter. For a compress, it is necessary to fill a small rubber case with warm butter and put it on your finger. This should be done for two to three weeks at night. After the pain begins to subside, it is necessary to raise the edges of the plate and place a cloth dipped in butter under it.

What to do if you are still concerned about the ingrown toenail? Treatment can be continued with Vishnevsky ointment. It is quite effective for these purposes. To get the result, you should make a night compress with ointment, and in the morning remove softened ingrown areas of the nail.

But the situations are different, sometimes you encounter a problem when you absolutely do not expect this. So, your toenail began to grow. What to do if you are not at home, and at hand you do not have the most necessary? For this, you can use the most ordinary honey. A simple compress with honey and grated onions can relieve you of pain and drown out the inflammatory process. In addition, it helps even in such neglected cases when problem areas are very festering. It is most effective if you make a compress at night and fix it with cling film.

It is also recommended to regularly make salt or soda baths. They will be an excellent prevention, as well as help alleviate the course of the inflammatory process and stop suppuration.

ingrown toenail treatment

For treatment, you can prepare the ointment yourself. To do this, take garlic, onions, honey, oil and aloe. All this must be chopped, mixed and cooked for 2 minutes. The mechanism of work is similar - you need to do night compresses.

If the nail has grown into the toe for the first time, then you should use herbal baths. They perfectly clean and disinfect the sore spot, and also interfere with the inflammatory process. An excellent choice would be chamomile, St. John's wort and calendula. After the nail has softened, a cotton swab with Vishnevsky ointment can be placed under it.

The method of home treatment with the use of sea buckthorn oil and plantain is very popular. Initially, the legs are steamed in a bath of soda and potassium permanganate, after which a piece of cloth soaked in sea buckthorn oil is placed under the plate. A few drops of oil are also dripped onto the finger, after which it is wrapped with plantain for the whole night. Note that sea buckthorn oil has an anti-inflammatory effect, and also perfectly removes swelling.

In order to steam the nail, which cannot be softened with the help of the baths, it should be smeared with badger fat.

An ingrown toenail, the photo of which we see in the article, is very often treated with one simple manipulation, which has gained great popularity and has proven itself perfectly. Its essence is that the nail plate is gradually cut off. Due to this, it becomes very thin and stops pressing on the ingrown areas, which allows you to gradually get rid of the pain. If you do not want to completely remove the entire plate, then you can make a vertical track along the length of the nail. The disadvantage is that this manipulation must be carried out every time after the nail has grown a little. But on the other hand, it is easier than regular baths and better than removing the nail plate with a scalpel.

Prevention

We have already figured out how to treat an ingrown toenail, but how to avoid this problem? To do this, remember several important rules that many neglect:

  • Treat any fungal infections immediately without delay.
  • If you suffer from diabetes, pay special attention to the condition of your nails.
  • Regularly massage your feet in order to remove rough skin and improve blood flow.
  • If possible, walk barefoot as often as possible.
  • Be careful when choosing shoes when choosing models made from natural materials. Also pay attention that it is convenient for you and in size.
  • If you feel that inflammation will begin soon, then make all the necessary preparations in advance, namely the herbal bath and compress with an antiseptic. Also inspect all shoes and discard one that could cause ailment.
  • Learn to trim your nails. , . - , , , .
  • , . , . , .

What can not be done?

, . . , , . , , . , , ? , , .

  • , 40 . .
  • A photo of an ingrown toenail often shows that it was cut short and unevenly. That is why never file the nail plate to the skin itself.
  • Never use nail polish if you want to get rid of the problem. It is valid only in the case of an orthopedic treatment.
  • In no case do compresses that may increase the spread of infection.

We figured out what problems can be when a toenail grows. You already know what to do in such a situation, but the main thing is to take action, and not to postpone the problem until it breaks out to a chronic scale.

Summing up, it should be noted that this problem occurs in a large number of people. The only difference is that some immediately begin to act and quickly get rid of an unpleasant illness, while others do not pay proper attention to it, for which they pay the discomfort and pain during their usual activities. Now that you know what to do with an ingrown toenail, do not put off this problem in a long box, try to make every effort to get rid of it forever. If you combine these methods, then your desire and perseverance is enough to defeat onychocryptosis.


All Articles