Copyright (c) 2010 Mitchell Wachtel DPM

Ingrown toenails are one of the most common and painful things that can happen to your foot. These toenails usually occur on the side of your toe where your nail ends. This will occur when a sharp edge of the nail digs into the skin. This then creates a pocket of drainage making the toe swell and become very painful. Often times this slice in the toe can become infected around the skin, which is called paronychia.

This can happen for a number of reasons. Shoes that don't fit properly are most commonly the cause ingrown toenails. This includes shoes that are too tight therefore not giving the nail enough room to grow. the increase of pressure on the toe nail can cause it to grow improperly. High heels often exacerbate this problem because of the weight put on the toes.

Other causes of ingrown toenails are due to cutting the nails improperly. Nails should be cut straight across, not rounded. Rounded nails often grown improperly into the surrounding skin. If you receive pedicures often make sure that your nails are being cut properly every time. Injured nails can grow into ingrown nails because of a shift in pressure. Thick fungal nails often can cause ingrowns.

If you start to experience pain on the nail it is important to seek help from a podiatrist. If your toe is painful, red, or swollen, you probably have an ingrown toenail. Often times a podiatrist will look at your nail to make sure that the pain you are feeling is due to an ingrown nail.

Usually a podiatrist will start to remove the infection by removing the ingrown part of the toenail. Anesthesia is used during this procedure. If the nail or surrounding skin was infected an antibiotic may sometimes be prescribed and the patient will be asked to soak the toe. After the infection is completely healed a podiatrist may recommend removing the portion of the ingrown nail all the way down to the root. This prevents the nail from growing in the same way that it previously did.

Wearing shoes that fit properly will help to decrease your chance of getting an ingrown toenail. Podiatrists have many shoes to recommend that will give your toenails the maximum amount of room to prevent another infection. It's also important to cut your nails properly: straight across, don't curve the nail at the edges. If you follow these rules it will greatly decrease your risk of developing an ingrown toenail.