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What is nail care avulsion or ingrown toenail?

A common condition in which the corner or side of a toenail grows into the soft flesh is ingrown toenails. The result is pain, redness, swelling, and at times, infection. Ingrown toenails usually affect your toe and not fingers . Ingrown toenails can also be taken care of on their own. Your doctor can take measures to alleviate your discomfort if the pain is severe or spreading and help you prevent complications of ingrown toenails. You are at a higher risk for complications of ingrown toenails if you have diabetes or another disease that causes inadequate blood flow to your feet.

  • What is nail care avulsion or ingrown toenail?
  • What are the common causes of nail care avulsion?
  • How to prevent an ingrown toenail?
  • How to know that you need ingrown toenail treatment?
  • Some DIYs for ingrown toenail treatment
  • Ingrown toenail Treatment at Kosmoderma

A common condition in which the corner or side of a toenail grows into the soft flesh is ingrown toenails. The result is pain, redness, swelling, and at times, infection. Ingrown toenails usually affect your toe and not fingers . Ingrown toenails can also be taken care of on their own. Your doctor can take measures to alleviate your discomfort if the pain is severe or spreading and help you prevent complications of ingrown toenails. You are at a higher risk for complications of ingrown toenails if you have diabetes or another disease that causes inadequate blood flow to your feet.

Some of the common causes of an ingrown toenail are-

  • Wearing shoes that crowd your fingers and toe together
  • Cutting too short or skewed over your toenails
  • Injury of your toenail
  • Having unusually curved toenails

Some easy to follow steps to prevent ingrown toenails are:

1. Trim the toenails straight across- Don't bend your nails to match the shape of the front of your toe. If you have your toenails done in a salon, be sure to tell your pedicurist to trim your nails straight through. If you have a condition that causes low blood flow to your feet and you can't trim your nails, see a podiatrist regularly to trim your nails.

2. Wear shoes that fit correctly- Shoes that place too much pressure on or pinch your toes may cause the nail to grow into the surrounding tissue. If you have nerve damage to your feet, you may not feel if your shoes fit too tightly. Take care to buy and wear properly fitted shoes, preferably from a shoe store specializing in fitting shoes for people with foot problems.

3. Keep your toenails at a moderate length- Trim toenails so that they do not go beyond the tips of your toes. If you trim your toenails too short, the pressure on your toes from your shoes may cause the nail to grow into the tissue.

Based on your symptoms and a physical examination of your nail and the surrounding skin, your doctor may diagnose an embedded toenail.

Symptoms of nail care avulsion

Symptoms of an Ingrown Toenail include:

  • Pressure and tenderness along one or both sides of the nail in your toe
  • Redness around the toenail of the foot
  • Swelling around the nail with your toe
  • Infection of the toenail across the tissue.

Many ingrown toenails can be handled at home by following these simple steps-

1. Soaking feet in Warm Water. Do it three or four times a day for 15 to 20 minutes. Soaking decreases swelling and alleviates tenderness.

2. Place your fingernail under the cotton or dental floss. Put fresh bits of cotton or waxed dental floss under the embedded edge after each soaking. This will cause the nail to rise above the edge of the skin.

3. Place the antibiotic ointment and bandage the toe on the tender area.

4. Pick reasonable footwear and keep fashion aside. Until your toe feels better, try wearing open-toed shoes or sandals.

5. Take relievers for pain. Over-the-counter pain relievers can help to alleviate toe pain, such as acetaminophen (Tylenol, others), ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others), and naproxen sodium (Aleve).

If home remedies have not improved your ingrown toenail and you live in and around Bangalore, we have your back. We provide some of the best treatment for ingrown toenail:

  1. Raising a nail- the doctor can carefully raise the nail edge for a slightly embedded nail (redness and pain but no pus) and put cotton, dental floss, or a splint under it. This removes the nail from the skin overlying it and allows the nail to expand above the skin’s edge.
  2. Partial nail removal- the doctor can trim or remove the nail’s embedded portion for a more embedded severe toenail (redness, pain, and pus). Your doctor may temporarily numb your toe by injecting it with an anesthetic before this procedure.
  3. Nail and tissue removal- The doctor may suggest removing a portion of the nail along with the underlying tissue if you have the problem repeatedly on the same toe (nail bed). This procedure may stop the back growth of that part of your nail. A chemical, a laser, or another method will be used by the doctor.

The doctor may also recommend using topical or oral antibiotics, especially if the toe is infected or at risk of becoming infected.

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