What Causes Nails To Be Ingrown

Overview

Ingrown toenail | Cleveland Clinic — Ingrown toenail

What is an ingrown toenail?

An ingrown toenail is a foot condition that develops when the corner of the toenail grows downwards into the skin. Information technology usually affects the big toe. Ingrown toenails ofttimes happen when people cut their toenails by tapering the corner of their toenail. If the toenail curves with the shape of the toe, information technology can abound into your skin. Ingrown toenails are mutual and don't usually pose a wellness risk to healthy people.

Who is likely to have an ingrown toenail?

Anyone tin become an ingrown toenail. People at higher chance include adolescents, athletes and those who have:

Diabetes.
Severe nerve damage in the leg or foot.
Poor blood circulation.
An infection around the boom.

How mutual are ingrown toenails?

Ingrown toenails are a common foot condition. Ii out of ten people who meet their healthcare provider for a pes problem take an ingrown toenail.

Symptoms and Causes

What causes an ingrown toenail?

An ingrown toenail tin can take many causes:

Incorrectly cutting toenails. If you cut your toenails too curt or rounded, the blast may abound into the skin.
Improperly fitting shoes.
Violent the corner of the nail.
Toe trauma, such as banging your toe or getting stepped on.
Congenital (your foot shape) — for example, if your blast is larger comparatively with your toe, or the surrounding tissue of the boom border naturally grows around your smash.
What are the signs and symptoms of an infected ingrown toenail?

At starting time, an ingrown toenail can feel hard and bloated. If the blast grows into the skin, or the skin grows over the boom border, leaner tin can enter. The blast may become infected. Signs of ingrown toenail infection include:

Liquid or pus coming out of the toe.
Hurting.
Redness or darkening of the surface area.
Swelling.
Toe feeling warm or hot.

Diagnosis and Tests

How is an ingrown toenail diagnosed?

Y'all can often diagnose an ingrown toenail yourself, based on your symptoms and how the toe looks.

Your healthcare provider (which may exist your regular provider or a foot specialist called a podiatrist) volition likely diagnose an ingrown toenail past inspecting it. They'll examine the pare at the edge of the nail. They volition diagnose an ingrown toenail if the skin is:

Growing over the boom.
Swollen, tender, warm and red.

What tests might I have for an ingrown toenail?

You typically don't need any tests or Ten-rays to diagnose an ingrown toenail. In rare cases, when the toenail is severely infected, your healthcare provider might have a sample culture to identify the infection. X-ray may also be required in more serious infections.

Management and Treatment

How is an ingrown toenail treated?

You can care for an ingrown toenail at home. These steps help command the infection and prevent further pain:

Soak the foot in warm water and Epsom salts twice daily.
Continue the foot dry the residue of the time.
Gently lift the edge of the nail and place some cotton wool or dental floss between the nail and the skin. Modify the pad every day.
Employ an antibiotic cream and a bandage.
Wear roomy shoes or sandals.
Use pain relievers such every bit ibuprofen or acetaminophen, if needed.

Can I cut the ingrown nail myself?

If yous have an ingrown toenail, do non endeavor to cutting it yourself. If you cut the boom, the condition may go worse. If symptoms aren't getting better with calm remedies, see a healthcare provider.

Do I demand a healthcare provider to treat an ingrown toenail?

If your symptoms haven't improved within a few days, or the nail looks worse, call your healthcare provider.

Yous should besides come across your provider as soon as possible if yous develop an ingrown toenail and you accept:

Diabetes.
Severe nerve damage.
Poor blood circulation.
An infection.

Does an ingrown toenail crave surgery?

Most of the time, an ingrown toenail heals without surgery. In severe cases, your healthcare provider may need to remove part of the nail surgically. The procedure is called a nail avulsion. Surgery keeps the border of the blast from growing in and cutting into the pare. For children who keep getting infected ingrown toenails, permanently removing the smash can help.

During a partial or complete boom avulsion, your provider injects an anesthetic (numbing medicine) in your toe. And so the provider cuts away part or all of the toenail. It tin have a few months for the nail to regrow. For recurrent ingrown nails these avulsion procedures can be done permanently with the assistance of a chemical to impale the nail root.

###

Prevention

How can I prevent an ingrown toenail?

You tin have these steps to prevent an ingrown toenail:

Soak the nail in warm h2o before cut, or cut nails afterward a shower or bath.
Clean your smash trimmer before using it.
Exercise not tear or rip nails.
Trim toenails across the pinnacle. Don't round the corners.
Clothing shoes that fit correctly. They should not be besides loose or tight around the toes.
Avert repetitive trauma to the sides of the nails.
If you lot have diabetes, follow all foot intendance recommendations from your healthcare provider. With diabetes, do NOT exist hesitant most seeking medical aid.

Outlook / Prognosis

What is the outlook for someone with an ingrown toenail?

Most of the time, an ingrown toenail is non a serious wellness problem. Ingrown toenail treatment usually works. The ingrown toenail won't grow back if yous practice proficient pes care.

You lot may demand regular foot intendance exams if you have a condition that causes foot problems, such as nerve impairment or diabetes.

Living With

When should I run into my healthcare provider nearly an ingrown toenail?

Encounter your healthcare provider for an ingrown toenail if you have:

Diabetes.
Signs of an infection (pus or liquid drainage, farthermost pain or redness).
Poor apportionment.
Tried topical antibiotic ointment, soaking and self-care just the toe still hurts.

What should I ask my healthcare provider?

If you have an ingrown toenail, enquire your provider:

Is the nail infected?
How can I best treat it?
Do I demand surgery?
How tin I keep it from coming back?
Do I need medication?
How should I cut my nails to avoid ingrown toenails?

A note from Cleveland Clinic

An ingrown toenail is annoying and painful but very treatable. Often, soaking the boom will meliorate symptoms within a few days. If it doesn't become meliorate, see your healthcare provider who tin treat it. Don't attempt to cut the ingrown boom yourself at habitation. In the future, to prevent ingrown toenails, wearable roomy shoes and cut your nails straight beyond, rather than tapering them to the shape of your toe.

Source: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/17664-ingrown-toenails

Posted by: willissactim94.blogspot.com