How to treat ingrown toenails?

Some friends have their nails grow into the flesh because of the incorrect way of cutting their nails. This must be very painful, so friends must pay attention to the way of cutting their nails. If the toenail grows into the flesh, the patient can stuff a small ball of cotton under the toenail, which will slowly grow away from the underlying flesh. If the situation is more serious, medical treatment should be sought promptly.

1. Causes

The main reasons for toenails growing into the flesh are that the toenails are cut too short and too deep, or wearing tight and small shoes that squeeze the toes, causing the toenails to bend and become embedded in the flesh; the toenails can also be caused by trauma such as being kicked; in addition, certain foot diseases, such as onychomycosis, can also make the toenails brittle and deformed, causing ingrown toenails.

2. Self-treatment methods

Once you find that the toenail is growing into the flesh, you should deal with it promptly to avoid secondary infection, abscess or granulation tissue hyperplasia. After an ingrown toenail appears, you can use a small ball of sterile cotton to stuff it under the ingrown toenail at home to move it away from the skin until it grows beyond the skin surface. The cotton needs to be replaced every day. If you are unable to lift the toenail, you can soak your foot in warm salt water for 30 minutes to soften the toenail, then lift it up and place a cotton ball under it.

3. Treatment methods

If the above self-treatment methods cannot relieve the symptoms, you need to go to the hospital's surgical clinic to see a doctor. In case of secondary infection, the doctor will prescribe oral antibiotics, combined with topical corticosteroids, and iodine-based disinfectants. In some cases, the doctor will help you cut off the severely diseased part of the toenail; when the condition is serious or often recurs, the entire toenail can be removed to completely cure it; after the nail removal operation, the nail will generally grow out slowly after a month, and will slowly return to its original state in about three months.

4. Preventive measures

1. Correctly trimming toenails is the key to preventing this disease. Before cutting your nails, you should soak your feet to soften them. Use nail clippers to trim your nails, but don't trim them too short or too deep. When cutting your nails, you should cut them horizontally along the front edge of the nails. Don't cut the sides too short, and polish them smooth to prevent the socks from tearing the nails.

2. The shoes should be comfortable and loose, and choose the right size. The front end of the shoe should not be too narrow or too small to avoid squeezing the toes.

3. If you have onychomycosis, you must cure it thoroughly, otherwise the ingrown toenail will easily recur.

5. Tips

The growth rate of our fingernails (toenails) is: faster in the middle and slower on the sides. Under normal circumstances, the nails grow forward. If the side nails are cut too short, the middle nails will grow to both sides and eventually pierce the skin on the sides, forming paronychia. Therefore, when trimming nails, it is best to use the skin on the hand as the boundary to effectively prevent paronychia and ingrown toenails.