When a toe nail is in-grown, the corners or sides of the nail curl down and dig into the skin, causing swelling, redness and pain.
If you do not wear footwear that fit well and trimmed nails incorrectly, you may set the stage for an in-grown toe nail. Shoes that are too small and tight press the sides of the nail and make it curl into the skin. Nails that are peeled off at the edge or trimmed down at the corners are also more possibly to become in-grown toe nails.
When you initially have an in-grown toe nail, it may be swollen, hard and yet tender. Later, it may become red and infected, and feel very sore. You may even see pus drain from it. Finally, your skin may begin to grow over the in-grown toenail.
To treat an infected in-grown toe nail, soak your foot in soapy, warm water a few times everyday. You may need to gently lift the edge of the in-grown toe nail from its embedded position and insert some cotton or waxed dental floss between the ingrown toe nail and your skin. Change this bandage on a daily basis. If your infection is serious, your doctor may prescribe a course of antibiotics.
If the infection keeps coming back, your podiatrist may remove part of your in-grown toe nail (partial nail plate avulsion).Meaning, your affected toe is injected with an anesthetic and your doctor would use scissors to cut away the in-grown part of the toe nail, taking care not to expose the nail bed. An exposed nail bed can be very painful.
Removing your entire in-grown toe nail (complete nail plate avulsion) increases the probability, that your toenail will come back deformed. However it may take up to 3-4 months for your nail to re-grow...
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