Ingrown toenails are quite common and occur on the side of your toes and result in swelling and drainage which occurs in the toes. Ingrown toenails occur because of an indentation and slice in the toe which creates a pocket of drainage and many times causes an infection or what is called a paronychia. These painful problems can occur from trauma, shoegear which is tight or from improper nail cutting. Usually with some anesthesia we can remove the infection by removing the ingrown toenail. If infected we usually prescribe an antibiotic and soaking instructions. After the infection is healed we recommend a procedure where we remove the ingrown portion of the nail down to the root. This procedure will usually remove the painful ingrown nail and then the pain and the possibility of reinfection will probably not recur.
Podiatrist - North Andover
451 Andover Street
North Andover, MA 01845
(978) 794-8406