Posts for tag: rounded toenails
Ingrown toenails are one of the most common and painful things that can happen to your foot. These toenails usually occur on the side of your toe where your nail ends. This will occur when a sharp edge of the nail digs into the skin. This then creates a pocket of drainage making the toe swell and become very painful. Often times this slice in the toe can become infected around the skin, which is called paronychia.
This can happen for a number of reasons. Shoes that don't fit properly are most commonly the cause ingrown toenails. This includes shoes that are too tight therefore not giving the nail enough room to grow. The added pressure on the nail causes it to grow abnormally. Women who wear high heels often have this problem because of the shift of weight towards the toes.
Other causes of ingrown toenails are due to cutting the nails improperly. Nails should be cut straight across, not rounded. If a nail is rounded it is more apt to grow improperly into the surrounding skin. If you receive pedicures often make sure that your nails are being cut properly every time. Injury to the nails can also turn into an ingrown due to the shift in pressure on the nail. Fungal nails, which often makes nails thicker is another cause of ingrowns.
If you start to experience pain on the nail it is important to seek help from a podiatrist. Signs that you may have an ingrown toenail is if the side of your toe is painful, red, and swollen. Often times a podiatrist will look at your nail to make sure that the pain you are feeling is due to an ingrown nail.
Usually a podiatrist will start to remove the infection by removing the ingrown part of the toenail. Anesthesia is used during this procedure. If the nail or surrounding skin was infected an antibiotic may sometimes be prescribed and the patient will be asked to soak the toe. After the infection is completely healed a podiatrist may recommend removing the portion of the ingrown nail all the way down to the root. This prevents the nail from growing in the same way that it previously did.
To prevent the reoccurrence of an ingrown toenail it is extremely important to wear shoes that fit properly. Podiatrists have many shoes to recommend that will give your toenails the maximum amount of room to prevent another infection. It's also important to cut your nails properly: Straight, not curved at the edges. If you follow these rules it will greatly decrease your risk of developing an ingrown toenail.