An ingrown toenail is a common problem caused by the nail growing into the skin that surrounds the nail.
As the nail grows, it can grow into the sides of the toe – resulting in redness, pain, bleeding and infection. You can also get a build up of skin around the nail called hyper granulation tissue.
If you suspect infection (red, hot, swollen, puss present and throbbing) – a course of antibiotics from your GP will be necessary.
Cut too short or a nail spike left in the edge (sulci) of the toe.
Yes, your genetics may have predisposed you to have an ingrowing toenail. If one of your parents or siblings has issues with ingrowing nails, there is a good chance you may also develop problems in the future.
Some nails are more curved on one side, or both sides. This can be due to trauma, fungal nail infection or as mentioned above, a hereditary issue.
Yes, footwear plays a large part in everything foot related. Tight shoes can, over time cause the nail to become misshapen, squeeze the toebox and cause the toes to become cramped together, resulting in ingrown nails.
Resecting the nail to remove the sharp spike and retraining the nail to grow straight.
Advising on footwear, and you changing your footwear.
Teaching you how to cut your nails properly to stop this happening in the future.
This is a permanent solution to treat the troublesome ingrown nail. What this involves is a minor surgery under local anaesthetic to take away the problematic nail. A chemical called phenol is then applied to permanently prevent that section of nail from growing back.
