ingrown toenails?

Question

Is there a home remedy for ingrown toenails. Because of a fascination with cowboy boots, I have developed ingrown nails on both of my big toes. I will most likely have to have a doctor's help, but am wondering if there is anything I can try, before I seef a professional's help?

Answer 1

It is not a good idea to try to treat these yourself. Trying to trim ingrown tonails can lead to infection and unbearable pain. Leave this to your doctor who can do it correctly and help with pain management as well. Mose likely, you will be referred to a podiatrist. Good luck.

Answer 2

I have also developed ingrown nails on both of my big toes last year. I used to seek professional help. But then, one day, though painful, I decided to leave it alone for, I think, a week or two. My patience paid off. The ingrown finally came out of my toe and I just have to pull it myself, no pain! And it never came back! Try it! Do away with wearing boots until the ingrown comes out. You will know when it comes out coz you'll no longer feel any pain on your toenails and you will see a small bulge on the side of your toenails indicating that that's the time to pull it off.

Answer 3

For $16 including shipping you can get the tape from the PBS radio talk show The People's Pharmacy about healthy feet, including ingrown toenail information/advice.

This site is good for whatever ails you...they've been on forever and are real professionals with excellent advice.

Answer 4

there are in ordinary terms 2 "secrets and strategies" to struggling with ingrown toenails. a million. decrease your nails sq. around the top of the toe. never decrease the nail back at the back of the top of the toe. 2. positioned on shoes that have a great "container", or toe. never get shoes that squeeze the feet at the same time. in case you have any query approximately this, ask your loved ones physician approximately it at your next bypass to. I ought to accept as true with, although. the terrific scientific care is prevention.

Answer 5

I would just let the Doctor take care of it. They will freeze the area and take the ingrown part out. It would be quite painful to do yourself.

Answer 6

i have had three.you didnt get them from boots unless they were 3 sizes to small.the best thing to do is let a doctor cut it and cauterise the roots.ask if your grandparnts had this as it is hereditary and skips a generation.

Answer 7

my dad told me he cuts a v in the middle of the end of the toenail,but only to prevent them.

Answer 8

Home Treatment

If the condition is mild, doctors recommend daily soaking of the affected digit in Epsom salts and applying over-the-counter antibiotics. This might allow the nail to grow out so it may be trimmed properly and the flesh to heal. A simple yet painful procedure for mild ingrowth (i.e., where infection is absent) requires small scissors to trim the nail completely along the nail margin down to the lateral base. This hopefully allows the embedded piece of nail to be pushed back and out from the toe tissue. Note that infection may be somewhat difficult to prevent in cleaning and treating ingrown nails owing to the warm, dark, and damp environment in shoes. Peroxide is immediately effective to help clean minor infections but iodine is more effective in the long term as it continues to prevent bacterial growth even after it is dry. [N.B.: Iodine should not be used on deep wounds. In such cases a physician or podiatrist should be consulted.] Also, bandages can help keep out bacteria but one should never apply any of the new types of spray-on bandages to ingrown nails that show any discharge - preventing drainage will likely cause intense swelling and pain.

These home remedies are often ineffective: frequently, the flesh is far too swollen and infected to allow for these procedures to work. Thus, severe cases, such as when the area around the nail becomes infected or the nail will not grow back properly, must be treated by a professional and the patient should avoid repeated attempts at this type of 'bathroom surgery.'

Phenolization

Following injection of a local anaesthetic at the basis of the toenail and perhaps application of a tourniquet, the surgeon will remove (ablate) the edge of the nail growing into the flesh and cauterize the matrix area with phenol to permanently and selectively destroy the matrix that is manufacturing the ingrown portion of the nail (i.e., the nail margin). This is known as a partial matrixectomy, phenolisation, phenol avulsion or partial nail avulsion with matrix phenolisation. Also, any infection is surgically drained. The podiatrist will wrap the toe and send the patient home with specific instructions on soaking the toe (usually in a solution of warm water, epsom salts and white vinegar) and set up a post operative appointment to monitor the surgically repaired toe. The point of the procedure is that the nail does NOT grow back where the matrix has been cauterized and so the chances of further ingrowth are very low. The nail is slightly (usually one millimeter or so) narrower than prior to the procedure and is barely noticable one year later. Advantages: the surgery can be performed in the doctor's office under local anaesthesia; minimal pain following the intervention; no need to stop work; no visible scar; nominal chance of recurrence. Disadvantages: the procedure will fail in about 2 to 3 times out of one hundred.

Wedge Resection

Partial removal of the nail or an offending piece of nail. More complex than a complete nail avulsion (removal).

Here, the digit is first injected with a common local anesthetic. After the area is numb, the physician will perform an onychotomy in which he cuts away (ablates) the nail along the edge that is growing into the skin and pulls out the offending piece of nail. Any infection is surgically drained. This process is referred to as a "wedge resection" or simple surgical ablation and is non-permanent (i.e., the nail will re-grow from the matrix). The entire procedure may be performed in a doctor's office and takes approximately thirty to forty-five minutes depending on the extent of the problem. The patient is allowed to go home immediately and the recovery time is anywhere from a few days to a week barring any complications such as infection. As a followup, a physician may prescribe an oral or topical antibiotic or a special soak to be used for approximately a week after the surgery.

Disadvantages: This method is prone to failure because the procedure can leave a somewhat sharp edge that can continue to press into the flesh. Also, the underlying condition can still become symptomatic as the nail grows out over the course of up to a year: the nail matrix might be manufacturing a nail that is simple too curved, thick, wide or otherwise irregular to allow for normal growth. Furthermore, the flesh can be injured very easily by concussion, tight socks, quick twisting motions while walking or just the fact the nail is growing wrongly (likely too wide). This hypersensitivity to continued injury can mean chronic ingrowth; the solution is nearly always edge avulsion by the highly successful phenolisation.
Post-surgery toe with removed nail shard
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Post-surgery toe with removed nail shard
Toenail that had wedge resections on both sides but soon failed on one side because of a slight concussion; other side failed one month later
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Toenail that had wedge resections on both sides but soon failed on one side because of a slight concussion; other side failed one month later
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CO2 Laser surgery

Following injection of a local anaesthetic at the basis of the toe and perhaps application of a small tourniquet, the surgeon will remove (ablate) the edge of the nail growing into the flesh and cauterize the matrix area by laser photocoagulation. This too is known as a partial matrixectomy or partial nail avulsion. Here too, the point of the procedure is that the nail does NOT grow back where the matrix has been cauterized and so the chances of further ingrowth is very low. The nail is slightly (usually one millimeter or so) narrower than prior to the procedure. Disadvantages: sutures are usually necessary, post-operative pain due to the wound and scar.
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Nail Avulsion (Removal)

While in some similar cases patients may wish to have the offending nail completely temporarily removed (avulsion), this procedure is not recommended by nail experts because the postoperative period is long and painful. Furthermore, complete removal of whole nail does not always prevent recurrences (2,3).

Complete removal of whole nail is a simple procedure. Here, anaesthetic is injected, the nail is removed quickly and painlessly and the patient can leave immediately. The entire procedure can be performed in around 10 minutes and is much less complex than a "wedge resection" as above. Note that the nail will grow back. However, in most cases it will cause further problems as it can become ingrown very easily as the nail grows outward. It can become easily injured by concussion and in some cases grows back too thick, too wide or deformed. This procedure can thus result in chronic ingrown nails and is therefore considered a generally unsuccessful solution, especially considering the pain involved.

Accordingly, in some cases as determined by a doctor, the nail matrix is coated with a chemical (usually phenol) so none of the nail will ever grow back. This known as a permanent or full nail avulsion, or full matrixectomy, phenolisation, or full phenol avulsion. As can be seen in the images below, the nail-less toe looks much like a normal toe and fake nails or nail varnish can still be applied to the area.


WOW THAT'S A LOT OF INFORMATION - I WEDGED IT OUT OF THE TREATMENT SECTION IN WIKIPEDIA. IF YOU WANT TO SEE SOME IMAGES OF THE TREATMENT PROCESS, SCROLL DOWN AT THIS LINK: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingrown_toenail

GOOD LUCK!

Answer 9

firat of all, OUCH!! and not really, you should seek professional help for that, get them cut out, you'll thank me later!