Causes

This common disorder is due to trimming your toenails too short. The sides of the nail curl down and dig into your skin. An ingrown toenail may also happen if you wear shoes that are too tight or too short. Any of your toenails can get ingrown, but it is most likely to affect your big toes. When you first have an ingrown toenail, it may be hard, swollen and tender. Finally, your skin may start to grow over the ingrown toenail. Sometimes it may get red and infected, and feel very sore. You may see pus drain from it.

Treatment

To treat an infected ingrown toenail, soak your foot in warm, soapy water several times each day. You may need to gently lift the edge of the ingrown toenail from its embedded position and insert some cotton or waxed dental floss between the nail and your skin. Change this packing every day. If your infection is severe, your doctor may prescribe a course of antibiotics. Learn how to trim your toenails properly. Wear clean socks and open-toed shoes, such as sandals.

Surgery

If you are in a lot of pain and/or the infection keeps coming back, your GP, podiatrist or surgeon may remove part of your ingrown toenail under a local anaesthetic. The choice is between only the removal of part of the nail (partial nail plate avulsion), removal of the ingrown edge and part of the tissue, which grows new nail (wedge resection), or removal of the entire nail and all the growth potential (Zadek procedure). Ingrown toenails often recur after the lesser procedures.