Ingrown Toenail

Foot and Ankle Center of Fort Lee, LLC

Podiatry & Foot & Ankle Surgery located in Fort Lee, NJ, Queens, Forest Hills, NY, Gramercy, New York, NY, & Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY

Ingrown toenails aren’t just a cosmetic problem that you can ignore, and without the right podiatric care, you could develop complications like a bone infection. With offices in Fort Lee, New Jersey, Forest Hills, New York, Gramercy, New York, New York, & East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York, the specialists at Foot and Ankle Center of Fort Lee, LLC offers effective treatments of ingrown toenails and can help you take care of your feet to prevent further problems. Call your nearest office today or click to conveniently book online.

Ingrown Toenail Q & A

What is an ingrown toenail?

When the corner or the side of your toenail grows the wrong way, into the soft flesh around the nail, you have an ingrown toenail. Ingrown toenails typically afflict the big toe.

An ingrown toenail can cut into your skin and become painful, resulting in inflammation, redness, swelling, and pus. More serious ingrown toenails can, without the proper care, can lead to a bone infection.

If you have poor blood flow in your feet caused by medical conditions like diabetes, your risk of developing the complications of ingrown toenails, including gangrene (a serious flesh-killing infection), increase.

What causes ingrown toenails?

Some things that contribute to the development of ingrown toenails include:

Poor posture
Poor hygiene
Toenail injury
Improperly fitting shoes
Unusually curved toenails
Poor foot structure and genetics
Fungal infection

You can also get an ingrown toenail due to edges of an oversized nail bed that push into your skin. Cutting your toenails straight across or cutting them too short can also lead to an ingrown toenail.

How are ingrown toenails treated?

Soak your feet in warm water for 20 minutes twice daily to decrease swelling and tenderness. To take care of your ingrown toenail at home, you can also soften the edges of your nails by filing and trimming your nails properly. You can also place bandages or padding around your ingrown toenail for protection and comfort.

To treat your ingrown toenail, your podiatrist might also suggest:

Prescription antibiotics
Orthotic devices
Pain-relieving or anti-inflammatory medications

To provide you with temporary relief, your podiatrist might clip the corner of your toenail conveniently and quickly in-office without anesthesia.

With a toenail that’s only slightly ingrown, your podiatrist can lift the edge of the nail and place cotton, a splint, or another material to separate your skin and your nail. The splint can help your nail to grow comfortably in the right direction over your skin edge.

If you have severe and recurring ingrown toenails, your podiatrist could suggest removing a part or all of your underlying tissue and nail with the application of an acid or chemical to the nail root. This effective procedure — called a partial nail plate avulsion — is done in the office with an injection of a local anesthetic and no downtime.

Get rid of your ingrown toenail and take care of one of your most important yet often overlooked body parts, your feet. Call the office nearest you for treatment options or schedule an appointment online.

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