Toenails are made up of keratin and are our protective shield for the tissue on our toes. The condition of our nails can be a direct indicator of our overall health. Many things can go wrong if we ignore our nails and what they are telling us. Common disorders and diseases that affect the toes are bacterial and fungal infections, warts, tumors, and ingrown toenails. Ingrown Toenails Onychocryptosis is the correct medical term for ingrown toenail. Ingrown toenails are one of the most common nail disorders.
It is caused when the corner of the nail grows into the paronychium or side of the nail bed, the soft fleshy tissue. Causes Ingrown toenails can be caused by wearing improper shoes that hold your toes too close together, cutting the nails too short or uneven, an injury, or having curved toenails. Some medical conditions can cause ingrown toenails such as, diabetes, obesity, fungus, arthritis, bony tumors of the toes, excessive sweating of the feet. Ingrown toenails commonly affect the big toe.
Signs and Symptoms Common signs and symptoms are pain, fever, swelling, and redness. The skin around the toenail will appear to be growing over the nail. The skin will feel warm, firm and be tender to the touch and may have a small amount of pus present. If left untreated it may become infected. Treatment Most ingrown toenails may be treated at home and do not require the help of a medical professional. At home remedies include soaking the affected toe several times a day for 15-20 minutes each time to soften the skin around the nail and lleviate the tenderness. After soaking place a cotton ball or dental floss underneath the nail to raise it so that the skin will begin to grown under the nail instead of over. Raise the leg or foot above the heart. Applying an antibiotic ointment or cream will also help prevent an infection. Take oral anti-inflammatory drugs. Occasionally at home treatment is not enough and medical intervention is required.
Medical Treatment If at home care doesn’t work you should seek medical attention there are a few things your doctor can do. hey can prescribe antibiotics to prevent or treat an infection, when the infection is gone they can perform a minor surgery to cut the nail out. One of which is called partial nail avulsion this is where they cut the ingrown section out. Another option would be a partial matricectomy this is which they destroy part of your nail matrix, so a small part of your nail will stop growing. Most of these procedures are done under anesthetic medicine at the point where the toe joins with the foot. This will make the entire toe numb.
You should seek immediate medical attention if you have a red streak coming from your arm or leg. In serious cases A tetanus immunization will be given if it has been longer than five years since the last one. Since there is a chance the open wound could develop tetanus. X-ray will be taken to make sure that the infection hasn’t spread to the bone. If all other surgeries have failed they can do a matricectomy which is where they remove the whole nail and the tissue so it can’t grow back. Follow up care Keep the dressing on for two day, on the second day take it off wash with soap and water.
Apply a triple antibiotic ointment, and place new gauze on repeat this step twice a day until the wound is healed. In three to five days you should have a follow up appointment. Take all prescribed antibiotics or pain medicine if necessary. Keep the wound dry, the first three days you should have your foot propped to help with swelling . You should be back on your feet between two days and two weeks depending on the procedure, it may take longer to get back to athletic activity Prevention Now that we have talked about ingrown toenails and how to treat them let’s talk about preventing them.
Trim your nails straight across don’t curve them to match the front of your toes. if you get pedicures tell pedicurist to have them trim them straight, if a health condition like poor blood circulation go to your podiatrist often to have them trimmed. It’s also a good idea to keep your nails at a medium length, when your nails are too short shoes push them into your skin. Wear shoes that fit you correctly, shoes that are too tight cause your nail to push into surrounding tissue.
If you have nerve damage you should go to a shoe store specializing in fitting shoes since you can’t tell if your shoes are tight fitting or not. Wearing protective footwear when at risk for injury. Check your feet for any signs of an ingrown nail to help catch it early on. Ingrown toenails are very common, but also pretty easy to treat. If you have underlining medical conditions you should see a doctor right away, otherwise you can try home remedies to treat them yourself. surgery maybe required if they don’t get better. Ingrown toenails can be prevented if you take the right precautions.
