Ingrown Toenails- Ouch! - Advanced Physical Medicine
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Ingrown Toenails- Ouch!

My toenail is hurting me!

An ingrown toenail occurs when the toenail curves into the surrounding skin. On some occasions, it just punctures or pushes on the skin, causing pain. However, if it progresses, it can break the skin (often from a sharp piece on the nail), and this can cause the skin to get infected. Infected skin can become red, hot, swollen, and have pus coming from it.

Why did I get this?

Ingrown toenails can be caused by several things: trauma, cutting the nails incorrectly, fungal infections in the nail, bunion deformities, shoes that do not fit properly, or genetic (or inherited) causes.

What do I do?

It is important that you see a podiatrist to handle this condition. Trying to treat it by yourself can make it worse because it is hard to see, you do not have the correct or sterile instruments, and because you are not able to get out the problematic piece of nail.

What will your podiatrist do?

Occasionally, the nail can be cut out without anesthetic. However, in most cases, the ingrown nail can only be removed by numbing up the toe with anesthetic. If the toe is numb, the whole edge of ingrown nail can be more easily removed by your foot doctor. It is important that all of the offending nail is removed because the condition will not improve if there is still sharp nail cutting into the skin.

What will I have to do to take care of it when I go home?

Your podiatrist will give you soaking and bandaging instructions to perform each day for the next week. Usually, over the counter pain medication and resting (and elevating) are enough to handle any pain you will have. On occasion, there may be a severe infection that requires antibiotic pills or stronger pain medication. However, this is not required in most cases.

Will it come back?

Ingrown toenails can return. It takes 9-12 months for the whole nail edge to regrow. If the condition comes back, your doctor can talk to you about permanent procedures, so that this does not occur again.

If you have this condition, please call for an appointment with Dr. Bender, an Oak Park and Chicago podiatrist. 708-763-0580 Oak Park office

Dr. Bender is in private practice at APM and teaches at Dr. Scholl's School of Podiatry in Chicago.

Mary Ann Bender, DPM
Foot and Ankle Specialist
Advanced Physical Medicine

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