# Ingrown Nails



## RnJ (Aug 18, 2009)

I'm sure these are no new story to you guys. I get an average of one per year -- either from wearing tight shoes or cutting my nails badly. Here's a brief description:

"Onychocryptosis (also known as an "Ingrown nail," or "Unguis incarnatus"[1]) is a common form of nail disease. It is an often painful condition in which the nail grows so that it cuts into one or both sides of the nail bed. While ingrown nails can occur in both the nails of the hand and feet, they occur most commonly with the toenails." (source: Ingrown nail - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, click for more info including treatments)

I had an ingrown large toenail last year, since I got some cheap-o orthotic insoles that were supposed to work. Wit hthe added sole height, my feet were squished, but I duked it out because the doctor said I just had to break them in -- A week lateri t became obvious I had an ingrown toenail. So I got it cut out my the doct, because it was too bad for me to do on my own.

Recently I got another one. I don't know how, this time. But save for the first two times I got it as a child, and one or two nails that I did not deal with soon enough, I've been self-treating them.

There are two methods which I can personally recommend. The first one works well if you catch the problem early enough. That is to push a strip of cotton beneath the sharp edge digging into your nail bed. You'll probably need a slim device to shove beneath it and jack it up, under which you can jam the cotton. You want that tip to be up enough to be visibly NOT running into your skin. I tried this last night, and it didn't work, likely because the nail was too far under the skin. You'll notice some pain is released from the purple area on your toe when you touch it, if it's successful. The next morning, it was still hurting more from having poke my knife in the sensitive area just trying to find the edge.

So I went for round two. I figured I'd just go for the sure-fire method, which is to remove that corner of the nail altogether, using a pocket knife or nail clippers. This is a little more painful, but is THE final solution; a new start for your toe. I cut what I could dig out in about 1/2 hour, and figured I had it all. By the afternoon, none of the pain had subsided, so I knew I had to go back in.

I considered cashing in on free Canadian healthcare, but didn't want to wait 2 or 3 days for the surgery -- plus it's a hassle to go under the knife. So I was even more motivated. This time, I cut some of the skin attached the bottom of the nail to the toe, and just made a mess of it. I clipped some dying skin away, and kept digging. I was shocked to come accross some big chunks of cotton. They were so deep, I can't think they were even good for the situation. I tore them out and used some sort of tweazer to rip the nail vertically and then to the side, as the problem part of the nail must not just have been the top right, but most of the side. It bled nice enough, and the flesh is kinda a mess right now, but I'm just fine on my feet now! The pressure has gone and I should be fine now.

If you do this, make sure to keep your foot as unrestricted as possible to keep the nail from growing downward again. I use a home-knit slipper, but on the road you may just want to hang out in your socks or wear a hospital-like bootie, home-bum style. It's that, or in another week or two you will be literally lame and a homebum...

What are your preferred methods of dealing with this?


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## Mouse (Aug 18, 2009)

yikes. mine have never gotten that bad. I've had them get bad a few times when I was a kid (the inner edge of my big toe likes to get messy) so now I obsessively trim my nails and dig out the gunk that gets into the corners under the nail and pull the nail out of the corner and keep it trimmed.

i've had people (nail people, getting a pedi is always intersting) tell me I need to stop trimming my toe nails so much because it's bad for them.. I just tell them I know better.


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## Rash L (Aug 18, 2009)

I am adamant about keeping my toenails slightly longer than they need to be, even when getting a pedicure and having the lady look at me angrily. I also have an obsession with slipping things (my thumb nails or the nail file thingies) under my nail and sliding it to the corners to lift the edge of the nail out, and remove gunk, I probably do this at least once a day if I can. My mother had surgery for her ingrown toenail. The doctor removed half of the nail, but neglected to get a piece of it out of the side of her toe. It got extremely infected, she got the whole toenail removed and it never came back! now she gets a fake nail put on every other week and she is really embarrassed when it falls off in the club or the pool or whatever. It really does look gnarly under there!


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## veggieguy12 (Aug 20, 2009)

I had the same ingrown toenail (from poor trimming, I guess) twice: I went to the White Bird Clinic while I was in Eugene, OR and they clipped off and pulled out the whole side of the nail which was poking into the flesh.

\I dunno if they didn't go far enough toward center or what, but as it grew back, it went right back into the skin, so I returned (from Seattle) and they did the same move, but more extreme, taking about half the nail. And that was a lil' over a year ago, since which it has grown out just fine. And like Rash L said, I am wary of repeating this mistake and try to keep my nails a bit longer than I would like, so that I know they aren't gonna grow into my skin.

I suggest going to properly-trained people for several reasons, not the least of which is the anesthesia they can give! The way they clipped my toenail to the nailbed and then yanked it out - well, that's used as a torture in many place, and I was only able to watch it because their lidocaine numbed it up so well. 2 or 3 days to wait for treatment is better to me than screwing it up worse or having to fix it while enduring the pain of the fix.


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## RnJ (Aug 20, 2009)

veggie, certainly if one doesn't know the symptom and/or isn't prepared enough to deal with it within 2 weeks, it becomes very hard to do on your own. By this, I mean that it is not immediately necessary to clip off half or even a 1/4 of the whole nail. Also, I found that tightly grasping my toe in my fist helped me to contain and withstand whatever pain there was. The last time I DID go get it cut out by the doc, and perhaps it messed up from that, or from me cutting it weird due to it not growing back very straight. Whatever the case, it's still doing great after a few days. I always figure that as frequently as I get them, I'd rather try it myself, and then if I just can't do it, go to the doc's. At best, it works fine, and due to a less scalpel-happy method and a lot of chemical injections, you'll be outta homebum mode after a day. It's amazing how fast the pain can leave once the problem part of the nail is clipped.

Remember that scene in Master & Commander where the little boy just lays down on the table, gets a little to bar to bite on while they amputate his arm right there and then? Yeah, ingrown toenails are nothing like that.


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## sleep (Aug 21, 2009)

This is a method I have used. Use the file/fingernail cleaner off your toenail clippers and pry your toenail up and then use ingrown toenail clippers to cut that portion of the toe nail out when you are done put triple antibiotic cream or something similar on and bandage the toe. keep in mind you need to clip the nail under the cuticle as well and you will probably have to pull it out with tweezers or needle nose pliers.


This only worked for me a short while I eventually went to a podiatrist and had them do both of my big toes they used pretty much the same process but they used some type of chemical to kill the root to keep the toenail from growing back in that area. Well worth the money I haven't had a problem with ingrown nails since. The process was really fast I only spent about 45 minutes in the office most of which was in the waiting room.


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## RnJ (Aug 21, 2009)

I got that deadening solution on my nail when I was about 14 or 15, but it grew back...and took 5 years. It also was ultra thick, and very hard to clip. Since I didn't clip it much, and did some 8-hour mountain descensions in tighter shoes, my toenails would slide to the front of the shoe and pull on my nail. Eventually, the entire thin just started to crack off from my cuticles. And it was like pre-nail hard skin underneath, which took another year to turn into nail. It's thick again, is greyish, and I feel like I could drop a bomb on it and it'd still protect my toe.


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## dirty_rotten_squatter (Aug 21, 2009)

Never had one not looking forward to getting one, because it's just a matter of time


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## veggieguy12 (Aug 22, 2009)

Also, Dr. told me they see these almost exclusively in males aged 15-25.
Why is that?


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## Poking Victim (Aug 23, 2009)

I've had an ingrown toenail. Cut a V in the middle of the nail and it cleared up. Good method; try it.


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## tumtum (Aug 23, 2009)

^yep, worked for me too. the nail will grow back together at the V and away from the edge of your toe.


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