Ingrown Toenails- What Does a Procedure Entail?
What is an Ingrown Toenail?
An ingrown toenail occurs when your nail cuts into the skin of your toe and grows. Although it is typically on the big toe, it can occur on any nails of the foot. Ingrown toenails cause increased sensitivity, swelling, redness, pain, and can lead to an infection. There are at-home remedies you can use to treat ingrown toenails that are effective and can be done at the early signs of an issue. However, if your ingrown toenail is severe and there is pus or redness spreading to other toes or areas of your foot, you should seek professional help immediately. If you require the help of a podiatrist or ingrown toenail care on Long Island, Cherrywood Foot Care is here to help.
Ingrown Toenail Procedures
Your podiatrist will have a few options to approach and cure your ingrown toenail. The procedure your podiatrist will choose will depend on the condition your toenail is in. Listed below are a few options your podiatrist might suggest to treat your ingrown toenail. If you are seeking ingrown toenail care on Long Island, contact us. We are here to help.
- Treating an ingrown toenail to grow over the skin of the toe – This treatment is used for most non-severe ingrown toenail cases. A non-severe case usually has symptoms of redness, swelling, and little to mild pain but does not contain any pus. In this treatment, your podiatrist may peel back any skin overlapping your nail and raise the nail over the skin edge. Then they will place a splint of some sort to promote the nail growing healthily above the skin of your toe. After, you will need to soak your toe and replace the splint every day at home. This procedure is non-invasive, relatively painless, and requires no anesthetics or surgery.
- Toenail Avulsion. Toenail avulsion is a small surgery in which your podiatrist will cut your ingrown toenail. This treatment is reserved for more severe cases, with moderate to high pain and pus involved. A mild anesthetic may be used in the affected area for this surgery. In this treatment, your doctor will cut and remove the ingrown part of your nail allowing your nail to grow back normally. Your doctor may also remove any damaged or folded skin around the ingrown toenail. In very rare cases where the nail is very distorted or has become very thick, the entire nail must be removed and regrow. This surgery typically involves very little pain and with the local anesthetic, patients usually report no pain. Most patients can return to normal activity the very next day. Oral antibiotics may be prescribed to deal with any infection that might be present or may arise.
- Nail bed treatment and removal. This procedure is used for ingrown toenail issues that repeat or have recurred often. This procedure is used to remove the portion of the nail that is ingrown, and then also treat the nail bed or tissue where the ingrown toenail is growing from, to prevent it from growing back. The tissue is treated with a chemical agent, a laser treatment, or some other method. A local anesthetic is used when treating the nail bed, however, the treated area may still feel tender after the treatment so ibuprofen or paracetamol may be prescribed for use after. For up to 2 weeks, you should wear soft, spacious footwear, or open-toed footwear. Oral antibiotics may be prescribed to attend to any infections.
Visit Cherrywood Foot Care for Ingrown Toenail Care on Long Island
When treating your ingrown toenail, your podiatrist will use a treatment that works best for your condition and the state it is in. Treatments are generally pain-free and will not hinder your daily life after receiving treatment. If you are looking for ingrown toenail care on Long Island, reach out to us today and see how we can help.
