Image Source: Pre-tend

There are many abnormal physical conditions or diseases that aren’t as spoken about as the conventional ones. Overtime, humans have developed diseases which are as hurting, as painful and as curable as any other commonly known diseases. One of these is ingrown toenails. Ingrown toenail, also referred to as onychocryptosis, is a very common form of nail disease. In a situation like this, the toenail gets curved, digs its way through the skin and grows. When the nail seeps through the skin it causes inflammation. It usually affects the largest toe.

Causes

Ingrowths of toenails can be due to various reasons.

• The first and the most obvious would be inheritance. Yes, there are a lot of chances that if you’ve had cases in your family, then you might as well have it.
• The way you cut your nails matters the most when it comes to ingrown toenails. Cutting them too short or in an improper manner can result in such a situation.
• Many a times, people tend to wear ill fitting footwear for a lot of reasons – maybe it’s one of their favourites, it’s the only one that goes with everything, it’s the only pair they have or maybe they are just too lazy to buy new ones. This puts pressure on the toes and forces the nail to grow downward, instead of outward.
• Another reason could be due to an injury to your leg which affected your toes.
• The last is rounding the edges of the toenails. When nails are cut round, they grow outward but in a curve and after a period of time, they eventually dig into skin and hurt us.

Signs and Symptoms

The earlier you find out, the better. Sometimes, it can get so bad that only surgery is the way out of it. I’m sure nobody would want to go that far knowing that there was a better and less painful cure; and to cure, you must know how the whole thing starts. The initial signs are curving of nails, pain in movement of toes, redness around the nail, swelling in the toe and clear yellow drainage or in case of infection, pus drainage.

Treatment

The treatment in the early days is easy. All the things that you need to do are listed below,

• Take good care of your toes.
• Use Foot Soak.
• Avoid applying pressure on toenails, the best way could be by wearing the right size of footwear – nor too big neither too small.

When the nail has done more than damage to your foot, you should definitely consult a doctor. Treatment in these cases can be surgeries or antibiotics.

Prevention

They say, prevention is better than cure. Follow the given tips to avoid ingrown toenails.

• The right sized shoe is a must, no compromises with that.
• Trim your nails properly, don’t go too deep or in the wrong shape. If you are unable to do it yourself, have someone do it for you.
• Cut the nails straight because round nails can easily break through the skin.
• Good foot hygiene should be on your priority list.

Click here to find all that you need to keep your feet healthy.