Ingrown toenail? Been suffering for some time now?
14 Oct 2012
Ingrown toenails are a common condition which sufferers often endure needlessly for long periods of time . Affecting your ability to enjoy life pain free, ingrown toenails can reduce your enjoyment of sport, swimming and life in general. The great news is simple and effective solutions are available.
Ingrown toenails generally occur for a number of reasons. Tight shoes, sweaty feet, poor nail cutting technique and having your foot damaged, by being trod on can all cause an ingrown toenail. The footy field, dance floor and the race track are all common places for our patient’s ingrown toenails to start!
If you suffer from this painful condition here are 5 useful tips:
Bathe the affected toes in warm salty water for 1-2 minute a day while you are waiting to get in to see your Podiatrist and dress the affected area at all times with a clean dressing. This can minimise the chance of the site becoming further infected.
Resist cutting the nails down the sides of the toes- while you think that you are getting the nail out you are often making the problem worse!
If the area is red, has pus, is painful or has some extra tissue growing out the sides then you do need to see a Podiatrist ASAP.
It is not OK to just leave an ingrown toenail for a long period of time. You can get nasty infections deeper into the bone or in your blood stream which are more serious problems.
Generally antibiotics alone are not enough to fully resolve an ingrown toenail.
The Podiatrists at the Active Foot Clinic commonly deal with ingrown toenails and can help you out with effective and and permanent solutions to your problem. Our Podiatrists are also fully qualified to numb your toe with anaesthetic if your toe is particularly painful.
Right now is the right time to find your ingrown toenail solution, before the hot weather and swimming season starts and before pre season training.
For appointments and information phone us today on 6925 8637 or book online now.