READ FIRST: I'm just a guy who's had ingrown toenails and then stumbled on a way to manage them and I think (fingers crossed) put them behind me. One time I even had to go into a podiatrist and have an ingrown toenail surgically fixed. It was not pleasant. A buddy turned me onto this topical solution called Outgro (pictured to the right). It's cheap and it really works. Basically it numbs the area where your ingrown nail is digging into your sensitive skin, (so that's nice) for some quick pain relief. Secondly, when the skin is numbed up it's more manageable to get in there with the right (sterile) tools and fix the problem yourself. This Outgro stuff is cheap and works well, but for whatever reason isn't at most drug stores (at least where I live) so I order it online. It's surprisingly cheaper that way too.

Friday, July 6, 2007

Ingrown Toenail in Children

If you're wondering about how to treat an ingrown toenail in children issues it's important to realize that in some regards this can be pretty similar to handling issues that arise with adult ingrown toenails and in other regards it's something to be taken very cautiously because there can be some differences.

What to do:

There are in deed certain very simple measures that can be done to help alleviate pain and correct the problem without risk the health and safety of the child. One technique discussed in more detail in the post on how to help ingrown toenails is the idea of soaking the foot with the problem in warm water a few times a week. The water does not have to be uncomfortably hot, but just comfortably warm. Doing this even just two or three times a week for 15 or 20 minutes at a time can help relieve pain in some early stage circumstances.

What not to do:

Before going out to a nearby pharmacy to pick up a product like Outgro which is an over the counter type topical medication that is perfectly safe for almost all adults consult a pediatrician and/or a podiatrist for their professional opinions on the best way to handle this dilemma. The key is to seek out sound advice and to not do anything at all risky when dealing with a child's health.

Aside from causing a potential allergic reaction by applying a topic pain reliever to a child whose body is not yet equipped to handle the medication the worst mistake that a caring parent can do is to try to fix the problem with an instrument or tool (like nail clippers or tweezers that are unsterilized. Before applying any sort of apparatus to a child's sensitive ingrown toenail area make absolutely certain that the metal object has been scalded with hot water or even placed in boiling water to kill germs and bacteria that may be living on it.

NOTE: The tool (clippers, tweezers, etc.) being used should be cooled down so it's not uncomfortably hot to the skin when actually being used. After sterilizing with very hot water allow the item to return to room temperature so as make the process as kid friendly as possible.

NOTE: For many children just the routine choir of clipping toenails can be frightening because of the sharp object that's been handled around their sensitive and ticklish toes by someone else (probably a parent). Loving parents should just understand that it's perfectly normal for children to behave this way.

NOTE: It's very important to have ingrown toenails in children handled properly because the last thing that anyone wants is for the problem to persist well into adulthood and for the rest of their lives.