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, May 1, 2009

Cause of Ingrown Toenails

The cause of ingrown toenails is something that more people should be aware of before getting their first really bad ingrown toenail. Unfortunately for a number of reasons most people don't start actually worrying about the causes until they're already dealing with recurring ingrown toenail issues.

As far as I can tell there are three main reasons why this topic isn't discussed more often in a manner that educates the public.

  1. People are reluctant to share personal hygiene stories involving their feet
  2. Almost no one regularly sees a podiatrist (foot doctor) and general practitioners don't normally check or ask about toenail issues - even in children.
  3. Schools, health classes, first aid training, etc. don't discuss this problem. There's no formal structure in place to get this info to the public.
Most doctors will tell you that the cause of ingrown toenails is improper toenail maintenance by the individual. For the most part it's believed that these issues can simply be solved by taking the time and making the effort to properly cut your toenails in a manner that discourages the growth of ingrown toenails.
As discussed and illustrated in the ingrown toenail solutions post the gold standard in advice for understanding the cause is to realize that improperly cutting toenails in a rounded arc like fashion (like fingernails) as opposed to straight across can lead to rogue portions of the nail growing at an angle into the skin.

It's when a piece of toenail (even an extremely tiny piece) grows sideways at the corner into the flesh that irritation mounts. The longer the problem if left untreated the further the misplaced toenail can grow into the skin causing irritation that can easily lead to an inflamed ingrown toenail, and potentially if left untreated an infected ingrown toenail.