An ingrown toenail doctor is typically a podiatrist which is a doctor that specializes in feet. Pod (as well as pod) is the Latin word for foot. A podiatrist has completed medical school and received an MD (medical degree) after completing their bachelor's degree is most any subject but typically a science because of the course work necessary to prepare for the MCAT exam that is required for medical school admission and placement.
For many people it's the cost of ingrown toenail removal that keeps them from going to a professional. After cost the next biggest reason why more people don't see a pro is because of a general fear about the pain that can be involved. Ultimately it's most often only after home remedies fail that a majority of people elect to actually seek treatment from a toe doctor to find relief from the problem that can in the worst case scenario lead to dangerous infections.
Most people initially try to solve the problems themselves with a simple set of toenail clippers while cutting their nails. When it becomes apparent that this strategy alone won't be enough to eliminate the problem the next step is to actually look into purchasing products like files and specific ingrown toenail clippers. Generally speaking it's only after exhausting all do it yourself options including topical solutions like Outgro before breaking down and paying and going through the hassle and process of dealing with an actual ingrown toenail doctor.
For the best results in terms of finding a reputable podiatrist ask around for recommendations from friends, coworkers and family. You might be surprised at who's had to deal with similar issues.
Ingrown toenail help for every ingrown toenail problem from the only ingrown toenail blog.
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.