There’s a lot of information out there about ingrown toenails, and unfortunately, some of it is not accurate. Which, when you’re struggling with an ingrown nail and the methods you’re reading online aren’t working, can be very frustrating, disheartening, and painful.
So today, we’ve debunked some of the top ingrown nail myths that we hear regularly from our patients – many of whom have tried treating their ingrown toenail on their own for weeks first, without success.
1. It’s Not An Ingrown Nail Unless It’s On The Big Toe
This one stems from many people being unsure of the cause of their toe and toenail pain on their smaller toes, despite having similar signs and symptoms to previous ingrown nails they’ve had on their big toe. The truth is:
- Yes, you can absolutely develop ingrown toenails on the lesser toes, and we see this often
- The side of the toe is likely to appear red and swollen, and pushing on the area will elicit pain
- As the nail is so much smaller, it’s usually a very quick and easy fix
- Some of the time, there’s notable debris built up in the side of the nail (including discharge from the nail piercing the skin) that when removed, can instantly feel significantly better
2. Cutting a ‘V’ In The Centre Of Your Nail will Fix An Ingrown Toenail
While it is true that other cells in the body work by ‘coming together’ during repair and therefore could hypothetically ‘pull away’ from the sides of the ingrown toenail, unfortunately that’s not how the nail cells work or grow. Your nail grows in only one direction – out. What you do to the ends of your toenails doesn’t change this – nor does it change the painful nail spicule that is embedded into your skin when you have an ingrown nail.
We recommend saving yourself the hassle – and the potential of shredding through socks and hosiery with your sharp nail edges after a ‘V’ cut out.
3. Ingrown Toenails Are Only For School-Aged Children & Above
It makes sense that this sounds viable, after all, school comes with strict shoe requirements that kids must stay in all day everyday, and footwear is a primary cause of ingrown toenails. While it’s true that we see a lot of ingrown nails in school-aged children, we also see them in babies and toddlers too! If your young child has a red and swollen toe, or it looks like they have an ingrown toenail, bring them in for an appointment.
4. An Ingrown Toenail Will Get Better On Its Own
Think of an ingrown toenail like a sharp, big splinter – but instead of disappearing into the skin, being attached to your nail means that it continues to pierce through, growing as your nail grows, and leaving a painful, open wound where it has pierced the skin (which is vulnerable to infection). This is not something that goes away or just gets better on its own – not without removing the painful nail spicule first.
There are definitely things you can do to help relieve your painful symptoms – soaking the nail, taking painkillers, taking antibiotics, but none of these actions remove the nail from the skin.
5. Antibiotics Will Fix An Ingrown Nail
Antibiotics are a fantastic medication for managing infections. And if you have an infected ingrown toenail, it’ll do a great job to kill that bacteria and give you relief. But what antibiotics don’t do is remove hard, sharp pieces of nail from the skin – which is the only way to truly fix an ingrown toenail.
Unfortunately, many people are simply given antibiotics from their GPs and told to wait it out and soak their toes, which while it can give them some much-needed relief from their painful symptoms, that relief is only temporary as the nail is still lodged in the skin. Having the ingrown nail removed will give you symptom relief and prevent it from continuing to bother you.
6. Ingrown Nail Surgeries Leave Ugly Looking Nails
It makes sense to think that when part of your nail is removed as part of a partial nail avulsion procedure to permanently fix ingrown toenails, that your nail will be left looking less than ideal. But as a clinic that specialises in ingrown toenail surgery, we only remove the very bare minimum of the edge of your nail so that the difference is barely noticeable. The only difference is that your nail will appear to have a very straight nail edge, instead of one that curves down the side.
Our podiatrist will be able to explain exactly how much of the nail we’ll need to remove at your appointment, and what cosmetic results you can expect.
Got Any More Ingrown Nail Questions?
We’re here to help – email them to us at info@performpodiatry.co.nz and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible. To book a consultation for your ingrown nail, call us on 09 523 2333 or book online here.
So you currently have – or have recently had – an ingrown toenail. And now you’ve developed some foot or leg pain. What’s going on and could they be linked?
How Ingrown Toenails Affect Your Feet
First thing’s first: ingrown toenails typically do not cause foot pain. Their pain is usually limited to the toe (often the big toe) that is affected, with the occasional throb radiating out from the toe – but not too far. With that said, ingrown toenails can lead to foot pain by:
Changing the way you walk
When you have an ingrown toenail, you may be changing the way you walk to minimise your pain from your ingrown toenail without even knowing it. This is known as guarding and is the same as walking on the outside of your foot when something is sore on the inside of your foot. As you change the way you walk to avoid or reduce the pain felt from the ingrown toenail, your gait changes, and so does the way your muscles are used with every step. Some muscles will have to work harder, and may become overused. Some areas of your foot may now also be taking on more pressure, and may get sore too.
Before you know it, you’ve got foot pain – and depending on how severe it is, you may need to treat this cause of foot pain too, alongside your ingrown toenail. This is why we always recommend getting your ingrown toenail treated ASAP – and why procedures like a partial nail avulsion that keeps ingrown toenails gone for good are often performed.
Be mindful of infections
If your ingrown toenail has become infected, and the infection is severe enough, it may also be a cause of pain in the foot. In these cases, you’ll likely notice the redness around your toe creeping up the foot. This can get serious quickly – so make sure you see your GP or podiatrist ASAP, there’s a good chance you will need antibiotics to help with the infection and then will need the nail treated quickly.
Could your footwear be the culprit?
We often see tight, narrow-fitting footwear as a culprit of ingrown toenails. This happens as the forefoot is squashed inside the shoe, and the result is that the nail is pushed into the surrounding skin. If this is the case, then it could also be possible that your tight footwear is also responsible for the foot pain you’re experiencing.
If you’re lucky, the problem will be minor and will quickly settle when you stop wearing the shoes. For some, their shoe wear is long enough to do damage to the feet as well as the nails, and they need care to rehabilitate their feet, too. Don’t worry about figuring this out – your podiatrist will help explain this to you and determine what factors caused it.
Our Podiatrists Can Help With Both Ingrown Nails & Foot Pain
The beauty of our clinic here at the Auckland Ingrown Toenail Clinic is that we’re part of Perform Podiatry – Auckland’s leading podiatry clinic. This means that we can not only treat your ingrown toenail – but assess, diagnose and care for your foot pain too.
If you’ve got foot pain after, or at the same time as an ingrown toenail, we can help. Book your appointment online with us here or call us on 09 523 2333.
