Ingrown toenails (or onychocryptosis) are a disease characterized by the nail plate cutting into the soft side of the toe (roller). In this case, an inflammatory process occurs with noticeable redness, pain and swelling of the damaged area. Quite often, such a pathological phenomenon is observed on one roller of the thumb. However, there are cases when ingrown toenails form on both sides of the phalanx.
Reasons for appearance
As practice shows, in most cases, this deviation begins to bother a person after an incorrect or poor-quality pedicure, when the master cuts the nail too hard or too deep at its edges. Although doctors consider hereditary predisposition to be the main prerequisite for the development of this disease.
In addition to the above reason, ingrown toenails can form as a result of regular wearing of uncomfortable, low-quality, tight and narrow shoes (especially those with pointedsocks). In this case, the sharp plate is subjected to pressure from the shoes and cuts into a soft skin roller.
Deformation of the fingers (for example, with flat feet, clubfoot, etc.) of the legs, their injuries, any fungal diseases, abnormal nail growth, impaired blood circulation in the lower extremities, etc. can also lead to such a deviation.
Ingrown toenail removal at home
At the first symptoms of an ingrown nail, when the inflammation is still small, you should immediately take all necessary measures to eliminate this trouble. To do this, you can use the following recommendations:
- ditch tight shoes in favor of looser ones;
- try to walk barefoot;
- steam your finger regularly and try to trim the ingrown plate well;
- constantly do warm foot baths with chamomile decoction, baking soda and potassium permanganate;
- apply compresses with brilliant green or iodine to the damaged area.
Such procedures will help to significantly soften the tissues, which will facilitate further removal of the ingrown nail.
It is also worth noting that such a deviation is often treated with traditional medicine. To do this, use completely different recipes. Let's take a look at some of them.
- You should take a tight fingertip, put butter in it and put it on the diseased phalanx. After the pain subsides, you need to gently move the ingrown nail plate and walk along it with a nail file.
- Toto remove ingrown toenails at the initial stage of the inflammatory process, you can cut off an aloe leaf, knead it into gruel, add 20 drops of water, apply to the damaged area, wrap it with cellophane and leave for 12-15 hours. In the morning, the plate will soften and file well.
How to eliminate the disease with the help of medical means?
If you do not trust folk methods, then the affected part of the nail roller can be regularly lubricated with topical antibiotics, that is, ointments. It is also recommended to use gels such as Ichthyol or Vishnevsky. They are pretty good at sucking out pus, preventing further infection.
In the event that official medicine has not helped you, then you should contact a specialist, namely a surgeon. But here the following question arises: “Where to remove the ingrown nail?” It is worth noting that such not very difficult operations are carried out even in small clinics. Therefore, if the disease progresses, you should immediately go to the nearest hospital.
