If any of your toes become swollen, red, or painful, you could have ingrown toenails. Left untreated, ingrown toenails often lead to infection and require more invasive treatment options. At the first sign of nail problems, call or schedule an appointment online with Kris Ford, DPM, and Jonathan Lorenzana, DPM, at South Alamo Foot & Ankle at San Antonio, Texas.

Ingrown Toenails Q&A

What are ingrown toenails?

Ingrown toenails result from the toenail growing into skin rather than out and over the surrounding skin of your toe. It occurs most commonly on the big toe. You may get ingrown toenails from cutting your nails too short, wearing shoes that are too small, or after stubbing your toe. Rarely, hangnails can cause an ingrown toenail.  

What are the symptoms of ingrown toenails?

Some ingrown toenails cause pain, while others lead to visual signs like swelling, redness and an infection. These symptoms develop where the skin of your toe and nail come together.

You have a higher risk of developing infected ingrown toenails if you have poor circulation or diabetes. 

How do I prevent an ingrown toenail?

You can help prevent ingrown toenails by learning how to trim your nails properly. Instead of trimming nails around the curve of your toes, trim them straight across and keep them even with the tips of your toes. If you trim the nails too short, your shoes may put pressure on the toes, leading to ingrown toenails.

Wearing shoes that fit correctly also helps prevent ingrown toenails. When the shoes are too narrow around the toes, they may put too much pressure on them. You may not know if your shoes are too tight if you have diabetes or any other condition that causes nerve damage in your feet, so visiting a specialty shoe store can get you properly fitted for shoes.

How do I get rid of ingrown toenails?

We recommend visiting South Alamo Foot & Ankle for ingrown toenail treatment if you have diabetes. The affected toenail is removed, along with some of the surrounding skin.  

You may try home remedies to get rid of ingrown toenails if you do not have diabetes, such as soaking your toes in warm, soapy water several times daily and then placing waxed dental floss under the ingrown edge of the nail. The dental floss helps lift the nail to grow above the skin edge. Also, apply antibiotic cream to reduce your risk of infection.

Call South Alamo Foot & Ankle if pain and tenderness don’t improve after a few days of home treatment, call South Alamo Foot & Ankle. You should also schedule an appointment for ingrown toenails if you experience any signs of infection, like redness, pus, or swelling around the ingrown toenail.

The experienced team at South Alamo Foot & Ankle treats ingrown toenails in the office to prevent complications such as bone infections. Call the practice or use the convenient online tool to schedule an appointment today.