Wednesday, February 10, 2010

How to get rid of a ingrown toenail?

How to get rid of a ingrown toe?


How can u get rid of an ingrown toe-nail without it hurting or having surgeryHow to get rid of a ingrown toenail?
If the toenail is not too badly ingrown and isn't infected, there are a few things you can do to help. First, if the nail is long enough, cut a deep ';v'; shaped notch dead center of the nail. That will help relieve the pressure on the side of the nail and help pull it upwards on the sides. Then you can use a bit of cotton wool underneath the corner that is ingrown to help keep it lifted while the ingrown portion grows out. You will want to change that bit of wool every day. It helps if you do all this after you soak the foot in warm water and dry it well. The next thing to do is attend to what caused the nail to grown inwards to begin with. Most often nails grow in because you cut them too short, and the toecaps of your shoes are too small- or the shoes themselves are too small. Your toenail should come to exactly the end of the toe itself. When you put your finger againts the tip of the toe, you should be able to feel the edge of the toenail. Next, if the toecaps of your shoes are too snug, so that you can't wiggle your piggies and spread them slightly apart inside the shoe- it's forcing your toes together and the nails ingrown. You need a shoe with a wider toe cap. If the ends of the toes- any of the toes- touch the tip of the shoe at any point, when you stand, walk or sit, the shoe itself is too small. Replace shoes that do not fit for ones that do. Then also pay attention to how tightly you pull your socks on as well. If you yank that sock on as tight and snug as it can get, the subtle pressure can also force a nail to grow in. When you put on a sock, you should always pull that tip away from the toes a tad bit, and make sure you don't tighten it up sliding your foot into the shoe. Now the fact is, an ingrown nail will just ache and hurt until you relieve the pressure and get it grown out correctly. If it becomes infected, then the only cure is to remove the ingrown part. The treatments I listed will hurt a bit as well- not cutting the nail of course, but lifting that corner up will. It will hurt less as the ingrown portion grows out. And if you do not correct the shoe/sock/toenail length problem, nothing will help and you will just get more ingrown toenails. While it grows out, it will also help if you go barefoot or in stocking feet as much as you can. Even a well fitted shoe is going to make it ache a bit.

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