Ingrown toenails are a common condition among youth and adults. A general definition of the Ingrown toenail is a condition in which the corner of the nail grows into the skin adjacent to the nail, but there are actually several types of ingrown toenails. They can be distinguished by the direction of the nail growth and age of onset.

  1. Neonatal

    1. An ingrown toenail can happen for newborn babies. Newborn nails are so much softer, but they can also be sharp to form ingrown. Massage can help to treat the neonatal ingrown toenail.

  2. Congenital malalignment of the great toenails

    1. Malformation of the big toenail. Genetics may play a role.

  3. Congenital hypertrophy of the nail

    1. Hypertrophy means the increased volume of tissue. Some people are born with thicker toenails, that can pressure soft tissues surrounding the nail.

  4. Distal lateral ingrowing

    1. The most common form. Distal lateral ingrowing means the top side of the nail curves into the soft tissue, which causes foreign body reaction with redness and pain. Young people may have this type of ingrowing due to the narrow nail bed.

  5. Retronychia

    1. This is a condition in which nail grow backward into the root of the nail. This could happen due to the chronic trauma to the nail.

  6. Pincer nail

    1. We explained the difference between the traditional ingrown (distal lateral ingrowing) nail and the pincer nail in the previous blog article, but this is a U-shaped ingrowing of the nail. Intake of some drugs may cause this condition.