Ingrown toenails are no laughing matter. They can cause excruciating pain and discomfort. If left untreated for too long, an ingrown toenail can cause severe infection, and if you thought the pain was bad before, try dealing with an infected ingrown toenail! The infected site can cause your entire toe to swell and inflame, become red, and even the slightest touch can cause a burning sensation and send you down a path of torment and pain!
Sometimes we get ingrown toenails because of accidents, like stubbing your toe, nail injury or trauma, or by cutting the nail too curved. We can get them by wearing too tight of socks or shoes causing the nail to grow at an angle or slant. Most of the times these ingrown nails can be rectified if trimmed or treated properly. But what if you get ingrown toenails a lot? What does this mean? Are you just unlucky? Maybe so, if you see yourself getting ingrown toenails more than the average person you may have what is known as chronic ingrown toenails which can be hereditary. If you’ve noticed a lot of family members tend to get ingrown toenails on a regular basis then the condition most likely runs in your family.
But what does this mean for you? It means that you have to take extra special care of your toenails and to be vigilant when trimming and caring for them. If the ingrown nails become too much of a problem, there is a permanent solution! – you can choose to have ingrown toenail removal surgery. This surgery is performed by a specialized foot doctor who will remove the inflicting nail and apply a chemical to the root of the nail bed preventing the nail from ever growing back. Now, this may seem like a drastic step to take, but if you find your ingrown toenails are too painful and too frequent to stand, then this surgery is right for you.