As with any condition, the first step in recovering from an ingrown toenail is identifying it! While ingrown toenails are usually pretty easy to spot, it is helpful to know the signs in identifying an ingrown toenail. This way, you can catch an ingrown toenail in its early stages before it becomes worse. If this is done early enough, you can avoid a lot of the pain and difficulties that come with ingrown toenails. 

The first cause for concern when thinking about ingrown toenails is tenderness of the toe or skin that surrounds the nail. If your nail starts to feel like this, especially if it is just on one side of the nail, it is likely that an ingrown toenail is starting to form. Pay attention to how the nail is growing: it is an ingrown if you can see it slanting into the side of the toe. In this situation, if you have caught the ingrown toenail early enough, you can try at home remedies like warm water and epsom salt soaks to soothe the toe and guide the nail out from the skin.

Once the ingrown advances past this initial stage, identifying it will become very easy. Once an ingrown has entered into the skin of the toe, it usually becomes painful pretty quickly. Redness, swelling, and a warm feeling on one side of the toe are indicative of an ingrown toenail. If pus has started to form, or the warm feeling intensifies, the ingrown may have become infected. Once an ingrown nail becomes easily identifiable and causes pain, it is time to see a licensed podiatrist to discuss having it removed. This is the only way to safely remove an ingrown nail once it has fully formed. To schedule a consultation with a podiatrist, give us a call at (424)-299-4627 or visit our website for more information.