Ingrown toenails are painful and can be hard to get rid of. If your ingrown is getting worse, this can be cause for a lot of frustration and pain. There are a few reasons why this may be happening, and a few things you can do to prevent it from getting even worse.

If you are still doing sports with an ingrown toenail, this is likely putting excess pressure on the nail. This can cause the skin to push farther onto the toenail, and make the ingrown more extreme and painful. This can also happen if the footwear you are wearing (for physical activity or daily life) is too restrictive or tight. With an ingrown toenail, it is important to try to keep the front of your shoes away from the nail. If the shoe is pushing on the ingrown for any reason, your ingrown will likely get worse. 

If you have tried to cut the ingrown nail yourself at home, this is an almost surefire way to make the condition get worse. Home removal of an ingrown is likely to aggravate the toe, and unsterilized tools can even cause an infection.

If your nail has already been infected and you haven’t gotten medical attention, it is likely that it will start to get worse. Infections will worsen without treatment, so if you have an infected ingrown toenail you should seek out medical treatment immediately. When infections are allowed to continue for a long time, they can even be the cause of more serious medical conditions like sepsis. If you have an ingrown, the best way to prevent it from getting worse is by seeking medical attention from a licensed podiatrist. To schedule a consultation with a podiatrist, give us a call at (424)-299-4627 or visit our website for more information.