What happens if an ingrown toenail goes untreated?
This is like the disclaimer to all surgery, anesthesia and pharmaceutical usage. You could experience pain, itching, soreness, redness, swelling, discoloration, infection, pus, drainage, fever, gangrene, amputation, an unsightly appearance, deformity, sepsis and even death.Pain was my biggest issue. If regular soaking, cleaning and trimming of the toenails is not enough to keep them from being constantly painful and infected, then it could be time to see the foot doctor. If there is an infection and mess currently in your toe that you feel unqualified to deal with and rectify, go to the doctor sooner than later.I was to the point many years ago I couldn't stand to wear tights, pantyhose, tight socks and sometimes the sheets resting on my toes even hurt. I avoided shoes altogether if I could. Except I was a waitress and bartender at the time and my constantly sore toes were miserable. There is in easy, in-the-office procedure to more permanently fix the problem if you get them all the time. Note I said easy, not painless so you should be pretty miserable until you get there because a digital nerve block in the big toe is no joke. But it's over pretty quickly, then you feel nothing and hopefully, the problem will be permanently resolved. I am going on 20 years or so. I still have to keep after the soaking, trimming and cleaning or I get sore toes, but I am able to avoid being in pain daily AND they didn't cut down the edges of my toenails enough for my toes to look queer. I do not care about the ability to wear pantyhose anymore or I suppose I could handle wearing them now if I wanted to.I have learned that long toenails, nail polish, dirt, sand and general crud are all the enemy when it comes to keeping after ingrown toenails. For those of us that love to go barefoot in the summer, especially us ladies with pretty painted pigs, this can be a challenge. What I know is that I personally gave up nail polish two summers ago and my toe health has improved yet further. Clean, trimmed, and short.Just JessicaPS I recommend caution with any pedicure operation especially regarding the hygiene and reuse of their tools. Remember Paula Abdul and her flesh eating bacteria in her thumb? Yeah. It can happen.PSS Dear teenage boys, ignoring these problems will not make them go away. I had one that tried once with a busted ingrown toenail. It was awful.
Skin by toenail hurts, but NOT ingrown?
Yesterday waking up the skin by my toenail on me second toe was a little tender, so I though maybe the corner if my nail was beginning to dig into my skin. I used a cuticle remover to go under and cut off the edge of my nail. The rest of the day it hurt to walk on it. Today it is swollen and red right on the left corner, but there is no nail there. There was no puss or blood at all. Not when i trimmed it and not when I poked it earlier to see if the swelling was due to puss. Any ideas as to what is going on?
I had an ingrown toenail. I got it out, but it still hurts. What do I do?
Get some Peroxide, put some on your toe, if it bubbles it's infected if it doesn't it's not. This will also clean the area so it doesn't get infected. Ingrown toe nails are a pain, and hurt like hell. But there not something you want to mess around with, especially if you have diabetes! i doubt you do, but never know. i know you don't want to go to the doctors, but if it continues to hurt, your better safe than sorry. as for now, take some tylenol or asprin to help with the pain, if your walking all day or what not. ice it if around your nail gets swollen. if you have redness & it's warm to the touch, make an appointment asap. sports will always be there! don't let that hold you back from your health! i hope it gets better, and i hope this helps! -katie
Another ingrown toenail?
I have another question about ingrown toenails. I have had one for about a week and a half or so. I soaked with w/warm saltwater, put peroxide on it, and put anitbiotic cream on it. A few days ago, i was able to see the ingrown nail and I clipped it. The toe felt great, then I thought I didnt get it all out. The very tip corner of my toe (where to ingrown toenail is/was) is very sensitive to the touch of anything. It hurts really bad if my sock brushes agaist it. I called me doc and they will not do the nail cutting procedure in the office, they told me I have to go to a specialist (podiatrist). A specialist with my insurance is really expensive and I dont have much extra money. What can I do to lessen the tenderness and pain of the tip of my toe? The very tip is the only place it hurts, the sides seem they are not swollen anymore, just red. Any suggestions on how to see if a piece is stuck in there still w/o the terrible pain? Anthing that totally numbs it or anything?
Will an ingrown toenail cause toe numbness?
Significantly ingrown may cause the flesh to become inflamed and affect the nerves within the toe - this would be the medial plantar nerve, and per the attached picture it runs right around where the ingrowing would be occurring,. .Of course, if you have let it get this bad, you have already bypassed the pain sensed by those nerves - seek medical help ASAP.By Henry Gray (1918) Anatomy of the Human Body (See "Book" section below)Great Books Online: Gray's Anatomy, Plate 833, Public Domain, File:Gray833.png - Wikimedia Commons
An ingrown toenail or an infection that won't go away?
I worked with a podiatrist for several years and this does sound like a difficult ingrown nail. It is a good idea to get the pus out cause that will help it heal better. You may want to limit the amount of peroxide used. In a med class I took we did an experiment with peroxide and over time it will eat through a piece of meat(just like your flesh) so it should only be used to clean the area the first time. Try soaking your foot in warm Water with Epsom salt. That will also help with healing and maybe a little antibiotic ointment with your band aid(if you can get it to stay on) also try to keep the area clean and dry and open to air as much as possible. hope this helps
Help i have puss in my toe, right by the nail. what does this mean?
Sounds like an ingrown toenail. The best course of action is to go see the doctor (family doc, or podiatrist) and have them take a look. they will most likely put you on an antibiotic for the infection and then, after the infection is gone, remove the ingrown part of the nail. If you don't want to go to the doctor (I recommend seeing the doctor) you can relieve some of the pain by taking a straight pin and sterilizing it (dip it in rubbing alcohol and then get it hot with a lighter) and then pricking the infected part of the toe. After you do that you should squeeze the pus out and then pour hydrogen peroxide on the area to clean it. Then put some triple antibiotic ointment on it and bandage the toe. This will be a painful process, but it is effective. I would still recommend going to the doctor to get the ingrown toenail removed though, so you don't continue to get infections.
Ingrown toenail pressure (I'm diabetic)?
I got a ingrown toenail pressure done on my left big toe about 3 weeks ago, now my toe is very tender to touch it's also red, the top of my foot is swollen, I went to the podiriataost and he says the toe is healing good and to not worry about the tenderness since I had a pressure done. I'm just wondering why my whole foot now feel swollen and red, is that normal? Thank you so much ..ps I'm diabetic
Red toes that hurt when pressure is applied?
I've had this problem for a while now. The left side of my right toe is always somewhat red, but NOT swollen. The region feels no pain when I walk or when doing other exercises (e.g. jump, jogging...etc). The toe only feels pain when the pressure is applied solely on the left portion of the toe or toenail. I've checked for ingrown toenail but it doesn't seem to fit. However, I have discovered some "white flakes" of skin(?) surrounding the left edge of the toenail when I started picking the area with a sterilized needle. I picked out these flakes and some seem to indicate that they come from under the toenail. I'm curious as to what's happening. It appears to be definitely not ingrown toenails, perhaps infections? This has occurred for a long time (i.e. years), but since as I mentioned earlier, it does not affect normal walking or exercising, I've ignored it all that time. So, maybe repeated infections? But then again, there are no swollen areas, callus, or anything indicating that there is an infection. My toes are just red, and hurts when force are applied to that specific area. Would appreciate any help to offer insights into this matter.