What is it?
The nail border presses into the skin fold, causing inflammation and sometimes infection. The big toe is most often affected.
What causes it?
- Cutting nails too short or rounding the corners
- Naturally curved nails
- Tight shoes
- Injury to the toe
- Picking or tearing the nail
What does it feel like?
- Pain along the side of the nail
- Redness and swelling
- Drainage or pus if infected
- Overgrown, tender skin at the nail border
How is it diagnosed?
A visual exam is almost always sufficient.
When should you see a podiatrist?
- Redness, swelling, or drainage
- An ingrown nail that keeps coming back
- Any ingrown nail with diabetes or poor circulation
- Pain that is not improving after a few days of soaking
Nonsurgical treatment
- Warm soaks
- For mild cases, alongside properly fitting shoes.
- Correct nail trimming
- Straight across, not too short.
When is surgery considered?
Most painful ingrown nails are best treated with a minor in-office procedure rather than repeated self-treatment.
After numbing the toe, the offending edge of the nail is removed. If the problem is recurrent, the nail root along that edge can be treated so it does not grow back. The procedure takes minutes.
What is recovery like?
Most people return to normal shoes and activity within a day or two. The area heals over one to three weeks with simple home care.
Frequently asked questions
Does ingrown toenail removal hurt?
The toe is numbed first, so the procedure itself should not be painful. There is some soreness afterward, usually manageable with over-the-counter pain relief.
Will my toenail grow back?
If only the edge is removed, the rest of the nail grows normally. If the root is treated, that narrow edge will not grow back, which prevents recurrence.
Can I treat an ingrown toenail at home?
Mild cases sometimes settle with soaks and proper trimming. Digging out the nail edge at home often makes things worse.