Ingrown toenail – a disease that no one can avoid

Ingrown toenails are extremely common, accounting for 20% of nail problems, most commonly on the big toe. This condition occurs when the toenail grows and grows long, digging into the flesh, causing inflammation and pain. Although not dangerous, ingrown toenails make walking difficult, especially when the patient needs to wear shoes.

MSc Truong Hoang Huy, Orthopedic Trauma Center – Tam Anh General Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, shared that there are two main groups of causes for this condition, which are:

The inevitable development of the body: For children during puberty, the foot size often grows very quickly, causing the nail to be pinched and plugged into the skin. In the elderly, when having diabetic foot syndrome, the nails will not be provided with enough nutrients and grow down, poking into the flesh.

Daily life habits: Wear pointed toe shoes or tight shoes. At this time, the style of the shoe will create pressure, not allowing the toenail to grow above the surface of the meat, but forcing the toenail to roll inward, into the meat. The habit of cutting close to the toenails, especially taking the corners of the nails, also causes ingrown toenails. This action has inadvertently made the nail lose its edge, the surrounding software will take the opportunity to press on the nail where it was cut. Later, when the nail grows back, it will pierce the soft tissues and poke the flesh.

According to MSc. Truong Hoang Huy, depending on the stage of the disease, the nail poking will have different signs. Initially, ingrown toenails will appear with a sharp pain, mild swelling at the corner of the nail of the big toe. However, this sign is often subjective and ignored by patients. Over time, the nail will get deeper and deeper into the flesh, bacteria will enter the corner of the injured foot, causing swelling, pain becomes severe, discharge or pus and even a rotten smell. At that time, the condition of the nail puncture had progressed badly, requiring medical treatment.

Initially, when the nail is just starting to be slightly swollen, it is enough to use a small cotton swab inserted in the nail, clean it and use an antibacterial gel/cream to treat this condition. However, when the disease is severe, severe pain, discharge, and stench appear, it is necessary to intervene for treatment. Even if it is just a minor surgery, the patient also needs to complete diagnostic procedures such as clinical examination and X-ray to accurately determine the disease’s condition. After a local anesthetic is applied, the necrotic tissue, pus, nail and part of the nail base will be removed.

In particular, people with diabetic foot syndrome should pay attention to the condition of the claws. When suffering from this syndrome, the patient’s feet often no longer feel, so they do not detect or detect very late signs of swelling, pain, infection … when the nail pokes into the flesh. While in these patients, even a small scratch can lead to amputation complications.

MSc Truong Hoang Huy said that the treatment of ingrown toenails is not too difficult, however, it will disrupt the patient’s normal activities. Therefore, it is best for the patient to change life habits such as wearing suitable shoes, not cutting nails too close, not taking corners, cutting nails according to the natural development of the nails, keeping feet clean… to prevent this.

Phi Hong