Many people don’t realize that simple foot problems can affect your daily life and once these problems are fixed your quality of life improves.

One of these common foot problems seen in my office quite often are ingrown toenails. Usually a patient comes in with a concerned look on their faces and in severe pain. Many times it had been bothering them for some time. As the nail grows it becomes too symptomatic and they need to seek treatment.

Ingrown toenails are usually caused by the improper cutting of the nail itself. Often, people tend to round off their toenails as they do their fingernails. However, the proper way is to cut the nails straight across. I know the tendency and the temptation is to round the corners but they can usually lead to ingrown toenails later. What happens when they round off the corners is that a small nail spicule is left behind. So when the nail grows out, the spicule digs into the skin and an ingrown toenail forms. When the spicule breaks the skin then that usually leads into an infected toenail. This is when a person usually seeks professional treatment.

There are several steps a person can take to prevent ingrown toenails. First, as I mentioned before, cut your nails straight across, avoiding the temptation to round off. Secondly, wear proper fitting shoes. There is a misconception that people feel that shoes are the cause of ingrown toenail. That is not the case; they will aggravate them but not create them initially. Finally, one should seek professional treatment if one has a chronic case where they are always getting infections and continued pain and discomfort.

If a person has a chronic condition of an ingrown toenail, there are many types of procedures ...