Ingrown Toenails, A Common Problem Found In Soccer Players

Ingrown toenails can be one of the most painful foot conditions to experience. It may seem like a small thing but a painful, ingrown toenail can stop even the biggest person in his or her tracks. And I should know because I’ve dealt with one myself.

An ingrown toenail occurs when the border of the nail curves inward into the surrounding skin leading to pain, swelling, redness.  If left untreated it could possibly cause an infection too. Causes of an ingrown nail can range from trauma, improperly cutting the nail and tight shoes to name a few.  Some people have a hereditary nail shape that is more susceptible to developing an ingrown nail.

Ingrown toenails can develop with soccer from a combination of a tight fitting shoe such as a cleat and repetitive trauma of the nail hitting the front of the shoe. As the micro trauma continues, the nail becomes more and more incurvated which can eventually cause an ingrown toenail. Most of us attempt to cut the corner out ourselves with our little nail kits at home;  we commonly joke with our patients that they’re attempting “bathroom surgery.”  Others follow the old wives tale of cutting a “V” in the center of toenail hoping it will grow together. As much as we hope these unique techniques work, they typically only provide temporary relief or do not work at all. Ultimately the procedure to remove a painful ingrown toenail is by your podiatrist performing a small in-office procedure that removes the offending border and using a chemical to kill that portion of the ingrown nail to prevent it from recurring again. By doing this easy office procedure, we can dramatically decrease the risk of you developing an ingrown nail again.

The procedure itself is simple and the after-care is easy!  The ingrown toenail procedure takes about 10 minutes  to be performed in the office and you leave with simple instructions for 1-2 weeks of home care. At Healthy Feet Podiatry, we know that anyone, any age can get an ingrown so we take pride in treating patients of all ages. If you or a loved one is dealing with an ingrown toenail, don’t ignore it! Call us at Healthy Feet Podiatry to schedule an appointment to get rid of your ingrown toenail today! Same day appointments available!

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