Summer is officially in full swing in Florida! Its a time of year with consistently hot weather and afternoon showers. With the hot weather and constant threat for stepping in a puddle its no wonder many people opt to wear flip flops. Despite being a podiatrist I am not naive to think that my patients will wear sandals even though they are not the best choice of footwear for a variety of reasons. One thing sandals do provide however is a clear look at those pesky ingrown toenails!
Ingrown toenails occur when a portion of the side of the nail starts to grow into the skin next to the nail. This can occur for a variety of reasons from improper fit of your shoes to trimming your nails incorrectly. When the nails starts to invade the skin, infections occur. Often times I see patients who have tried for weeks to remove the pesky nail and failed, only coming to see me once the nail looks something like this picture! The reality is taking an ingrown nail out yourself is virtually impossible because the ingrown portion is so far below the skin, the toe must be anesthetized prior to removing the nail. The good news is, we are here for you!
I often times hear one of the reasons for delaying an office visit is because of the fear of the procedure. Rest assured, after anesthetizing the toe (the only uncomfortable part) you experience zero pain during the procedure and the whole process takes only about 3 minutes to do! So if you find yourself in flip flops staring at a painful inflamed toe call us at Healthy Feet Podiatry for your same day appointment!