What causes an ingrown toenail?
An ingrown toenail occurs most often on the big toes. There are other factors but the most common cause is that the nail was cut back too short and starts to grow into the skin around the nail border. The nail becomes trapped in the skin and eventually may cut the skin where the leading edge of the nail is advancing due to normal nail growth. The nail grows deeper and deeper into the skin and can’t grow out. It is even thought that there is a family predisposition to having ingrown nails. Infection is common with ingrown toenails. Often this occurs because a person tries to do their own “bath room surgery” to try to relive the pain. Infections in a toe can be very serious as the bone of the toe is so near the surface. Bone infections are very hard to treat and can result in losing a toe or part of a foot. A minor surgical procedure may need to be done to take care of an ingrown nail. This is usually not done if an infection is present. Antibiotics need to be taken to clear the infectio
