What is an ingrown toenail (Onychocryptosis)?
An ingrown toenail is a painful condition in which the nail edge penetrates the side of the toe. It most commonly occurs in the big toe. Young men are prone to it, perhaps due to poor nail cutting where a spike of nail is left behind which penetrates the skin allowing the entry of bacteria. It can also be caused by narrow fitting shoes pinching the toes together, encouraging an increased transverse curvature of the nail known as involution. Symptoms are pain, swelling, bleeding or weeping and sometimes a bad odour if infection is present. It can sometimes be helped by batheing the toe in warm salt water daily and by having a course of antibiotics from your GP. However these measures are likely to resolve the immediate problem only temporarily, as the complaint soon recurs unless the offending portion of nail is removed. In mild cases we will try to gently remove the spike of nail, but if the condition is persistent or severe, nail surgery is likely to be the best solution. Because onyc
