Ingrown Toenails

[Moon_Crescent]

Okay, I need a little help.

How do you get rid of an ingrown toenail?
I got one yesterday-and it hurts if a tap it.
Any remedies?

[SillyRainbowKid]

Wait.
What do ingrown toenails look like.
Gimme a random pic of one plz'z.

[Silent_Wolf]

Rainbow, there is such a thing as google. Use it. Or wikipedia.

The only thing you can do is go to a podiatrist for it. Or you can do what a friend of mine did and cut it on your own until it stops being ingrown, but that is EXTREMELY painful, and the only reason he did that was because he hated it when they stuck needles under his nails.

[Silver_Wolf_Kitty]

You should go to a doctor for it, that is what I am going to say first and the advice that should be followed. Below is simply what I do because I get them too often for it to be worth it to go to the doctor.

What I always do is drain it and keep it clean and from my understanding, that is basically all the doctor will do. It hurts a lot though, especially since I usually cut off the more dead skin then use a needle to drain the actual part where the nail went in. I also cut away the nail, though this can result in it happening all over again once it grows back. Cleaning is important though since generally the pain means its infected.

Actually, one of my fingernails did this to me about a week or so ago and I still am having problems, though I think its finally improving since I finally got all of the pus out.

[Miranda_]

Prevention is better than cure tho. The best tip for preventing ingrown toenails is: trim your nails straight across the top; NOT in a rounded shape. In addition, avoid wearing shoes or socks that squeeze your toes together. You can always use an emery board to smooth off the edges, but make sure that you don't cut your toenails too short, and try to go barefoot occasionally to allow your feet to breathe.