Ingrown Toenails

I bet most of you can guess the inspiration behind this post. I went running for the first time in two weeks  and I ended up waking up the next day to horrid pain and swelling on the corner of my big toe. Let me tell you, I’m not a morning person to begin with and this was not what I wanted to wake up to an hour before my alarm. I suddenly understood what other people had been complaining about when they had an ingrown toenail.

Anyways, I happened to catch my ingrown toenail early and it was easy to fix. If you ignore the pain and hope it goes away, you’ll end up needing to go to a doctor, most likely for an infection. I was curious to see if athletic activities caused ingrown toenails and the American College for Foot and Ankle Surgeons says that activities that involve repeated pressure on the toes, such as kicking and running, can cause ingrown toenails. Hooray! I assume this also applies to repeated jumping and changes in direction so playing volleyball can also cause problems.

It isn’t terribly difficult to treat if you catch it early enough though. Most often the cause is trimming your nails to short so you do not want to trim it down to fix it. Instead, it is recommended that as long as the nail has not pierced your skin you can soak your foot in room-temperature water and gently massage the area that is inflamed. Adding Epsom’s salt to the water is also helpful and can be beneficial to your health on top of helping with your hurt toe. I like adding a bit of essential oil to my foot soaks as well.

If the toe has already been pierced by your nail, you have to go to a doctor, there is a high chance of infection and you may need to a prescription. Taking care of your toe as soon as you sense pain or notice inflammation is the best option though.

To prevent ingrown toes, make sure you wear well-fitted shoes. That means that you should not settle. If it doesn’t feel comfortable, get a new pair of shoes. Loose shoes are just as bad as shoes that are too tight. Also, make sure your toes are properly trimmed. Don’t cut them too short and try to get them in a fairly straight line.

To get more information on ingrown toes, check out the site below:

http://www.foothealthfacts.org/footankleinfo/ingrown-toenail.htm