Choosing Between Ingrown Toenail Home Remedy or Podiatric Treatment
An ingrown toenail is an extremely unpleasant and painful thing to go through and really you want to choose a form of treatment that is effective and safe. But the question that people often consider when they get one is should they use an ingrown toenail home remedy or podiatric treatment? For those of you who do not know, a podiatrist is a doctor that has specialized in the treatment of feet. So is it best to treat yourself with an ingrown toenail home remedy or visit a doctor who is an expert in your condition?
Really the answer to this depends on the state of the ingrown toenail. If this is a condition that has just started in the last couple of days, there are a few things you can try at home that can be effective for some people. But if you are in a lot of pain, if you are diabetic, have poor circulation, or if there are obvious signs that you ingrown toenail is infected, podiatric treatment is the best choice you can make, or visiting your own doctor. Below the article will outline what can be done if you just need an ingrown toenail home remedy, and then what a doctor does to treat it.
Ingrown toenail home remedy options
Though there are a couple of things you can try at home an ingrown toenail is not a condition that has a lot of different home remedy options. You will no doubt come across articles that tell you how to dig out the nail and cut it yourself, or an ingrown toenail home remedy of home surgery, but please avoid this temptation. Whatever your reason of avoiding the doctor, the fact is home surgery gives most people that do it just temporary relief. You cause yourself a lot of pain, bleeding, potential infection for relief in the immediate sense. But home surgery of ingrown toenails in most people creates a chronic or recurring ingrown toenail problem. Eventually you have to go to a doctor for help anyway, so you may have well gone right from the start and skipped all that pain! Another ingrown toenail home remedy myth is the cutting of a v in the nail. Again it can make things worse, cause it to return, and doesn’t work! Here are some things that do work for some sufferers;
- Soak your feet two or three times a day for at least 15 to 20 minutes each time, it softens the nail and may help it grow out. You can add salts or essential oils if you wish to.
- Keep off it as much as you can, wear sandals or avoid shoes altogether.
- After soaking your foot have a rolled up piece of cotton ready, ease the nail out of the flesh if you can and put in the rolled cotton to keep it out. Change the roll daily until the nail is grown out and can be trimmed correctly.
- Check out over the counter treatment options you can use at home or talk about it with your pharmacist and see if they can recommend anything.
- Trim your nails by cutting straight across, toenails should not be shaped like finger nails, the nail should be a little longer than the toe itself.
- Keep it clean and dry.
Podiatric treatment
Your doctor will discuss everything with you, but key to remember is that usually if a minor surgical procedure needs to be done to remove part or all of the nail it can be done in the office on that visit, pain relief is usually given via an injection to the toe and it is quick. There are three main ways the nail or part of the nail can be removed, using a chemical, surgery, or laser. If you have a recurring problem they may kill the part of the nail that regrows it so that you stop having problems but that is not commonly needed. When you are choosing between ingrown toenail home remedy or podiatric treatment it should be decided based on what your condition really needs and will respond to.
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Great post, thank you for sharing. There are a number of ways that can help relieve the pain of ingrown toenails, including some which you can do yourself at home. The home care techniques are always the best place to start, however it is always recommended to seek advice on the possible treatment options by a podiatrist.