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I've done the exact same thing - not worth it. I self-treated for years. It was usually quite painful and frequently led to infection (which always healed itsel

by ajsdpo9 10y ago

I've done the exact same thing - not worth it. I self-treated for years. It was usually quite painful and frequently led to infection (which always healed itself after a couple weeks). Best thing I ever did was finally go to the GP and get it surgically taken care of. 30mins in the doctors office, less pain that treating it myself, and it's never come back. Saying all this my health care doesn't cost me anything but even if I had to pay, in hindsight, I would.

v64 10y ago
One doesn't often get a chance to commiserate publicly about ingrown toe nail problems, so I'm going to take the opportunity to very enthusiastically second this. OP, go see a podiatrist ASAP. After numerous dealings with infected and painful to walk on toes, I went through a simple in office procedure where the podiatrist numbed my toes, snipped off the edges of the nail, then put some chemical at the nail base so they wouldn't grow back. I haven't thought about my toe nails since and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it's improved my quality of life not having to deal with those issues anymore.
- overcast 10y ago
  I just altered my trimming style of cutting too short, to leaving some actual nail there. Problem solved.
  - ajsdpo9 10y ago
    Yeah I should've have mentioned in my original comment but obviously there are varying degrees of this. My situation was not something I could ever fix myself, only fix temporarily. The only solution was killing a section of the root with a chemical.
- kjs3 10y ago
  I had that done after I crushed a toe and the nail-bed was damaged such that it basically immediately in-grew. Looks a bit odd, but problem definitely solved.
- seanp2k2 10y ago
  Same, do this and get professional podiatry nail clippers (they look like wire cutters and the actual brands they use in practices cost ~$50-a few hundred, look on Amazon and eBay). They're super sharp and can cut straight or curved, and can get under the nail without hurting much. The doctor killed part of my nail bed which prevented really bed recurrence, and with some maintenance, careful filing of the under-side and edge of the nail (with a very thin special podiatry file), it doesn't come back. Pronation issues also exacerbate ingrown nails by placing too much pressure on one side of a toe, especially prevalent in the biggest toe. For that, go to a running store and talk to them about insoles. For me, the SuperFeet insoles in Brooks Ghost running shoes make my feet, back, knees, hips, ankles, and metatarsals feel vey noticeably better.
logfromblammo 10y ago
80% trichloroacetic acid is readily available (generally for skin peels and wart removers) and can be used to chemically destroy the nail matrix. If you don't mind not having a toenail on that toe, you could probably do it yourself at home with a bit of prep.

by ajsdpo9 10y ago

v64 10y ago

One doesn't often get a chance to commiserate publicly about ingrown toe nail problems, so I'm going to take the opportunity to very enthusiastically second this. OP, go see a podiatrist ASAP. After numerous dealings with infected and painful to walk on toes, I went through a simple in office procedure where the podiatrist numbed my toes, snipped off the edges of the nail, then put some chemical at the nail base so they wouldn't grow back. I haven't thought about my toe nails since and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it's improved my quality of life not having to deal with those issues anymore.

overcast 10y ago
I just altered my trimming style of cutting too short, to leaving some actual nail there. Problem solved.
- ajsdpo9 10y ago
  Yeah I should've have mentioned in my original comment but obviously there are varying degrees of this. My situation was not something I could ever fix myself, only fix temporarily. The only solution was killing a section of the root with a chemical.
kjs3 10y ago
I had that done after I crushed a toe and the nail-bed was damaged such that it basically immediately in-grew. Looks a bit odd, but problem definitely solved.
seanp2k2 10y ago
Same, do this and get professional podiatry nail clippers (they look like wire cutters and the actual brands they use in practices cost ~$50-a few hundred, look on Amazon and eBay). They're super sharp and can cut straight or curved, and can get under the nail without hurting much. The doctor killed part of my nail bed which prevented really bed recurrence, and with some maintenance, careful filing of the under-side and edge of the nail (with a very thin special podiatry file), it doesn't come back. Pronation issues also exacerbate ingrown nails by placing too much pressure on one side of a toe, especially prevalent in the biggest toe. For that, go to a running store and talk to them about insoles. For me, the SuperFeet insoles in Brooks Ghost running shoes make my feet, back, knees, hips, ankles, and metatarsals feel vey noticeably better.

logfromblammo 10y ago

80% trichloroacetic acid is readily available (generally for skin peels and wart removers) and can be used to chemically destroy the nail matrix. If you don't mind not having a toenail on that toe, you could probably do it yourself at home with a bit of prep.