Why Do I Keep Getting These Ingrown Toenails?

I’ve had chronic recurring ingrown toenails for all of my adult life. Only the inner edge of either big toe is affected by this, which happens on average about 3-4 times per year.

Numerous people I’ve spoke with about this have insisted that I must be too stupid to figure out how to trim my toenails properly, as they assure me that this is indeed THE cause of ingrown toenails.

I ONLY trim my toenails straight across, and I never wear shoes that are too tight. Why do I keep getting ingrown toenails?

Why are only the big toes affected? Do people get ingrown fingernails??

Thanks.

I had an ingrown toenail once.

On thing I’d try is to take your shoes off as mcuh as possible.

I take mine off at work, and the second I get home. That might just be crack-pot stuff, but it couldn’t hurt.

You say this has been a problem only in adulthood, which makes me think that you might have damaged your nail plate at some point. Chronic ingrowns can actually deform the nail as well, so it can be self-perpetuating.

I had chronic ingrowns from as long as I can remember. I had surgury at around age 12 or 13 that excised the embedded nails on the big toe and left just the top portions. It looks a little funny but I haven’t had a problem with them since.

I too had ingrown toenails cut out, big toes only, when I was about 13 or 14. 20 years later I did have to have it done again as the nail started growing again at the base. The nail bed is supposed to be killed at the edges of teh base, but it doesn’t always hold. It has been about 3 years since the second removal and I may have to have it done again.

I have also been told that this is the wrong way to cut toe nails. Instead of straight across --------, they are supposed to be notched like this -----v-----. It is supposed to help the nail grow towards the centre rather than the edges.

Surreal, Have you seen a podiatrist? He/she will fix your ingrown toenail and will advise you on proper care to minimize future problems.

You mean notched in the middle so that if I’m in a rush and am shoving my foot into a pair of jeans, I run the risk of ripping the nail down the middle :eek:
I would risk ingrown toenails before risking such horror as that.

Anyway, as others have stated, the burly doctor who eased my own ingrown toenail pain offered me the “kill the nail bed at the edges” option if it ever came back. Thankfully I haven’t had to take him up on it, but I would do so if I had frequent ingrown toenails.

It is no more of a threat than the chance that your straight cut toenail could catch on your jeans and rip your entire nail off.

I used to have many problems with ingrown toenails too until surgery fixed it. I can’t really recall what exactly was wrong in my toe but I remember the word “bone”. They picked it up in an x-ray. After the surgery, no more problems :slight_smile:

In my teens I used to get ingrown nails in both my big toes (on both sides) quite regularly. My pediatrician insisted that it wasn’t a good idea to kill the nail and so I underwent an extremely painful office procedure several times. Finally, I went to an actual podiatrist who took out the ingrowth and killed a part of the root. The podiatrist was also much more efficient and produced far less pain.

About 10 years later, one of the killed roots grew in again and I had to have it redone. Other than that, no problems.

My advice … if you have ingrown toenails, see a podiatrist immediately. Don’t bother with anyone else.

I can reiterate the need to go to a podiatrist. I had ingrown toenails, both big toes, both sides for years. I used to just dig them out myself but the pain and sometimes puss got to be too bad. I went to my then HMO who would not refer me to a podiatrist. I ended up going to a General Surgeon Doctor, I think that is what he was called, who proceeded to try and kill my nail bed 3 times. All three times failed. It does hurt a bit when removed, but by the third time it was not so bad.

After the third try I got them to refer me to a real foot doctor. He did the removal in the same manner but had much better results. I have been without toenails on my big toes for about 10 years now… ahhhh the relief!

Maybe I misunderstood the technique. Are you not saying that one would put a notch in the center of the nail’s leading edge, not unlike the notches found in the ends of a bag of chips or candy that facilitate ripping?
I can’t imagine how the toenail wouldn’t split nicely down the center if anything ever caught on the notch. Of course, if folks use this technique, it obviously must work properly – they’d stop after the first torn nail.

My brother has had chronic ingrown toenails on the big toes of both feet since he was 10 or so. (he’s 30). He gets them removed, a month later he has another. I got a few when I was a kid, but I haven’t had one in 15 years.

He was born without nails (premature) and has had problems his whole life with growing them.

My mother used to have ingrown toenails on one or both big toes. She cut the V-shaped notch as adam yax mentions and also put small bits of cotton under the nail in the corner to try to raise the nail some. I guess that might help the nail grow upward, easing the pain somewhat. I saw her do both several times so I don’t know how good they worked.

I used to get ingrown toenails on the left edge of my left big toe. I don’t anymore because I don’t trim that nail back any closer than the outside edge of the skin.

In my case I think it’s not a problem with the nail, but rather with the skin on the outside edge of the toe. If the nail is cut back to a ‘normal’ length, the skin wants to grow out and over the nail, and that caused the nail as it grows to cut into the skin.

So I keep the nail long and over that part of the skin and it doesn’t have the chance to cut into it. … Uh, I hope that made sense…

Also, before I discovered this ‘fix’ for it, I used to try that ‘V notch’ method. It did work, but only sometimes. YMMV

I have ingrown toenails, but they rarely “flare up” anymore. The podiatrist and my doctor did recommend I get the sides removed, but I didn’t want to have funny looking strips for toenails, so I tried curing them myself. What works for me…soak them in hot water once in a while, and every day, run the hot bathtub water directly into the nail (I stick my toe right up the faucet!) It cleans out the area nicely, and the swelling will eventually go down completely. If you don’t cut your nails too short or stub your toe :slight_smile:

Also, I found that all cotton socks really help–synthetics seem to aggravate the irritation. I can’t wear most boots or many leather shoes. If anything rubs against my nail, that’s it. Right now, my nails look great and I have no pain or inflammation.

Another vote for podiatrist here.

I had ingrown toenails on both big toes for about 10 years (fat feet, ill-fitting shoes…) and finally got fed up and had one fixed.

The podiatrist (the world’s most effiminate male podiatrist - awesome guy!) cut a strip out with a LASER (rock!) at the root. Hurt like a bitch and took a while to heal, but it was well worth it. WELL worth it…

I do not have a funny-looking strip of a nail. After a few months it looked pretty normal.

Oddly enough, I had planned to get the left toe done but after the right one got “fixed” I never had a problem again with the left. I suspect it got scared straight :smiley:

This is a bit of a hijack, but i have a question for those of you who have had toenails removed and the beds killed. Did your toes seem to suffer at all from the loss of the nail, or was everything ok after? The reason for my question is that I’ve got BAD toenail fungus on both my big toes. So bad that those nails tend to rub on the underside of the top of my shoes, and that it is a little embarrasing to be out and about barefoot. At one time I had this fantasy that if I could get a podiatrist to remove the nial, the area under the nails could be firebombed with anti-fungal ointment while a new healthy nail grew in. I would do this in a heartbeat over taking the liver-killing medicine.

The podiatrist told me several things were wrong with my fantasy:

  1. The fungus would still come back (not sure why).
  2. The nail would still grow in raised because the beds have been damaged and won’t grow straight nails
  3. My big toes would suffer from not having a nail. I distinctly remember him drawing a picture in which the ends of my toes curled up like the shoes in Arabian Nights.

Hmmm, probably should’ve reiterated my question/added a few more:

Basically, I’d like to hear experiences with permanent nail removal, specifically any experiences that confirm/refute my podiatrist’s objections to removing my toe nails.

As a chronic sufferer of ingrown toenails on my big toes, I eventually opted to have the whole stinkin’ nail removed. The procedure is the same as when they remove the sides, but they remove and kill the whole nail bed. I asked if there would be any lasting issues to removing the nail. The doctor said no but he “warned” me that my toe might look funny. Since my feet resemble cloven hooves, the lack of aesthetic appeal that a missing nail would have is moot. Now, years later, my big “fleshy nub” and I have never been happier! :slight_smile:

Both great toe nails removed completely. Everything has been great.

Don’t look that funny.

Most ingrown nails are because of bone damage or mis-shape. The nails do what the bones does, not what the nail trim does.

As to the fungus, with a total removal of the nail, what is the fungus going to get under? Maybe on another toe but not that toe.

Get more than one opinion from two different podiatrist’s would be best.

Stop fighting and get them fixed. You won’t gross anyone out.

The relief is well worth it.