Gotta Sore Big Red Toe

Unless you’ve experienced one of these, the pain experienced is disproportionate to the size of the problem.

This is a situation that gets revisited almost daily in the office and in our blog regularly.

A health patient who manages their own foot-care gets a little careless in nail trimming and leaves behind a little spike. This seemingly harmless little sharp point then begins to imbed itself as the nail gradually advances forward.

Where we have a mildly curved or involuted nail like this in the photograph it is vitally important not to cut the nail leaving a sharp corner or worse still a spike. This can be best avoided by ensuring address 3 simple considerations before nail-cutting begins.

3 Simple Rules

  • Having a shower, bath or foot soak prior to trimming makes the nail and surrounding tissue softer enabling greater ease of cutting.
  • Ensure you are in a comfortable position where reaching the toes is easy and your vision is focused and clear.
  • Use proper nail-cutting tools designed to allow the safe trimming of those curved, involuted nails. The clipper style on the right is fine for fingernails or flat nail plates.

A metal nail file or emery board is a useful tool to round off the corner of the nail after cutting and avoid catching on the sock or stocking. As you can see the nail, in this case upon closer inspection is still very rough, subsequent filing will address this concern.

For more advice on how to cut nails check out our previous blog here.

For those individuals where ingrowths have become a repeat performance, it can be assumed that this is not a case of sloppy workmanship and instead, it is caused by the forces exerted by an abnormal gait pattern. If the cause of this is identified and treated early enough, the situation can be resolved. Failing to do so will often require a simple but effective surgical correction to fix. 

Repetitive treatments, bouts of infection, antibiotic prescriptions, and limitations in mobility are not adequate methods of treatment. This is a simple if widely misunderstood complaint that can be permanently cured.

Dont let the cycle continue! If any of this rings familiar, give us a call.

Mississauga Podiatry Associates Branford Podiatry Associates



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