I have an ingrown toenail.

[Masa the Masta]

This isn't a silly thread. It hurts.



I can't sprint on that foot anymore, it's a problem. It has pus on it, so I poked it out. I'm soaking it in hot water, and I'm keeping it as clean as possible.

Now, tomorrow I'm gonna see if I can see a podiatrist, but I might not be able to afford it. I have credit card bills to pay, and I need my foot good to..well...work and make more money. Vicious cycle.


Tips please? I'd like my foot back in a week. I can take pictures as necessary. It's currently red, hurts a little to touch it, I can't run on it too hard, and clearly inflamed. Obviously cutting the nail out goes without saying, but I'm going to wait until I see the podiatrist tomorrow.

[Black fist]

Stolen from Wiki

In mild cases (not including the severe cases in the photos above), doctors recommend daily soaking of the afflicted digit in a mixture of warm water and Epsom salts and applying an over-the-counter antiseptic. This might allow the nail to grow out so it may be trimmed properly and the flesh to heal. A simple yet extremely painful procedure for mild ingrowth (i.e., where infection is absent) requires small scissors to trim the nail completely along the nail margin down to the lateral base. This hopefully allows the embedded piece of nail to be pushed back and out from the toe tissue. Note that infection may be somewhat difficult to prevent in cleaning and treating ingrown nails owing to the warm, dark, and damp environment in shoes. Peroxide is immediately effective to help clean minor infections but iodine is more effective in the long term as it continues to prevent bacterial growth even after it is dry. [N.B.: Iodine should not be used on deep wounds. In such cases a physician or podiatrist should be consulted.] Also, bandages can help keep out bacteria but one should never apply any of the new types of spray-on bandages to ingrown nails that show any discharge - preventing drainage will likely cause intense swelling and pain.

These home remedies are often ineffective: frequently, the flesh is far too swollen and infected to allow for these procedures to work. Thus, severe cases, such as when the area around the nail becomes infected or the nail will not grow back properly, must be treated by a professional and the patient should avoid repeated attempts at this type of 'bathroom surgery.'

[Jetsetlemming]

Pocket knife. I've performed home surgery on myself three times thanks to ingrown toenails. Stick the knife under the side of the nail, and wedge it up, so the extra growth is on the outside of the skin. Suck it up, be a man, and ignore the pain, but try not to cut yourself too much. Your foot isn't exactly a hygenic place. Wash your toes with rubbing alchohol before and after, and try not to cut yourself too much.
In the future, make sure to always cut your toenails straight across, instead of curving them around the natural shape of the toe. Cutting your nails curved is a big way to make them go ingrown.

[h2orowe]

Haha, I have ingrown toenails on both my big feet. I've had it since I started playing football freshman year. :watson: They're bitches.

[RandomPasserby]

If the doctor is too expensive and scissors don't fit without huge pain, use a sharp knife with a pointy tip, so you can cut the nail when you slide the tip "under" your nail, edge upwards cutting the nail. Then you should get enough of the ingrown part cut off from the main nail that you can use tweezers to tear it off. It will be almost instantly better and heals in few days.

[Masa the Masta]

I already checked wiki. Bleh. Didn't help me much/

I forgot to mention I don't have health insurance, that's why I'm bitching more about money than I need to.


I'm gonna fix this motherfucker, by god.

[Masa the Masta]

Has anyone ever experienced ingrown nails, but with the redness and pus even?

[RandomPasserby]

Yes, being macho and having scissors/knife really helps.

[Jetsetlemming]

Has anyone ever experienced ingrown nails, but with the redness and pus even?
My first was like that. Unless it looks like one of the examples on the wiki, don't worry about it, do what you gotta do, and then douse the fucker in alcohol or peroxide.

[Firefly]

This thread makes me want to never, ever have an ingrown toenail. :eyepop:

[h2orowe]

Has anyone ever experienced ingrown nails, but with the redness and pus even?
Yes, dude. Plenty of times. Most of the time, mine's normal, but it gets like that like once or twice a month. It fucking sucks. I've even taken pills for it, and they did nothing. Try having to get into a 3 point stance with tight cleats after running shitloads during hellweek with an ingrown toenail.

[Jiant Flying Panda]

Suck it up.

I had one of those a few months ago and played baseball.

[stsparky]

Masa?

Step two. Cut a small "V" in the middle of the nail after it heals. Nails tend to repair the cut and won't regrow in the hangnail. Ice it when you get home.

Myself - I soak and cut every 6 weeks. Everything grows fast on me - hair nails and stuff.

[Plekto]

I had one two weeks ago. My solution was the cut along the side bit - and also get a nail file and after a good shower.soak, buff off the callous that had formed along the side of the toe(often the real cause - tight shoes create a callous/thick area of skin, which impedes the nail's normal path.

My tool? The smallest Swiss Army knife they make with a scizzors. The itty-bitty one about 1.5 inches long. Lots of tiny little bits(the scizzors are scalpel sharp when new and you can get one of these for cheap)

http://www.swissknivesexpress.com/classic.html
Less than $15, usually.

And, yes, you might get a bit of bleeding from under the nail from raising it up, but it's better than an infection. Of course, an infection is time to see the doctor.

My solution to the problem in general(it got cold for a few days so I was using dress shoes for work, hence the problem) is to get some nice open-toed sandals.

http://columbia.com/SubCategory.aspx?top=5&cat=51040&viewAll=false
These are the best - better grip than Berkenstocks and far far less cost.

http://www.sportchalet.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2115593&cp=848855.1163719.1163852
I have a pair of these. Waterproof as well - good for boating and watersports as well - super comfy. $45. Happy feet! Low Cost! Wear like iron! Super-sure grip all the time. win-win situation. :)

These also turn from a sandal to a mule/slide(rear strap is removeable entirely)

[Angelyne]

Soaking it in a hot water epsom salt bath is a good way to make the swelling go down and relieve the pain. You can buy epsom salt in the first aid section at most grocery or drug stores and it costs less than a dollar.

[bubbles]

I had one on my big toe, but the podiatrist took care of them with a bit of surgery-esque type work under local anaesthetic. So far as I remember, she basically went to town with a huge set of scissors, and folded the nail under itself, effectively shortening the width of the nail. It takes less than an hour and they've never reoccured in the 5+ years since it was done. It isn't worth the pain and hassle to leave them untreated. Also, the pus that comes from the infection there smells funny :x

[Y.T.]

Hmm.

Never had one. Never seen a credit card* bill either. Never paid for a doctor too.. **

*What's wrong with debit (debet ?) cards ? You don't get bills for those. Having mine costs ~ 10 c a month.
**except dentists. If you get better fillings, you pay 1/2. Before you have a job, your health insurance is paid by the state...

[Anders]

Epsom salt works pretty well, but it doesn't help the fact that the toenail is growing in instead of out. The knife works really well, but a needle-nose pliers works really well to get a good grip on the nail when you rip it out. Of course you don't have to follow our remedies- my brother's friend uses a corkscrew to take care of those. I'll leave it up to your imagination how that worked.

[RandomPasserby]

So Masa, have you showed it the knife yet?

[xinster]

I already checked wiki. Bleh. Didn't help me much/

.
blashpemy

[setrict]

I had mine removed, and the doc killed the growth cells on one part of the toe so the nail only grows on one side. It's held up with no recurrances for about 20 years now. I'd go to the doctor and get it done. Most will work out some kind of a payment plan, or you can finance some other way and pay cash (many will also give cash discounts, when I went to the ER last year paying cash changed the bill from $1300 to $800).

Although I can say that it was the absolute worst pain I have ever felt when they stuck a long needle in the end of my swollen and infected toe for the anesthesia. I've broken bones, torn a ligament in my knee, fallen headfirst into hot coals, and lots of other unpleasant things. None even come close to that.

[CrazyAce86]

I had one and I did the bathroom surgery a few times-- even the V cut-- and it still kept coming back. Finally I said fuck it and my mother made me an appointment at the health center. The doc numbed it and cut off half of my nail, gave me a few tiny stitches, and that was that. I haven't had one since and hopefully I won't.

Oh, and for the bathroom surgery I used toothpicks, some gauze we had-- because it bled like a bitch-- a nail file, and a pair of fingernail clippers. Afterwards I'd soak it a bit, dump antiseptic on it, bandage it, and that was that. It worked except for the fact that it kept growing back. I don't know why it didn't after the doc did it. *shrugs*

My helpful suggestion is to check out and see if you have a free (or mostly free) health clinic around. Some clinics will cut the cost if you don't have health insurance, you just have to apply for it.

[mawande]

Are there any free clinics or something like that?

[Plekto]

The reason it usually keeps growing back is because of your footwear. I really *do* recommend those sandals or something simmilar.(Of course, squished or deformed toes from when you were small and wore the wrong shoes.. that can cause problems for a long time

[Beowulf]

My buddy had an ingrown toenail not that long ago. He was complaining that it was hurting like hell so we decided to get rid of it. We couldn't decide how we were going to get it off at first, until he suggested we just pull it off. So we tied him to a chair, grabbed some sturdy pliars, put a wooden spoon in his mouth (to bite on), got a grip, and ripped it off (Syriana, George Clooney style). It was exceedingly disgusting and bled a remarkable amount. One guy puked after he saw the aftermath.

[Silverhawk]

I've had ingrown toenails as well, and like most of the other posters here... I did my own bathroom surgery. Listen to Plekto, once you get the ingrown toenail fixed, don't wear any footwear that is even remotely tight or that blasted ingrown toenail will return to haunt you.

[Masa the Masta]

So.

I ended up doing a plethora of things.


I took a needle, got a lighter and lit the tip of it to sterilize it. I then proceeded to jab it into it to allow certain unmentionable fluids flow out.

It was eww.

I then dunked my foot in scalding hot water like 3 times 20 minutes a day. I also washed my toe thoroughly with anti bacterial soap, and then I would cut a piece of aloe plant and wipe the aloe goo on my toe. (For those of you who've been tuning in, it's the toe right next to my big toe) I also cut the intruding piece of nail off.


Seems to feel better. I'm staying barefoot/sandaled as possible, while continuing the crazy ass treatment.

[RandomPasserby]

Thanks for the update, I was worried that you might have died of bloodpoisoning as you didn't post anything after the pus part...

[Jay]

Yes, I thought you'd died from your rather mortal-sounding wounds too, Masa.

[ZaichikArky]

I'm glad you're trying these home remedies instead of forking over several hundred to have a doctor do it. Hopefully your nail will grow normall soon.

A year ago I had some kind of foot fungus. There were about 10 warts of various sizes all over my right foot! So I started cutting them off... I got rid of some of the smaller ones before I figured out that the only way they'd go away is if I got rid of the boss wart. This one was pretty damn huge -_-. I hacked about half of it off and then almost by the next day, my foot had completely cleared up! If you ever have an outbreak of warts, remember the lesser ones will usually go away if you get rid of the biggest wart. I was so happy when my foot became wart-free so fast.

[Masa the Masta]

...Um.. nice story, haha.


Near total curedness. The only reason why I was semi freaking out is because my 73 year old next door neighbor was a pedicurist (sp?) for 5 years or so, and when I showed her my foot, I swear to god she gave me one of those bad-luck gypsy readings.

"My gosh, your foot is so terrible! Don't touch it, I'm calling the doctor first thing in the morning." I had to fight my concern over blood poisoning and other stupid nonsense she told me and take care of the problem myself, 'cause I had no money.


Damn lady gave me a scare.

[Plekto]

Well, if you start growing a 6th toe.. don't say we didn't warn you...

;)

[Hitokage]

I had your exact problem many years ago. Unfortunately, it was so bad that I had to go get mine permenantly removed from my foot because it kept growing back ingrown. Now my left big toe has a missing gap of nail along the right edge.

I would agree with some of the above posters. Take your toe and soak it in as hot of water as you can mixed with SEA salt until the water is cool. When that is done, take some toe nail clippers and snip back as much of the skin over the area as you can. Then take a knife with a good point and gently slide it under the nail.

Start to move it over slowly until it goes under the ingrown. Slowly wedge it up until you can snip the edge of it with toe-nail clippers. Then use nails/tweezers to rip it out of there.

It is ungodly painful. I hate to say it, but it was. If you can wrangle a friend into helping, you can hold the knife and keep it up while they rip it out.

As soon as you get it out of there, drop your foot into a re-heated water/salt mixture. It'll equally hurt but you won't get infected. Dry it well and wrap it in a bandage with neosorpin on it. Keep it dry until the next day. Soak your foot 1-2 times a day in HOT water and salt until it is not red anymore, then just keep it bandaged with neosorpin until heals up.

[Masa the Masta]

It's almost fully healed, though. :blank: But definitely thanks for the suggestion.

[ParryDat]

What do you guys do to get all of these nasty little infections?