Why is my toe red and sore?
An ingrown toenail is a nail that digs into the skin causing pain, redness, swelling and sometimes even infection. We know how painful these can be and we take pride in being able to relieve you of this pain.
Cause
An ingrown toenail can be caused by the shape of your nail. Our nails can change shape over our life due to many different reasons, they can become much more curved and therefore more likely to grow into the skin. Tight fitting footwear, incorrect cutting technique and trauma can also lead to ingrown toenails.
Diagnosis
Our team of Podiatrists are highly trained to assess and diagnose all nail conidtions. Our Podiatrist will ask you a general history regarding your activities footwear and cutting technique to find the main reason for your ingrown nail. We are also able to assess whether there is an infection present and what treatment may be needed.
Treatment
Treatment involves removing the offending nail piece from the skin so that the area is able to heal. This can be performed with or without a local anaethetic. The nail can also be removed permanently or temporarily to allow the skin to heal. If it is removed temporarily the nail will grow back but can be guided to the right position so we can make sure that this problem doesn’t happen again.
Our Podiatrists are able to offer nail surgery as a permanent solution and will be able to talk to you about this if it is necessary.