Ingrown toenails occur when your nails' edges or corners grow into the skin next to the nail. Your big toe is most likely to get an ingrown toenail, but any toenail or even fingernail can be affected. This condition is prevalent among people with sweaty feet, like teenagers and students, particularly those who wear fitted closed shoes for long periods of time.

An ingrown toenail's causes include cutting your toenails incorrectly, particularly nails with jagged edges when you have irregular toenails when you drop something heavy on your toe. Sometimes, there can be a genetic predisposition to this condition.

An ingrown toenail can become infected. It may become painful, red, swollen, and it can ooze pus around the toe. There are a few home remedies that can work on ingrown toenails and are recommended as primary treatment for this condition by health care providers:

If the pain gets worse, please make an appointment to see a health provider. In some extreme cases, infections can spread, and IV antibiotics are needed.  In cases of severe, recurring ingrown toenails, surgery is required.

If you are in a school that has EMA Care clinics, please see your health provider. They may be able to treat the ingrown toenail on the spot,  recommend some home remedies, or they might recommend seeing a specialist.

How to prevent ingrown toenails:

Ingrown toenails are extremely common, especially among gap year aged students. They can often be very painful and can even lead to serious infections if not treated aggressively. The good news is, they are easy to prevent!  Please follow our recommendations for ways to prevent ingrown toenails, and everything should be fine!

From here at EMA Care, we wish you a healthy and happy winter.