How is the condition diagnosed?
In all cases, the diagnosis of an ingrown toenail is based on a physical exam. There is no need of X rays or any radiological study, unless your doctor is incompetent or your doctor knows you have very good medical insurance.
Treatment
The treatment of an ingrown toe nail is not difficult. Simple changes in lifestyle and basic home remedies can save you lots of unnecessary visit to the physician and money.
Conservative approaches to treatment of mild to moderate ingrown toenail include:
For those who have mild ingrown toenail, soak your foot regularly in water and avoid tight shoes. This is an absolute must. None of the treatments will work if you continue to wear tight fitting shoes.
If there is no redness or drainage, there is no need for an antibiotic
Cotton wisps underneath the nail. When there is an obvious ingrown nail, one can place tiny gauze or cotton under the nail to separate it from overlying skin. This will help the nail grow above the skin edge. This technique usually does not work because in most cases, the nail has already buried itself deep in the flesh
When home remedies fail, one needs to see a physician.
When conservative therapy fails for initial management of moderate to severe onychocryptosis, surgical treatments may be required. This involves partial nail avulsion or complete nail excision with or without a chemical (phenolization).
Nail removal may be complete or partial. The toe is numbed and the doctor may remove the complete nail or just partially avulse it.
In individual who have had recurrent problems with ingrown toenails, it is best to remove the entire nail. The new nail will then grow without problems. The procedure sounds painful but it is not if adequate anesthetic is administered. The nail can be removed with scissors, laser or chemically (lasers just cost more but instrument removal produces the same result).
If there is no evidence of any infection, no antibiotics are required after nail removal
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