How to Prevent an Ingrown Toenail

Do you frequently suffer from ingrown toenails and don’t know how to stop them? If so, use these tips to help prevent future ingrown toenails:

Wear Shoes with Plenty of Room. Wearing shoes that fail to have enough room in the length or width can cause an ingrown toenail because the shoe’s material can bind and force a toenail into a particular direction, so make sure that you have at least a quarter of an inch in length (standing up) when you buy a pair of shoes. This measurement might seem a bit too much, but your feet swell when you are on them for any period of time. Be kind to your feet and give them some room to move. Remember, if your feet can’t move, then your big toenail is likely compromised.

Trim toenails straight across. Having long toenails can cause irritation to your toes when you wear your shoes, so chances are that you cut your toenails short enough to avoid such irritation. This is good, but if you cut your toenails down too far into the sides of your toes, you’re only asking for trouble, especially with your big toe. Cutting the corners off your big toenail leaves a gap on each side for your toenail to grow into the sides of your toe, rather than grow straight. Prevent giving your big toenail such an opportunity by cutting it straight across, leaving no gaps on the sides.

Cut a V in your toenail. It is also wise to cut a V into your big toenail on each foot because this provides a gap for your toenail to grow toward. As your big toenail grows out, it will also grow inward toward the space that the cut out V provides. This helps your toenail to straighten out and relieve any pressure that you might have from the toenail trying to grow into the sides of your big toe. So, what do you do if your toenail is already ingrown? Don’t worry; the V still helps.

If you already have an ingrown toenail in your big toe, you can get some immediate relief from the infected ingrown toenail by cutting a V into it because it provides a way for the infection to escape the toe as the nail grows inward toward the gap. Chances are, though, your toe is so sore that you can tolerate cutting only a small V into your toenail; this is okay. The object is to cut a V into your toenail so that your toenail will grow from both sides towards the gap in the nail, and a small V is better than no V at all.

Any size V will help relieve the toenail pressure in the sides of your big toe. This might sound as if it will take a long time to relieve the ingrown nail, but you will actually feel some relief by morning. As well, you will see that some infection has oozed out, meaning that the nail is moving toward the gap and out of the side of your toe. As your nail grows out, you can also cut a deeper V. Just remember to leave enough room to cut a V when trimming the nail when it gets too long.