Case sharing
Mr. Chan had experienced the pain of ingrown nail. “Two months ago I felt pain on the right big toe. It was so painful that I could not wear shoes except slippers. I could barely walk. Painkillers are just for temporary uses. It was very disturbing to my life. I couldn’t focus on my work, couldn’t do exercises and couldn’t go out to dine with my friends because of the pain in my toes. Mainly I could only stay home and watch TV. It was very depressing.”
His sister experienced the same thing years ago. Her method was to remove the entire toe nail and wait for it to grow back. Mr Chan thinks the reason for his ingrown nail is he cut his nail too deeply, causing new nails inserted into the skin nearby. Now Mr Chan would never do the same thing again.
Causes of ingrown nail
The nail bed under the nail is a very thin layer of skin. Nail is similar to hair, which grows after it is peeled off. Matrix is the origin of the toe nail, which is the semi-lunar white matter, lunula, at the end of the toe nail. Ingrown nail seldom occur in finger nails, usually it happens on the big toe nails, and very few happen on other toe nails, which is usually caused by congenital deformation.
Ingrown nail happens when cutting the toe nail too deeply, so when the nail grows upward, it penetrates the nail bed as a sharp blade, causing trauma, leading to bacterial infection and forming pus. Other factors such as wearing high heels, narrow head shoes, will all increase pressure on the toes, causing swelling. And sweaty feet will increase moisture and worsen the problem of ingrown nail.
The information aims to provide educational purpose only. Anyone reading it should consult Surgery Specialist before considering treatment and should not rely on the information above.
