Is It Time to Seek Treatment for Your Ingrown Toenail?

We constantly warn patients that they should never wait too long to seek treatment for an ingrown toenail. Unfortunately, too many times, they come to see us when they are already in agonizing pain. In some cases, it’s even so bad they can barely put a sock on without experiencing pain. So today, Dr. Joel Segalman, Dr. Stephen Lazaroff, and Dr. Brittany Ciaramello at Performance Foot & Ankle Specialists, LLC in New Haven County and Fairfield County are discussing why timely treatment for ingrown toenails is so important.

An Untreated Ingrown Toenail Can Escalate into a Serious Problem Very Quickly

Without treatment, mild cases of ingrown toenails rarely stay minor, as the toenail grows and digs deeper into the toe. As a result, one or more of the following is likely to happen.

• The pain worsens. The toenail puts forceful pressure on this sensitive part of your body that isn’t able to handle it.

• Sensitivity becomes intense. In some cases, just bumping the affected toe into the front of the shoe can cause tremendous pain.

• The ingrown toenail cuts through the skin. The cut can get infected easily and left untreated; the infection can extend to the bone. In the more extreme cases, a toe amputation may be needed.

Patients who suffer from neuropathy or diabetes are at an elevated risk because with these conditions, they can’t feel the pain, and their immune system is unable to fight off an infection. In these cases, the patient may not notice anything is wrong until it’s too late.

Avoid Home Treatments for Ingrown Toenails

Conducting a Google search for at-home treatments for an ingrown toenail will undoubtedly return a large number of results, including those from reputable medical sites. And unfortunately, many patients mistakenly feel confident about starting their treatment.

What’s true is that home-based therapies require a lot of time and some luck. Even when they might seem to be working, the treatments typically take a minimum of several days to work completely, and there’s still a lot of inconvenience and pain to deal with. It’s just not worth the risk.

A large percentage of patients who get ingrown toenails continue to get them unless there is professional treatment. So whether you think your ingrown toenail is severe or mild, contact the offices Dr. Joel Segalman, Dr. Stephen Lazaroff, and Dr. Brittany Ciaramello at Performance Foot & Ankle Specialists, LLC in New Haven County and Fairfield County to schedule a consultation. You can reach our Waterbury office at (203) 755-0489 or our Newtown office at (203) 270-6724.