How to Best Handle and Treat an Ingrown Toenail

The Doctors welcome podiatrist Dr. Alireza Khosroabadi to answer a viewer question about dealing with an ingrown toenail properly. Find out what you can do early on before it becomes infected.

About The Doctors:

The Doctors is an Emmy award-winning daytime talk show hosted by ER physician Dr. Travis Stork, plastic surgeon Dr. Andrew Ordon and OB-GYN Dr. Nita Landry.

The Doctors helps you understand the latest health headlines, such as the ice bucket challenge for ALS and the Ebola outbreak; delivers exclusive interviews with celebrities dealing with health issues, such as Lamar Odom, Teen Mom star Farrah Abraham, reality stars Honey Boo Boo and Mama June, and activist Chaz Bono; brings you debates about health and safety claims from agricultural company Monsanto and celebrities such as Jenny McCarthy; and shows you the latest gross viral videos and explains how you can avoid an emergency situation. The Doctors also features the News in 2:00 digest of the latest celebrity health news and The Doctors’ Prescription for simple steps to get active, combat stress, eat better and live healthier.

Now in its eighth season, The Doctors celebrity guests have included Academy Award Winners Sally Field, Barbra Streisand, Jane Fonda, Marcia Gay Harden, Kathy Bates and Marisa Tomei; reality stars from Teen Mom and The Real Housewives, as well as Kris Jenner, Caitlyn Jenner, Melissa Rivers, Sharon Osbourne, Tim Gunn and Amber Rose; actors Jessica Alba, Christina Applegate, Julie Bowen, Patricia Heaton, Chevy Chase, Kristin Davis, Lou Ferrigno, Harrison Ford, Grace Gealey, Cedric the Entertainer, Valerie Harper, Debra Messing, Chris O’Donnell, Betty White, Linda Gray, Fran Drescher, Emmy Rossum, Roseanne Barr, Valerie Bertinelli, Suzanne Somers; athletes Magic Johnson, Apolo Ohno and Danica Patrick; musicians Tim McGraw, Justin Bieber, Clint Black, LL Cool J, Nick Carter, Kristin Chenoweth, Paula Abdul, Gloria Gaynor, La Toya Jackson, Barry Manilow, Bret Michaels, Gene Simmons and Jordin Sparks; and celebrity chefs Wolfgang Puck, Guy Fieri and Curtis Stone.

[burnsie]

95% of all viewers either are currently or just finished cutting their toenails

[majaserendra]

Ingrowns actually is worse than a breakup👁️👄👁️

[dsiphor]

If you see early onset signs of an ingrown toenail, soak your feet in warm water with soap or epsom salt for 15-20 min. and then apply neosporin. That helped me out tons (using epsom salt in the warm water). I never knew ingrown toenails could heal on their own, but they can and it took only 48 hours to heal itself. It was my second ingrown toenail within a year. The first was on the left and I had to have that taken care of surgically because it became infected after placing cotton underneath the nail. Do not try lifting the nail up using cotton or floss, you will most likely just make it worse and see infection.

[paytonpemberton]

Mines been red and swollen for 4 weeks now. Yay

[jasonw.m]

I've had one for over 7 months now but cutting it out seemed not to be a permanent solution since it grows back and the problem repeats itself within about 2 weeks. I started stuffing a small ball of cotton under the nail in that area while applying topical antibiotics to prevent infection plus keeping it dry. This raised the nail, and with time it's allowing it to grow over and beyond the point where it normally invades the skin/flesh. It's now painless and looking healthy. I'll never cut it in a curved shape ever again.

[mariab.]

My mom would soak the feet in a soapy solution, until it was soft & pliable. Then using a toothpick would carefully lift the nail out of the bed and would take a small piece of cotton saturated with bacitracin and. Fill the space between the nails &the bed with it. Everything would clear up fine provided you kept the nail from curling back into the bed. I'm thinking of doing the same but soaking with Epsom salts first.

[Rahel]

The nail on my big toe grows inside the skin so I have always had an ingrown toe nail. It sucks lol.

[raymondbordonaro]

I have been telling my parents to make an appointment, as I have been seeing these signs. They kept saying it’s nothing. Now Im sitting with my toe bleeding and had puss all over it. And I did some research I NEED TO GO TO A DOCTOR!!

[julianrivera]

Me doing this while tryna pull my ingrown toe nail 👁👄👁

[analogdistortion]

I curve my toenails because they cut my skin when i'm lying in bed moving around if I don't but i get an infected toenail quite often. Same with my fingers too.

[itsmee]

I had one removed and now it repeated on the other leg I am so frustrated It hurts so much but my nails just naturally grow like that

[danbardos]

Heard an old military hack for this: cut a V into your toenail down to the cuticle.

The growing nail will then pull into the middle away from your ends. Suprised I can't find anyone else saying this.

So far, it works.

[ChromaLuke]

I have had ingrown toenails my entire life. They just seem to naturally grow inwards and it's been causing me pain and trouble. Of course I'm somehow the only one in the family to have them, so my family ridicules me for complaining about pain in my toes, even as blood starts to come out from them.

[vidiveniviciDCLXVI]

I had this issue for years, I've pulled my own toe nail off at least 40 times, I don't know why people think it's painful, it hurts a bit, but it's not that bad.

[cehmz]

Is it best to keep my ingrown toenail dry or soaked? I had my ingrown toenail removed professionally but it got swollen about 2-3 weeks later. what do i do now?

[cindystark]

Going to a specialist at the first sign of an ingrown toenail in the US is a joke. You end up at your regular insurance assigned Dr that sees you for 5 minutes and refers you to a specialist. This 5 minute visit will cost about $300 because the
insurance deductible is so high. When you try to book the specialist they will not be able to see you for weeks so the situation will get worse. When you finally get in there they might fix it or refer you to somebody else. You'll pay about $500 to $1000 for this visit because of the deductible on your insurance that you pay monthly for. Pray you don't need any kind of procedure because you are now up in the several thousand dollar range.
Don't get sick in the USA.

[nikkireed]

I currently have an ingrown toenail and it sucks, there’s meat hanging out of the corner of my toenail. It’s red swollen and gets pus when I put neosporin on it at night. It hurts if I hit my toe on something and I can only wear slides when I go out, I’m unable to wear my tennis shoes. I really don’t want to go to a podiatrist because I’m afraid its going to hurt. I can move the meat in the corner of my toe as if I can snip it off myself but it’s painful. What home remedies can I try? I’ve had this for almost two weeks now...

[MiaMuis-미아]

Mine is just a little bit painful now and then and when I want to trim my toe nails(big toes) it’s so difficult to cut the corners cuz they are growing down but haven’t swollen up or bled yet, I do feel annoyed that it’s difficult to trim the sides

[ummmven]

Me having ingrown toenail on both feet
👁️👄👁️💧

[PureCapsaicin]

Some people don’t have money to go to the doctor. When I was a kid I sat down with my dad and he ripped it out for me. It was very infected and pressurized before it even happened. Terrible pain but it did the trick.