3 Tips for Preventing Ingrown Toenail
Ingrown toenails can develop slowly at first and may not cause any problems until your skin is damaged and bleeding, and the pressure from your shoes pushes the sharp nail further into your skin, causing considerable pain and discomfort. Often you can avoid ingrown toenails by taking some proactive steps to prevent toenails from cutting your tender skin in the first place.
Here are 3 tips for helping to prevent ingrown toenails from developing:
Cut your toenails properly—Always strive to trim your toenails as straight across as you can with just a slight curve. Keep them a little long to help prevent the sharp edge of your toenail from gaining a foothold.
Wear the correct shoes and orthotics—Your footwear should be sized correctly for optimum support and enough room in the toe box area to allow your toes to move without rubbing together and on your footwear. Properly made and fitted orthotics can help isolate and treat ingrown toenails, among many other foot and ankle problems.
Perform regular foot inspections—Noticing potential ingrown toenail and other problems early in the process will make them less painful and easier to treat. Check your feet carefully at least once a week for cuts, blisters, unusual growths, etc. Patients who have diabetes should perform daily inspections to help ward off dangerous infections.
If you experience painful problems with ingrown toenail problems, get in touch with our expert Valley stream Podiatry foot doctor for the proper treatment. Contact Valley Stream Podiatry, located 66 West Merrick Road, Valley Stream, NY 11580. With access to advanced technologies, Dr. Andrew Shapiro, Dr. Michael Barkin and Dr. Sajni Shah and their friendly medical staff can help you manage all of your foot and ankle conditions, including heel pain, foot and ankle injuries, toe deformities, foot warts, fungal toenails and ingrown toenails.