Are you dealing with an ingrown toenail? You may be wondering how you developed this problem in the first place. An ingrown toenail occurs when the nail curves into the skin, causing some serious discomfort. It can happen for quite a few different reasons. In some cases, it's the result of an injury that occurred while you were running, dancing, or even participating in some other physical activity.

Unfortunately, this problem can occur if you're not wearing comfortable shoes as well. While there are many causes of an ingrown toenail, your main concern may be treating the problem and getting rid of the ingrown toenail so that you don't have to experience the discomfort any longer.

Self-Treatment

The first thing you can do is attempt to treat the ingrown toenail at home. Start by filling up a plastic basin with warm water and two tablespoons of sea salt. Once you've mixed the sea salt in with the warm water, take off your socks and soak your feet for at least 15 minutes. It's helpful to soak the feet before attempting to remove the ingrown toenail so that the nail is a bit softer and easier to take out.

After soaking the feet for 15 minutes, use ingrown toenail clippers to carefully get underneath the nail and remove it. If you don't have experience using these kinds of toenail clippers, you may prefer to use a metal nail file. You could use the tip of the nail file to get underneath the nail bed and then gently slide the nail file to the side where the ingrown toenail is located to get it out. Sometimes the nail will come out easily, but if you're experiencing a lot of pain, you shouldn't continue to mess with it and should seek professional medical help instead.

Professional Medical Treatment

Believe it or not, ingrown toenails can become quite problematic. If you can't get rid of it on your own, you'll need to see a podiatrist. The podiatrist can provide treatment to remove the toenail and prevent an infection. Upon evaluating your toes, the podiatrist should be able to quickly spot the ingrown toenails, clip them, and then prescribe an antibiotic. In more severe cases, a toenail surgery may be necessary. If you're constantly dealing with ingrown toenails, it may be best to have the toenail surgery performed. It often takes less than 30 minutes to complete and your toes would be numb throughout the surgery so that you wouldn't have to feel any pain. The purpose of the surgery is to keep the nail from growing back into the skin the way that it was before.

If you've got an ingrown toenail, you can attempt to remove it on your own. However, if it's causing you too much pain, make sure to seek professional medical treatment by scheduling an appointment to see a podiatrist.