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With home remedies for ingrown toenail, you can remove and get rid, or treat infected ingrown toe nails easily. Here is how to use clippers, epsom salt, tiger balm ointment, soaks and hydrogen peroxide remedies.
Cutting nails the wrong way, injury, wearing ill-fitting shoes, fungal infection and taking certain medications can all cause ingrown toenails. How can you get rid of a painful toenail at home you ask? Well, this article will give you a detailed break down of all the home remedies available to get rid of an ingrown toenail and get on the fast lane to your normal routines.
Ingrown Toenail Remedies
An ingrown toenail can be delimit you and interfere with your daily life. Imagine having to break off your workout routine because a sore ingrown toenail just can’t let you put on your workout shoes leave alone running on the treadmill, or not being able to wear those nice shoes that you just bought t your next date.
In such a situation, you may be left wondering what ingrown home remedies are available to manage the situation. Below are some of the options available on the market today.
Ingrown Toenail Ointment
As part of this research, we spent some time trying to identify an effective ingrown toenail ointment based on manufacturers’ information, experts review and online customer feedback and ratings.
With a review of 4.5 out of 5 on Walmart based on 17 customer reviews as at the time of this writing and 4.4 out of 5 on the official website, Dr. Scholl’s Ingrown Toenail Pain Reliever is easily the best ointment for ingrown toenail out there.
This over-the-counter gel works by softening the toenail to make trimming it less painful. It also features a dozen ring cushions and a dozen protection bandages for extra comfort and protection.
Shoes for Ingrown Toenails
If you have a case of ingrown toenails at hand, then you should consider wearing shoes that a pair of shoes that doesn’t exert too much pressure on the toes – this often pushes the toenail into the flap of skin surrounding skin – until the toenail has completely healed.
Open shoes and sandals are some fabulous options but if your schedule (or nature of your job) excludes these as an option, you will want to wear shoes with enough room for the toes.
Ingrown Toenail Band Aid
A Band Aid can also help to heal an ingrown toenail by guiding the toenail to grown out of the surrounding flesh while protecting the toenail from infection.
To use Band Aid to relieve your ingrown toenail, stretch the skin on the side of the ingrown toenail outside and away from the toenail by attaching one side of the Band Aid on the affected skin fold next to the point of the in-growth, then pull the Band Aid and attach its other end on the back of your toe.
Tiger Balm Ingrown Toenail
It seems as though a talk on ingrown toenail relief is hardly complete nowadays without mentioning Tiger Balm. Here is a simple tiger Balm Ingrown toenail treatment plan that you may want to consider:
- Swab some Betadine solution onto the ingrown toenail. this helps to rid the ingrown toenail of germs
- Apply a dab of tiger balm all around the toenail
- Place a plaster all around the toenail
- Repeat this process 2-3 times a day until the ingrown toenail has healed
Home Remedies for Infected Ingrown Toenails
What are some of the best home remedies for infected ingrown toenails, you ask? Well, it is advisable that any infected ingrown toenail should be treated by a doctor.
While the warm, soapy water soak described in a subsequent section of this guide works great and will offer relief from ingrown toenails in as low as 3 days, it is not enough for infected toenails. You may need a prescription of antibiotics to manage the condition. Your doctor may also include some painkillers to reduce the pain.
Home Remedies for Ingrown Toenail Pain
Soaking your feet in warm, soapy water as described in the next section is one of the best home remedies for ingrown toenail pain and works great so long as there is no infection.
You may as well consider taking some over-the-counter painkiller such as ibuprofen (Motrin) or acetaminophen (Tylenol). Keep in mind however that aspirin is not suitable for kids aged below 16 years since it often triggers a rare condition known as Reye’s syndrome.
Ingrown Toenail Soak Treatment
A simple soak in warm, soapy water is usually very effective and is indeed one of the conservative management therapy approaches that most physicians advocate for in treatment of stage 1 ingrown toenails – mild to moderate ingrown toenails that have no obvious signs of infection such as pus discharge – as the American Academy of Family Physicians points out.
Here is a simple ingrown toenail soak treatment that you should try:
- In a basin of warm, soapy water, soak the affected toenail for 10 to 20 minutes
- Use a cotton bud to push the skin fold surrounding the affected toenail gently away from it starting at the bottom of the toenail all the way to its tips
- Wedge a small ball of cotton wool beneath the affected toenail to lift it off the skin underlying it.
- Repeat this 2 to 3 times daily
Ingrown toenail soak will offer you relief in less than 3 days in most cases. If not, then you should consider seeing your doctor. You could be dealing with a case of infection or surgery may be required to get rid of a portion or the whole of the ailing toenail.
Ingrown Toenail Clippers
We know that improper trimming of toenails is one of the most common causes of ingrown toenails. It is thus important to not only cut the toenail the right way – straight across, not too short and without rounding the edges.
With that in mind, you may wonder what toenail clippers to use when you are suffering from a case of ingrown toenail. Well, there are dozens upon dozens of ingrown toenail clippers available on the market today. Simply search online using “ingrown toenail clippers”. Online shopping sites such as eBay and Amazon are good places to buy them. These clippers often have one edge rounded (concave) and the other flat. It’s advisable to rub the clipper with some alcohol or antiseptic before using it to prevent infection.
Follow the instructions provided to get the ingrown toenail out of the skin and then clip it before wrapping your toe with a bandage.
Hydrogen Peroxide for Ingrown Toenail
The use of hydrogen peroxide for ingrown toenail treatment is a very popular option but remains a controversial topic. Numerous online guides support its use but some doctors advise against it saying it often kills healthy skin cells.
Should you however decide to use hydrogen peroxide, here is a simple guideline you can use, preferably after soaking your toenail in warm soapy water as explained in a previous section of this article:
- Soak a small cotton ball with hydrogen peroxide
- Use the cotton ball to clean your ingrown toenail, concentrating more on the affected area
- Repeat the procedure 2 to 3 times every day until the ingrown toenail has grown out of the skin, then cut the toenail straight across, without rounding off the edges
Epsom Salt Ingrown Toenail
Epsom salt is as well a popular ingredient in treatment of ingrown toenails. Here is a simple Epsom salt ingrown toenail treatment plan:
- In a 32 oz basin or warm water, add 2 cups of Epsom salt
- Place your ingrown toenail (or the foot) into the basin and soak it for 10 to 20 minutes. This will help to kill any bacteria present and soften the fold of skin surrounding the toenail
- Wipe the foot with a clean towel
- Repeat the process 2-3 times daily until the ingrown toenail has healed
In addition to this Epsom salt ingrown toenail treatment, you should consider wearing open toed shoes whenever possible as this exert little pressure on the toenail as it heals.
If the toenail has not healed 5 days or so down the line, you should seek medical attention
