Home Remedies For Ingrown Toenails
March 31, 2010 by Mohamed
Filed under Personal Hygiene
Ingrown toenails are no laughing matter, I suffer from them and though I should not I will do “self-surgery” to remedy them. If you also suffer from ingrown toenails, you know what I mean and the pain you go through.
Here are some home remedies for treating ingrown toenails.
First off – if your problem with ingrown toenails is chronic, you should see a doctor for it. There are many medical treatments available to treat this problem. Once you’ve been treated, your doctor will give you tips on how to care for your toe nails so that you don’t have a re-occurance.
Tip #1
If you’ve already developed ingrown toenails, they can be painful. Soak your feet in warm water to releive the pressure. The water will soften your toenail and skin and will provide temporary relief from this painful condition. I’ve found that adding epsom salts to the water really helps.
Tip #2
Get better shoes. Frequently people that suffer from ingrown toenails wear shoes that are either too small for their feet or too narrow. If you need a wide shoe – buy it! Your feet will be much happier, and so will your toes. Wearing narrow or small shoes forces your toenail to grow where it can – usually the sides, which leads to ingrown toenails.
Tip #3
When you cut your toenails, cut straight. Don’t cut the nail too short and don’t cut it a curve. This is what will also cause your ingrown toenails.
Tip #5
If you’ve already developed an ingrown toenail, you may want to wear open-toed sandals to relieve some of the pressure – atleast until you deal with the problem.
Tip #6
To avoid getting an ingrown toenail, if you’ve done everything right including the right shoes you may want to avoid shoe inserts – you know, the extra padding you can buy to keep your shoes smelling nice or to add the extra “bounce” in your step. There is nothing wrong with them, but adding a few extra millimeters may press your toe against the top of the shoe causing an ingrown toenail. I like inserts in my shoes, but found that this was causing problems so I’ve done away with them.
If you have any tips that you can share, please leave us a comment!



Great post! Make sure you keep your toe clean and keep a dressing on it if the skin is broken. The best sort of dressing are non lint ones which will not stick to the skin. This will help reduce the risk of infection, as if it becomes infected you will need to seek the attention of your podiatrist who may be able to offer you anti-biotics to reduce the infection.