Photo: Wangyan Wei/Pixabay
Some ingrown toenails will heal on their own. The question is how often should you trim them?
by Tim Ditman
OSF Healthcare
OSF Healthcare
Is your toe sore to the touch? Is the skin around the nail puffy or red? An ingrown toenail may be to blame.
Marc Leonard, MD, an OSF HealthCare podiatrist, says it’s an issue he sees frequently, but it’s one that’s easily preventable.
Dr. Leonard says an ingrown toenail is when the nail grows into the skin on the nail’s side. Some people get ingrown toenails due to a family history of the problem. They may just have wide toenails, in other words.
For others, it’s a product of how you take care of your feet.
“Bicyclists wear very tight shoes. They clip onto the bike. The shoes are very unforgiving.” Dr. Leonard says as an example. “The person is getting extra pressure on the side of the toes. It can definitely contribute to ingrown nails.”
Dance shoes sometimes have the same effect, he says.
Another culprit: clipping your toenails too low toward the side of the toe. Instead, trim straight across using clippers with a straight, not curved, blade.
Avoiding these risk factors is crucial for people with diabetes, Dr. Leonard warns. While that group is not more prone to ingrown toenails, an occurrence may mean serious complications.
“If their blood sugar is not under control, the infections from ingrown nails can get severe quickly,” Dr. Leonard says. “Sometimes there can also be circulation problems with diabetics.”
Dr. Leonard says some ingrown toenails will resolve on their own. But if a person has to come to a podiatrist’s office, it usually means the site is infected.
“We might trim out the side of the nail. That’s the easiest way to treat it,” Dr. Leonard says. “In other situations, we have to numb the toe and take out the side of the nail.”
If the toe is really inflamed and irritated, he says, a doctor will remove a larger portion of the nail, plus some excess skin and tissue. The person may also be sent home with antibiotic medication to keep the infection down.
For people with frequent ingrown toenails, there’s a permanent solution.
“We’ll actually kill the side of the nail,” Dr. Leonard says. “We’ll put a chemical in the base of the toe to kill the root. That eliminates growth of the nail on the side.”
That’s an outpatient procedure done at a podiatrist’s office. And in the days and months ahead, you would trim the nail normally, Dr. Leonard says. The nail would just be narrower.
Regardless of what happens to your toe, recovery from ingrown nail treatment involves rest and soaking the toe in warm water. You should be back to normal activities “fairly quickly,” Dr. Leonard says.
One more burning question to answer: how often should I trim my toenails?
“For most people, probably once a month or once every couple weeks,” Dr. Leonard suggests. But if you have a history of ingrown toenails or other toe issues, talk to your primary care provider or podiatrist about proper toe care.
Learn more about foot and toe care on the OSF HealthCare website.
Are President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump too old to be President of the United States?
The answer to this question varies and depends on your perspective.
This perspective hinges on your expectations of America’s President. Should he or she be able to run up steps? What about walking down the steps from Airforce One without looking down? This is a good trick.
We have to be careful about hanging a number on the maximum age to serve as President. Eighty may be too old, but maybe it’s not. I heard Billy Graham preach when he was 80 and he came on the stage talking and preaching like a dynamo. There was nothing inarticulate or incoherent about him. There are millions of eighty-year-old plus people in this nation who live very active lives and have a lot to contribute to our country.
However, we have to be realistic there are millions of 80-year-old American’s who are barely alive, their health is terrible. Many cannot care for themselves let alone care for a nation. Furthermore, there are also millions of Americans between 36 and 70 who are not mentally or physically healthy enough to hold down the world’s number one job.
Each individual must be evaluated by each American. We have to look at all of the candidates circumspectly. Do they have the experience? Do they have the knowledge and skills. Are they articulate. Does the candidate demonstrate leadership skills that we need to lead this country forward to better times? Will the candidate be a strong presence on the world stage and be a peace maker and leader?
Seventy million Americans do not want a President who is going to cut Social Security or Medicare benefits. Millions of Americans over 50 do not want the Social Security retirement age raised from 67 to 70. No one in this age bracket is going to support a candidate who infers either of the changes. The full benefits age should never have been raised from 65 to 67. Millions of Americans will pay into Social Security all their lives but never make it to age 67 and thus never collect a penny. Of course, these people can collect a smaller amount if they want to retire at 62 and live on much less money. This is not a viable option for many.
Don’t vote for someone just because they are young and vigorous. Youth is attractive and often charismatic but youth sometimes make mistakes. Don’t vote for someone just because they are 80. Hopefully they are wise and very experienced but may be on the verge of becoming too frail. Look at the whole person. Age is a number. Look at what he or she is able to bring to the job and potentially do to help and lead our nation.
It’s a big decision and don’t make it all about a number.
