Common Myths About Ingrown Toenails Busted

Transcript

Mark - Hi, it's Mark here from Feetology Podiatry Center, and I'm here today with
Sakina, one of our podiatrists and we want to talk to you about the common myths that our patients tell us about ingrown toenails. So Sakina, what's the most common myth that you hear?

Sakina - So the most common myth I hear is probably cutting a V in the tip of the toenail. So a lot of people think that that's going to help relieve the pressures on the side of the nail, but it actually doesn't work that way.

You see, the nail grows from the nail root and it grows up but a lot of people think that it grows across. And so by cutting a V it's going to help reduce the pressures. But it doesn'tactually do that, unfortunately.

Mark - Yeah, and it can leave some nasty edges too, can't it?

They can get caught on your socks and stuff when you putting them on and
cause some issues as well.

Sakina - Yeah, it makes it harder for us to cut as well beause there's a little V in the middle of the toenail.

Mark- So what's the second most common myth that you hear from the patients?

Sakina - So the other one I hear as well is that cutting straight across
will actually help reduce the occurrence of an ingrown nail. Now this is a good rule of thumb but with all rule of thumbs,there are exceptions as well.

So for very curved nails or involuted nails, cutting straight across won't actually do the trick. So we do need to go down the sides of the nails and take out little pieces there as well. Same for really thickened toenails as well.

If we just cut straight across, we leave some rough edges on the sides as well. So we really need to take that out as well.

Mark- Yeah, it just goes to show you it's not a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to ingrown toenails, you really need that experience to know how to deal with it best.

Sakina - Yeah, and each toe nail is different. What works more one nail might not work for the other.

Mark - And so Sakina, what's the third and final myth that you hear from patients?

Sakina - So the other one I get a fair bit is that, that ingrown nails only happen on the big toenails. Now it is common to see most of the ingrown nails on the big toenails but your little onescan also get it as well.

Mark - And they can be a little bit trickier, can't they? They can behard to deal with at home yourself because it's quite a small little area working in.

Sakina - So we do need to check those nails as well. Check the sides of them there too,making sure that there's no little edges because they are small nails. Most of the time there's a very small little edge that's sitting in there too.

Mark - Excellent, and we were chatting a little bit before this as well and you were telling me, a common problem with patients is that they can be a bit scared to come and have their ingrown toenail looked at. It's been really sore and they don't want to let someone get in there and poke and prod around.

But you were telling me a story about one of your patients earlier that had really great results. Do you want to share that?

Sakina - Sure, it was a patient that was very scared about coming in, so was putting it off for about good couple of months there as well. But we managed to get her in to have a look at her nails and just taking out the little spicules on the side, just made such a big difference and gave her such a big relief as well.

But look, it was more of using the tools that we've got, just being able to take it out, that she thought it'd be a lot worse than it actually was.

Mark - Yeah, it's quite gentle, isn't it?

Sakina - It is, yeah, definitely.

And sometimes if we leave that little spicule in there for too long, the nail can get infected as well. That can cause more problems. So getting us have a look at it will be a lot better for you.

Mark - Yeah, thank you, Sakina. And look, we really get a kick out of helping people with their ingrown toenails and we do aim to do it as gently as we can and pride ourselves on that.

So if you are having problems with an ingrown toenail, be sure to check out our website, www.feetology.com.au. You can always make an appointment to see us from there.

Or call us at the clinic on 3820 6326 and ask any questions or book an appointment to come in and see us.