READ FIRST: I'm just a guy who's had ingrown toenails and then stumbled on a way to manage them and I think (fingers crossed) put them behind me. One time I even had to go into a podiatrist and have an ingrown toenail surgically fixed. It was not pleasant. A buddy turned me onto this topical solution called Outgro (pictured to the right). It's cheap and it really works. Basically it numbs the area where your ingrown nail is digging into your sensitive skin, (so that's nice) for some quick pain relief. Secondly, when the skin is numbed up it's more manageable to get in there with the right (sterile) tools and fix the problem yourself. This Outgro stuff is cheap and works well, but for whatever reason isn't at most drug stores (at least where I live) so I order it online. It's surprisingly cheaper that way too.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Take Out an Ingrown Toenail

In order to take out an ingrown toenail on your own it's important to do it in as sterile an environment as possible so as minimize as much as possible the potential of promoting an infection that could cause traumatic long term damage.

The three most important factors that anyone considering taking out an ingrown toenail on their own should be aware of are:

  1. Know what you're doing when it comes to fixing an ingrown toenail- do some research before wildly diving in and potentially causing more harm than good.
  2. Have the right ingrown toenail products. Especially Outrgo pain reliever and the right ingrown toenail file makes everything so much easier (and less painful). Do it right sooner rather than later to avoid painful and costly recurring ingrown toenails.
  3. Last but most importantly be extremely clean and mindful of germs when taking out an ingrown toenail. Perhaps the worst thing you could do is incite an infection. Scrub your hands with hot water and soap before beginning and make sure all your tools (nail clippers, etc.) are sterilized by putting them in boiling water first and cleaning with soap to destroy lingering bacteria and other germs.
For specific step-by-step instructions on how to take out an ingrown toenail readers are advised to look over the treatment of an ingrown toenail post that was originally published some time ago on this site.