The goal of my blog is to educate Canadians about their foot health. I have been a chiropodist for the past 38 years. Over the next ten years the percentage of Canadians over the age of 55 will become larger. Foot pain can get in the way of an active healthy lifestyle. The foot care provided by a chiropodist/podiatrist will help to keep Canadians walking without foot pain.
Our foot clinic is located in downtown Whitby, Ontario and Peterborough, ON
Recently on the Ellen Show Mark Wahlberg discussed the removal of a
portion of nail that was causing him pain in his nail groove. His co
star Micky O'Keefe from the movie "The Fighter" advised Mark to see his
daughter-in-law who is a podiatrist. A portion of Mark's big toenail
that was digging into his skin was removed permanently so it would not
grow back.
I use an internet service called Google Alerts. I subscribed to an
alert for "Ingrown nails". Any query on "ingrown nails" is sent to my
smart phone. One of the most common questions concerning ingrown nails
is from the website "answers.yahoo.com" . Most questions are usually
"what I can do to cure or get rid of my ingrown toenail". This type of
question occurs daily. Many people suffer from the pain of ingrown
nails.
Mark Wahlberg stated his nail was growing the wrong way. I am only
guessing but Mark may have tried to cut his nail hoping to relieve the
pressure in his nail groove. Unfortunately this action may have made the
problem worse. He may have also aggravated the problem by wearing
tight shoes. I'm glad he took the advice of visiting a podiatrist.
Ingrown nails
usually pierce the skin causing inflammation and infection. If an
ingrown nail is treated early all that may be required is the removal
of a small piece of nail to alleviate the problem, most times without
the need for freezing.
Unfortunately, some people delay treatment of their infected
ingrown nail. Usually in these cases, the nail is highly curved which
puts a great amount of pressure in the nail groove. The consequence of
delayed treatment is procedure requiring a permanent partial or total
removal of the nail performed using local anesthesia. This procedure
uses a chemical called phenol to destroy the nail matrix. Destruction of
the nail matrix prevents the removed nail from growing back.. The post
operative care requires soaking of the nail bed using salt water
followed by the use of an antibiotic cream. In some cases, if the
infection is moderate to severe an oral antibiotic may be required.
Generally the nail procedure will take about two to three weeks to
heal.
Do not delay seeking treatment for an ingrown nail. It will probably only get worse.
