Mark Wahlberg talks about his ingrown nail on the Ellen Show

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.