Growing a nail on the leg: what to do?

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An ingrown nail is an unpleasant problem, which must be eliminated, as a vast inflammatory process and other severe consequences may occur. The nail grows on the leg: what to do, what can lead to this condition and how to prevent the ingrowth of the nail again.

Ingrown toenail- not only a cosmetic defect, it is a serious enough condition that can lead to complications. If signs of ingrowing nails appear, it is advisable to consult a specialist immediately, the sooner this happens, the faster and easier the treatment will be.

Growing nails often cause a lot of inconvenience. It can cause quite strong pain, it becomes inconvenient to wear even the usual shoes. In most cases, edema develops, an inflammatory process occurs, which, if triggered, leads to infection of the blood, there is a risk of being left without a finger.

The reasons why a nail can grow, a lot. Most of them depend solely on the actions of the person himself. Usually the nail on the leg grows into the skin due to the following factors:

1. Wrong care of the nails. If the nail is cut incorrectly, when sharp edges remain after it, with a poor pedicure, the probability of ingrown nail plate increases. This is the most common cause of this problem.
2. Too tight uncomfortable shoes. Finging your fingers can lead to ingrown nail plate, usually on the thumb or little finger. Wrong shoes are often found in combination with improper nail care.
3. Various foot deformities, congenital or acquired. With deformities, the development of flat feet, the load on the fingers and the foot as a whole can be distributed incorrectly, which leads to similar problems.
4. Injury to the fingers. With injuries of a different nature, bruises, fractures, and others, deformation, swelling, and circulatory disorders that can lead to ingrowth of the nail plate may occur.

Important! Some people with a congenital irregular shape of the foot may also have a higher chance of ingrown nail, but this reason is not so common.

These are the main causes of ingrown nails to avoid the occurrence of this condition, it is sufficient to properly care for stops, to treat injuries and other leg diseases in a timely manner, to select suitable footwear that will not be squeezed. However, if the ingrowth has already occurred, it is important to know how to get rid of it and what can be done at home?

What should I do if my finger digs into my fingernail?

In the initial stages, you can try to cope with this state yourself. At the beginning, the pain is usually weakly expressed, occurs only when you press on the finger, there is no edema, there may be a slight mild reddening of the skin of the finger. If the inflammation does not develop, the measures can be taken independently.

1. First of all, when growing the nail plate, you need to give up narrow shoes, until the leg completely heals, you need to wear the most spacious and comfortable shoes.
2. In no case should the affected finger be compressed, so that the condition does not worsen, it is also advisable to change socks every day, not to wear one pair without washing for more than a day.
3. If the nail plate is not deep in the skin, it is worth trying to steam it off and gently cut it off. Doing this is only if the inflammatory process does not develop, the nail only begins to grow.

Important! Do not re-bandage the affected finger, it can trigger the development of the inflammatory process.

Baths

At home, you need to make a hot bath based on sea salt or soda, a small basin of hot water takes one tablespoon of the substance. You can also add a solution of chlorhexidine, manganese or furacilin to water. The top of the towel should be covered with a towel. The leg should be kept for 15 - 20 minutes, then wipe dry.

If the nail plate enters the skin is shallow, after such a procedure, it must depart independently. It must be cut off, in order to avoid relapse of the disease, the sharp edge of the nail should be sharpened with a nail file.

An antibacterial ointment should be applied to the site of ingrown growth, for example, Levomycetin or its analogues. If there are signs of an inflammatory process, it is better to use Levomecol.

It is advisable to process the leg with ointment for several days after removing the ingrown nail plate to prevent relapse of the disease.

Important! It is necessary to achieve complete recovery, so that swelling, redness and other signs that indicate the possible occurrence of an inflammatory process disappeared.

Folk remedies

The bath can also be made on the basis of medicinal plants, although specialists sometimes say that they will be less effective. For the preparation of trays, you can use infusion of chamomile, St. John's wort, eucalyptus leaves, celandine, a suitable plant can be chosen independently.

1. To prepare the infusion, take one tablespoon of dried herb for a small amount of hot water, insist for 20 - 30 minutes in a tightly closed container, then strain.
2. Ready infusion should be mixed with hot clean water, soar your feet 15 - 20 minutes.

It should be noted that in this case the likelihood of an allergic reaction to treatment is increased.

What if the nail grows in the toe and fester?

Isolation of exudate indicates the development of the inflammatory process. In this case, there is a strong swelling, redness of the skin, the local temperature can rise, sometimes there is a strong pain syndrome. In the case of the development of extensive inflammation, you must always consult a doctor, conservative treatment does not help. In this case, a fairly simple operation is performed, during which the ingrown nail plate is removed, the source of inflammation is eliminated.

If you immediately call a doctor is not possible, you can remove the inflammatory process if possible at home. To relieve pain, you can use a solution of lidocaine, it is applied to a cotton disc, which is carefully fixed on the finger with a patch. To tie a finger while not worth it.

Baths with salt, soda, chlorhexidine are also allowed. From ointments you can use Levomekol and Vishnevsky balm. Balsam Vishnevsky is preferable, he acts much more actively. If the inflammatory process disappears, you should still contact your doctor - a surgeon. With deep ingrowth, there is always a chance of relapse, the nail plate must be removed promptly.