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Ingrown nails don’t just happen to your toes. Your fingernails can also become ingrown. This occurs less frequently in fingers because you’re not squeezing your fingers into shoes that don’t fit well. Also, the shape of your fingernails makes it less likely that they will become ingrown.
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However, ingrown fingernails do happen and they can become infected. This makes everyday tasks such as typing on a keyboard or doing the dishes painful.
Your nails and skin are made of a protein called keratin. Nails are formed when dense layers of keratinized cells push to the surface of your finger. Ridges on your nails correspond to skin ridges underneath your nails. These help hold your nails in place.
When the shape of your nail changes, the ridges that hold your nail in place can lose their connection. This can cause the nail to grow into the sides or corners of your skin. This is known as an ingrown nail. A number of things can cause this, including:
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Paronychia is an infection in the tissues surrounding a fingernail or toenail. In most instances, the finger is infected by Staphylococcus aureus, a common staph bacterium, or by the fungus candida. Infections may progress to full-blown, painful abscesses. If an infection persists without treatment, there is risk of more serious infection and permanent damage to the nail.
Unless you have diabetes or another medical condition that places you at special risk, you may be able to successfully treat an infected fingernail at home. The steps are simple.
When an ingrown fingernail causes a severe infection, particularly if an abscess forms, your doctor may recommend one of several medical procedures.
How To Prevent And Treat Ingrown Toenails
You or your doctor may gently lift up the nail and insert a small wedge of medicated cotton between your nail and the inflamed skin next to the nail. This can relieve pain and enable the nail to grow properly.
If your ingrown fingernail has developed into an abscess, a doctor should drain it. Your finger will be numbed with local anesthesia in the doctor’s office before an incision is made to drain the pus. If there is significant drainage, the doctor may place a gauze piece, or wick, in the incision so it may continue to drain for a day or two.
Ingrown fingernails rarely require surgical treatment. Surgery is more common with ingrown toenails. However, if an ingrown nail doesn’t resolve on its own, you may need to see a family doctor or dermatologist for a surgical solution.
Ingrown Toenail Treatment
Doctors commonly use a procedure called nail avulsion. This involves removing a portion of the nail to allow the infected area to drain and heal. It’s performed in the doctor’s office using local anesthesia to keep the area numb.
You generally don’t need to go to the doctor for an ingrown fingernail, but you do need to be vigilant about your care. What may seem like a routine infection can rapidly progress to something more serious.
A felon is an infection that has spread deep into the fingertip. More uncommonly, an untreated infection from an ingrown fingernail can cause an inflammation of the underlying bone, called osteomyelitis. These infections require medical attention.
Ingrown Toenails: Causes, Symptoms, And Remedies
Has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical associations. We avoid using tertiary references. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy.Ingrown fingernails can cause pain and swelling and increase the risk of infection. Home treatments include soaking and physical manipulation of the nail.
In this article, learn about some home remedies for an ingrown fingernail, as well as some symptoms that may indicate an infection.
People with diabetes, neuropathy, or circulation problems should not try to treat ingrown nails at home. They should see a doctor for safe treatment in these cases.
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Soaking the finger may help the nail grow outward on its own. This works well for mild ingrown nails that are not causing pain or other symptoms.
If soaking alone does not bring relief within a day or two, a person can try gently encouraging the nail to grow upward with cotton or gauze.
After soaking, take a tiny piece of clean gauze or cotton and insert it under the nail. This can help relieve pressure and pain, separating the nail from the skin slightly.
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Sometimes, it is too difficult to insert a piece of cotton under the nail. In these cases, it may be easier to use waxed dental floss.
If home care does not treat the ingrown nail, a health professional can remove the part of the nail that is causing the issue.
An ingrown nail can allow bacteria or fungi to enter the body through a break in the skin. These bacteria or fungi can multiply, causing an infection.
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To help prevent infections, try to practice good hand washing techniques. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend scrubbing the hands for at least
People with long fingernails should also scrub underneath the nails. Use a clean towel to dry the hands and nails after washing. The
If there is a cut or break in the skin, a person should cover it with antibiotic ointment and a clean bandage to help keep germs out.
How Do We Treat An Ingrown Toenail At Home?
The most common cause of ingrown fingernails is cutting the nails too short. The American Academy of Dermatology recommend following these steps for safe nail trimming:
A hangnail is another common issue that can cause pain and redness near the fingernail’s edge. However, a hangnail has different causes and treatments to ingrown nails.
A hangnail forms from skin cells that separate and grow away from surrounding skin. The result is a spiky shaped piece of skin next to the fingernail. Despite their name, hangnails are not nails at all. They are pieces of excess skin.
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A person should not pull or bite a hangnail to remove it. This can leave an injury on the finger that could cause an infection.
Ingrown fingernails are not usually serious, and a person can treat them at home. Home remedies include soaking the nail, using cotton or gauze, or lifting the nail with dental floss.
Medical News Today has strict sourcing guidelines and draws only from peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical journals and associations. We avoid using tertiary references. We link primary sources — including studies, scientific references, and statistics — within each article and also list them in the resources section at the bottom of our articles. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy.An ingrown fingernail is when the nail grows into the skin, either on one side or both. According to Healthline, an ingrown nail typically happens to toenails because feet are squeezed into shoes most of the day, sometimes in pairs that don't fit well. However, ingrown nails can also happen to fingernails, but it's not as common due to how fingernails grow. To keep the fingernail in place, there are ridges on your fingernail that connect to ridges on your skin underneath the fingernail. When the connection between these two ridges is broken, it can cause the nail to grow into the skin.
What Is An Ingrown Toenail?
Ingrown fingernails can be caused by a number of reasons. For example, Verywell Health reports an ingrown fingernail often happens when a nail is cut improperly. However, washing your hands frequently, getting manicures, or simply having curved fingernails can also lead to an ingrown fingernail. Symptoms of an ingrown fingernail include pain, tenderness, throbbing, swelling, or redness. Treatment is vital, as an untreated ingrown fingernail can lead to infection or severe pain.
In most cases of ingrown fingernails, treatment takes place at home and rarely at a doctor's office. There are certain people who should reach out to their doctor for ingrown fingernail treatment, such as those with diabetes, neuropathy, and circulation problems, MedicalNewsToday reports. Otherwise, you can get rid of mild ingrown fingernails by soaking the affected finger in warm salt water for about 15 to 20 minutes. This can help the nail to grow outwards instead of into the skin. Then, rinse and dry the finger off, and apply ointment before wrapping it in cotton or gauze. If possible, use dental floss to separate the nail and skin.
Depending on the severity of your ingrown fingernail, it can take days to weeks for the nail and skin to feel better or heal. According to MedicineNet, an ingrown fingernail with no signs of redness or pus will recover in a couple of days, but it can take up to two weeks for an ingrown nail to heal completely.
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