Are you having pain in one of your toes near the nail bed? If so, you may have an ingrown toenail. We all have heard how annoying and painful they can be.

But exactly what is an ingrown toenail, and is there anything you can do to fix it? In this article, we'll discuss the symptoms of an ingrown nail. We'll also look at some ways to prevent and treat it.

What's an Ingrown Toenail?

Ingrown toenails occur when the side or corner of a nail grows into the soft flesh of your toe's nail bed. They may also occur when the skin on the side of the nail grows over the nail edge. They dig into the flesh, causing irritation over time.

Who can get an ingrown nail? 

It is a common condition, so anyone who does not take care of their feet properly is at risk of getting it. Ingrown toenails can be caused by external factors such as:

• Shoes that are too tight
• Improper nail trimming 
• Excessive perspiration
• Toenail injury

However, adolescents and people with diabetes or other medical conditions that cause poor blood circulation in the feet are at a greater risk of having ingrown toenails.

Symptoms of an Ingrown Nail

Some common symptoms of ingrown nails include:

• Inflamed skin
• Tenderness and pain
• Swelling

You may even get a nail root infection (paronychia). This occurs when a piece of nail cuts into the skin and leaves an opening for harmful bacteria to get into the skin. It most often occurs as severe swelling and pain at the nail root. If left untreated, infections can become severe.

So how can you treat ingrown toenails?

Ingrown Toenail Treatment Options

It's important to know how to treat an ingrown toenail so you can avoid harmful complications. Thankfully, there are some effective treatment options for your ingrown nail.

Try at Home Foot Care Remedies

While you don't want to risk infection by pulling out ingrown nails yourself, there are some preventive home remedies you can try to treat them.

Soak your affected foot in warm water 3-4 times a day. This will keep your nail and the surrounding skin soft and hydrated so the nail doesn't dig into the skin too firmly.

You may also make packing at home by gently lifting the nail tip and inserting cotton between your skin and the nail.

If your ingrown nail doesn't get better within two to three days after you start these remedies, you need to visit your podiatrist.

Visit a Foot Specialist

If you have a severely painful ingrown nail or an ingrown toenail infection, it may be best to visit your foot specialist for ingrown toenail treatment.

The podiatrist will probably prescribe oral antibiotics to fight the harmful bacteria. 

You may need nail surgery to partially or completely remove the infected nail. The doctor may also have to remove a small portion of the nail bed, some of the surrounding soft tissue, and a portion of the growth center. 

This may sound painful, but you will be numbed and the procedure is straightforward. Nail surgery will eliminate the nail edge from growing inward and cutting into the flesh as your toenail regrows forward.

Whatever your podiatrist recommends, it is best to follow their medical advice.  

Techniques for Ingrown Toenail Prevention

You should do your best to prevent the growth of ingrown toenails so you can spare yourself the pain and hassle of treating them. There are several methods you can use to prevent ingrown toenails from growing.

Trim Toenails Correctly

One of the best ways to prevent an ingrown toenail is through a good foot care routine. 

Curved toenails may look attractive, but they are not good for your toes and increase your risk of getting an ingrown nail. 

Instead of curving the nails to match the shape of your toe, you want to use a nail clipper to trim them straight across. You can then use an emery board or nail file to gently round the corners. 

You also want to make sure the toenails aren't too long or too short. If they're too long, there's a high risk they will begin to curl in and dig into the skin. If they're too short, pressure from your shoes may cause a nail to start growing into the tissue. 

It's best to trim your toenails so they're even with the tips of your toes. This will keep them from curling or being pressed into the soft tissue of your nail bed.

Avoid Tight Fitting Shoes

Tight-fitting shoes are harmful to your feet in several ways, and one of the effects is ingrown toenails. Tight shoes pinch your toes and place too much pressure on them, causing your nails to grow into soft tissue. 

Make sure you wear comfortable shoes that fit properly. 

Most people have one foot that's bigger than the other, so use your biggest foot as the measuring standard for your shoes. They should fit your heel, ball of your foot, and top of your toes comfortably without too much pressure.

A good rule of thumb is to have a fourth of an inch of space between the top and front of your toes and the shoe. This should be enough for you to fit a finger through.

Open-toed shoes are another great option to eliminate the risk of pressure, pinching, or excessive perspiration. But make sure you wear protective shoes like steel-toed boots or sneakers if you're doing activities that may injure your toes.

Keep Your Toes Looking and Feeling Their Best

Ingrown toenails can be unsightly and painful. Proper foot health and a good foot care routine are the best preventers of ingrown toenails. 

So make sure you trim your toenails properly, wear comfortable shoes, use safe home remedies, and visit a foot specialist if you notice an ingrown nail. Your feet will look and feel their best.

Using tools and materials that keep the nails and skin healthy is another important part of foot care. Here at The Toe Bro, we offer products specially designed to prevent and treat symptoms of common foot conditions. Take a look around our website to enhance your foot care routine today. You'll enjoy healthy, good-looking feet for years to come.

"lumps" on your toe joints underneath your skin. If so, you may be suffering from gout tophi.

Having gout tophi on toes can be painful and embarrassing. It's important to know what tophi are and how to recognize them for your foot health. 

So what are some common symptoms of tophi gout, and how can you prevent or treat them? You'll find the answers in this article.

Common Tophaceous Gout Symptoms

Tophi alone doesn't hurt you, but they can be painful when they swell from being actively inflamed. 

They may also affect the appearance of your toes. They can gradually disintegrate your toe joint tissue, making your joints look bent or twisted — No one wants that!

Because tophi stretch the skin out, they can occasionally cause painful sores. During severely painful episodes of gout attacks, they may even break open and release hardened uric acid, which looks like a soft white material.

Some other common symptoms of tophaceous gout flare-ups include:

• Severe pain in the joint
• Tenderness, warmth, and swelling at the tophus
• Loss of range of motion
• Discomfort when using the affected joint
• Difficulty using the affected joint
• Shiny, red skin over the affected joint

So how do these tophi develop?

Development of Uric Acid Crystals in Joint

Gout is an arthritic condition that arises when monosodium urate (MSU) crystals accumulate in the joint and cause an inflammatory response. MSU crystals form when uric acid — a waste product produced when the body breaks down purines — combines and has reactions with sodium ions.

Gout is the most common type of arthritis. Some common causes of gout include:

• Kidney problems
• Obesity
• High blood pressure
• Diabetes
• Diuretic therapy
• Purine-heavy foods 

You can have acute arthritis, where joint inflammation and pain will strike rapidly and fade over time. You can also have chronic arthritis, where pain and symptoms are ongoing.

Tophi develop when chronic gout is left untreated for an extended period — often ten years or more. The levels of uric acid continue to increase and the gout crystals gradually build up around the joints, causing bulbous, swollen growths to appear.

How To Treat Gouty Tophi

You're probably a little freaked out by now. But don't worry! Thankfully there are several ways to treat gout tophi.

Tophi Removal By Medical Professional

Small tophi often do not require surgery to treat, but a medical professional may recommend gout tophi removal if your tophi are large. In those cases, surgery is best to prevent your joint from losing range of motion or even becoming permanently damaged.

Your doctor may be able to make a small incision above the tophus and remove it by hand. If the affected joint is too damaged, your doctor may recommend joint replacement surgery.

Anti-Inflammatory Drugs or Systemic Steroid Therapy

Management of gout is important to reduce your chance of developing tophi.

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like Advil or Aleve help relieve inflammation and pain from joint damage from tophi and gout attacks. These are the first-line defense for acute arthritis from gout. 

There are also adjunctive therapies available to treat patients with gout. You may go through urate-lowering therapy after multiple gout attacks or tophi development. You will be prescribed medications that directly treat gout and prevent an increase in your levels of uric acid.

Recommendations for Gout Prevention

Prevention is always the best cure. You can use the following methods before you get a gout diagnosis to keep your feet healthy.

Consistently Monitor Uric Acid Levels

Regularly visit your health care provider to have a blood sample taken and tested. They may also have you complete a uric acid urine test, during which you will use a provided collection container to collect all your urine passed for 24 hours.

You can also monitor your uric acid levels at home. Purchase a digital uric acid meter, which includes lancelets and test strips to take and read your blood samples. You will get an immediate reading and can monitor your levels of uric acid as often as needed.

Consume Proper Nutrients

As mentioned above, uric acid is a waste product of your body's purine breakdown. 

Purines are molecules in your cells' DNA and RNA that are made up of nitrogen and carbon. They can also enter the body via food. A high purine dietary intake is one of the primary causes of gout, so you should avoid foods high in purines. 

Some foods to avoid:

• Seafood: anchovies, scallops, and herring
• Sugary foods and beverages: sodas and any other foods made with high fructose corn syrup
• Alcoholic beverages
• Meat: organ meat and game meats

Instead, you should eat a healthy diet that is lower in purines. Include foods such as: 

• No-fat or low-fat dairy products
• Cherries
• Whole grains
• Plenty of water
• Coffee and tea
• Healthy fats and oils
• Eggs
• Nuts and grains, including peanut butter
• Chicken, fish, and red meat

Some vegetables such as asparagus, peas, and oatmeal are high in purines but do not raise the blood's uric acid levels. Their high fiber content may be beneficial for gout.

It may sound like you can't eat any of the good stuff, but it's worth it for your health. Whole foods and a plant-based diet lower levels of uric acid and inflammation, reduce symptoms of existing chronic arthritis conditions, and reduce the risk of developing other types of arthritis. 

Treat and Ice Joint Pain Early in the Inflammatory Process

Don't try to bear the pain when you first notice discomfort in your joint.  Applying an ice pack to the affected joint may help ease the inflammation and pain. You can wrap a bag of frozen peas or crushed ice in a dish cloth and apply it to the area for 20 to 30 minutes several times a day. 

Maintain Foot Health To Help With Your Gouty Arthritis

Tophi gout on your feet can lead to painful symptoms such as swelling, severe pain, loss of motion, and even bursting sores if left untreated. 

Thankfully you can prevent tophi by monitoring your uric acid levels, consuming proper nutrients, and treating joint pain early in the process. If you already have developed gout tophi, you can have them professionally removed or try anti-inflammatory drugs or adjunctive therapy.

There are also many products you can use to alleviate painful symptoms, improve the condition of your skin, and maintain your foot health. The Toe Bro offers effective, high-quality foot care products like skin foot foams and foot spray deodorants to improve your foot health. Check us out to get relief from your foot problems today.

If you've visited your general doctor about a foot problem, they've probably recommended that you visit a foot specialist. You may have heard of both chiropodists and podiatrists. But what are they, and is there a difference between the two? In this article, we'll compare a chiropodist vs. a podiatrist and evaluate any differences.

Comparing Foot Care Specialists

You need to know which foot doctor to contact when you have a foot problem. So what is a chiropodist, and what is a podiatrist? 

To put it simply, there is no real difference when you compare a podiatrist vs. a chiropodist. Both are feet doctors — primary healthcare professionals that specialize in the well-being and health of your feet.

The term chiropody can be called podiatry's ancestor. How so?

The term chiropody was first used in the U.S. in the late 19th century. A group of foot doctors established the first recognized medical organization for foot specialists in New York in 1895. This organization was known as the first society of chiropodists. 

The first chiropody school was established nearly 20 years later in 1911. All practitioners in the United States received a Doctor of Surgical Chiropody degree from the beginning of WWII. 

All schools in the United States changed the name of the profession to podiatry by the late 1960s. Practitioners have been awarded a Doctor of Podiatric Medicine (DPM) degree and called podiatrists since then.

Other countries such as South Africa, the United Kingdom, and Australia gradually adopted the term podiatrist to refer to a foot doctor, and their scope of practice remained the same.

However, the term chiropodist is still used in one place in the world today.

Location: Ontario vs the World

The difference in foot doctors' titles is determined by which country they received their degree. The province of Ontario in Canada is the only place that still uses the term chiropodist.

All specialists who graduated outside Ontario and moved there before 1993 are referred to as podiatrists. Specialists who moved to Ontario after 1993 are registered as chiropodists. The College of Chiropodists of Ontario regulates both professions. 

Since specialists who moved there after 1993 are called chiropodists, the term is still used to promote the profession of chiropody in Ontario. A new podiatrist hasn't been registered in Ontario for the last 29 years!

But what about other countries?

The rest of the world has completely replaced the term "chiropodist" with the term "podiatrist". Sometimes older patients may use the term chiropodist, but the terms are used interchangeably.

Education: Doctors vs Foot Health Professionals

Both chiropodists and podiatrists must pass provincial licensing exams and comprehensive board exams to obtain licensure to practice. Both must also complete university-level schooling.

Podiatrists must attain a Doctor of Podiatric Medicine (DPM) degree — a four-year, post-bachelor's degree. Both podiatrists and chiropodists can take additional courses to expand their knowledge of certain foot conditions.

The majority of chiropodists in Ontario have a bachelor's degree in the sciences or other fields. They must also have a post-secondary diploma in chiropody.

However, it's important to note that neither podiatrists nor chiropodists are medical doctors. They are highly skilled and knowledgeable health physicians that specialize in disorders and conditions of the foot.

Scope of Practice: Surgical Procedures vs Basic Foot Care

Both podiatrists and chiropodists provide foot care services for patients with foot disorders or foot pain. However, there are some differences in their level and scope of practice depending on where they are located.

Podiatrists around the world can carry out both basic foot and nail care as well as advanced surgical procedures. Their scope of practice includes:

• Perform physical examinations
• Complete and study medical histories
• Take and interpret MRIs, ultrasounds, X-rays, and other imaging studies
• Diagnose and treat foot conditions like flat feet, athlete's foot, and ingrown toenails
• Prescribe podiatric medicine, including oral, topical, and injectable forms of medicine
• Administer anesthetics and sedation
• Prescribe, order, and fit insoles, custom foot orthodontics, prosthetics, and casts
• Order and perform physical therapy
• Treat sports-related injuries and set fractures
• Perform surgical management and procedures
• Perform reconstructive surgeries and microsurgeries

Chiropodists in Ontario can also carry out most of these duties, but they can not perform surgical procedures on foot bones, communicate a diagnosis, or order diagnostic X-rays. Most patients will see orthopedic surgeons or podiatric surgeons for these procedures.

What does that mean for you? Both chiropodists and podiatrists can treat a host of foot conditions, including:

• Bunions ‍
• Ingrown toenails ‍
• Plantar fasciitis
• Flat feet
• Cracked dry heels ‍
• Corns
• Calluses
• Warts ‍
• Diabetic feet ‍
• Neuromas

So you don't need to worry. Both a podiatrist and chiropodist are fully qualified and able to treat your foot problems with no issue.

Is the Chiropody Profession Going Away?

Even though most countries have adopted the podiatry model, the chiropody profession remains strong in Ontario. 

In response to the pandemic, the scope of drugs that chiropodists can prescribe has been widened to provide more comprehensive care to their patients.

Furthermore, requests for new podiatrists to be registered in Ontario were recently denied. The Minister of Health and Long-Term Care determined that the public needs access to the more affordable, routine, basic foot care that chiropodists provide. Chiropody remains an important medical science for Ontario residents because it gives them access to holistic foot care services.

Are Podiatry or Chiropody Services Right for You?

Both podiatry and chiropody are important professions when it comes to your foot health. While the term chiropodist is only used in Canada, both podiatrists and chiropodists specialize in the care and treatment of the ankles and feet.

So if you are in Ontario and need preventive care, therapy, or surgical treatment, you will benefit from visiting your local chiropodist. If you live anywhere else in the world, you will visit a podiatrist at a foot clinic. Both doctors will take care of your foot care needs and get you back to health.

In addition to visiting your local chiropodist or podiatrist regularly, you also need to use proper tools and materials to take care of your feet. The Toe Bro offers many specialized foot care products to enhance your foot care routine. Take a look at what we offer and see how you can enjoy happy, healthy feet today.