Ingrowing Toenails

 

The majority can be managed in primary care:

 

Normal Nails

Footcare advice – wear comfortable, well fitted shoes

Maintain good foot hygiene, trim nails straight across, hot water soaks, gently push skin away from nail using a cotton bud, cotton wool inserts at the nail edges, antibiotics for secondary infection

Partial nail excision¹

 

Very wide or incurvated edge toenails 

Surgical intervention may be necessary

Partial nail excision with segmental phenol ablation²

Total nail avulsion if severe involuted nails on both the tibial and fibular sides (pincer nails)

Antibiotics for secondary infection

 

If Nail Excision unavailable within the practice then refer to Podiatry

If Podiatry advise onward referral for Ingrowing Toenail management, refer to General Surgery or Probus Ingrowing Toenail service

References

1. Eekhof JA, Van Wijk B, Knuistingh Neven A, et al; Interventions for ingrowing toenails. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2012 Apr 184
2. Park DH, Singh D. The management of ingrowing toenails. BMJ. 2012;344:e2089

 

 

 

Date of Review                         08/02/2022

Date of Next Review                 08/02/2023

Author                                       Dr Rebecca Hopkins