Tips For Trimming Toenails

• Spread tissue or newspapers on the ground to catch nail clippings.
• Sit on the ground and hold toe clippers in one hand, grasping your foot with the other. Your foot should be placed over the tissue or newspaper.
• Cut straight across your big toenail.
• Repeat for other toes.
• Gather the tissue or paper with clippings and throw away.
• Warnings: Cut toenails straight across and avoid cutting them too short; otherwise, you might get ingrown toenails (a condition in which edges of toenails push into the skin).
• The best way prevent ingrown is to cut straight across the nail and then remove any sharp edges with a file.
• Cut your toenails outside, so you don't need to worry about runaway ones!
• Thick toenails treatment: If you have rather thick and/or very dry toenails, instead of clipping try to just file them; this prevents cracks in the nail. An electric pedicure set can be very helpful, but handle with care

• Toenails, Ingrown - Ingrown toenails are a common toenail problem of uncertain etiology. Various causes include poorly fit (tight) footwear, infection, improperly trimmed toenails, trauma, and heredity. The great toe is the most commonly involved.
• An ingrown toenail is a common condition in which the corner or side of one of your toenails grows into the soft flesh of your toe. The result is pain, redness, swelling and, sometimes, an infection. The condition usually affects your big toe.
• In most cases, you can take care of ingrown toenails on your own. If the pain is severe or spreading, however, your doctor can take steps to relieve your discomfort and help you avoid complications.
• If you have diabetes or another condition that causes poor circulation to your feet, you're at greater risk of complications. Seek a doctor's advice earlier on caring for an ingrown toenail.

• Anyone can develop an ingrown toenail. But you may be more prone to ingrown toenails if you have toenails that curve down or grow faster at the edges than at the center.
• Ingrown toenails are also more common in older adults, because nails tend to thicken with age. This thickening or change to the curvature of your nails can cause ingrown toenails.
• When to seek medical advice: If you experience severe discomfort in your toe or pus or redness that seems to be spreading, see your doctor. If you have diabetes or any circulation impairment to your lower extremities, seek the advice of a foot doctor (podiatrist) on how to properly care for ingrown toenails. Also seek prompt treatment for any foot sore or infection.

• Left untreated or undetected, an ingrown toenail can infect the underlying bone and lead to a serious bone infection.
• Complications can be especially severe if you have diabetes, because the circulation and nerve supply to your feet can become impaired. Therefore, any relatively minor injury to your foot - cut, scrape, corn, callus or ingrown toenail - can lead to a more serious complication. In rare cases, an ingrown toenail can result in a difficult-to-heal open sore (foot ulcer), which could eventually require surgery. Foot ulcers left untreated may become infected and eventually even gangrenous. Sometimes amputation is the only treatment.

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