#1 ·
Hey there.
I’ve been dealing with ingrown toenails since I was a kid. Back when I was ten, I actually had to go under the knife for my left big toe—it was on both sides of the nail. It was incredibly painful, and the recovery took a few days.
Then, around twelve or thirteen, the same thing happened on the other foot. To deal with it, I followed some advice and started stuffing small bits of cotton soaked in rubbing alcohol or antiseptic solution under the edge of the nail every night for about two weeks. Eventually, the skin stopped growing over the nail on its own, and the extra tissue just sort of died off. I’d trim away the excess with scissors every evening until the toe looked normal again.
That was when I realized you could actually manage this without surgery. Honestly, the cotton trick worked wonders.
I didn't have any issues from age thirteen until about a month ago. I clipped my right big toe a bit too short, and the whole ingrown situation started all over again. Just before New Year's, I started the cotton routine again, hoping to replicate that success from a decade ago. But then, well... New Year's happened. You know how it goes—clubbing, crowds, hundreds of people accidentally stepping on your feet. When I checked my toe the day after New Year's, it looked terrible. There was raw, inflamed flesh covering part of the side and top of the nail. I've been using tea tree oil lately to try and calm the inflammation since it's a decent antiseptic. That helped the swelling, but the ingrown nail is still there and it hurts like hell.
Yesterday and today, I tried to wedge the antiseptic-soaked cotton under the nail and into the wound, but it’s nearly impossible. It's just raw, bleeding tissue.
What do you guys think I should do? Looking for anyone with experience here. Should I keep trying the cotton method, and is the bleeding a major red flag? I really want to avoid surgery if I can; I just don't have the time right now with finals coming up in about ten days. Is it even possible to fix this without a doctor?
I’ve been dealing with ingrown toenails since I was a kid. Back when I was ten, I actually had to go under the knife for my left big toe—it was on both sides of the nail. It was incredibly painful, and the recovery took a few days.
Then, around twelve or thirteen, the same thing happened on the other foot. To deal with it, I followed some advice and started stuffing small bits of cotton soaked in rubbing alcohol or antiseptic solution under the edge of the nail every night for about two weeks. Eventually, the skin stopped growing over the nail on its own, and the extra tissue just sort of died off. I’d trim away the excess with scissors every evening until the toe looked normal again.
That was when I realized you could actually manage this without surgery. Honestly, the cotton trick worked wonders.
I didn't have any issues from age thirteen until about a month ago. I clipped my right big toe a bit too short, and the whole ingrown situation started all over again. Just before New Year's, I started the cotton routine again, hoping to replicate that success from a decade ago. But then, well... New Year's happened. You know how it goes—clubbing, crowds, hundreds of people accidentally stepping on your feet. When I checked my toe the day after New Year's, it looked terrible. There was raw, inflamed flesh covering part of the side and top of the nail. I've been using tea tree oil lately to try and calm the inflammation since it's a decent antiseptic. That helped the swelling, but the ingrown nail is still there and it hurts like hell.
Yesterday and today, I tried to wedge the antiseptic-soaked cotton under the nail and into the wound, but it’s nearly impossible. It's just raw, bleeding tissue.
What do you guys think I should do? Looking for anyone with experience here. Should I keep trying the cotton method, and is the bleeding a major red flag? I really want to avoid surgery if I can; I just don't have the time right now with finals coming up in about ten days. Is it even possible to fix this without a doctor?