What happens if an ingrown toenail is not treated

Diabetes increases your risk for foot problems, especially infections. Left untreated, these issues can cause serious complications. Learn more about how to protect your feet. Ingrown toenails can cause real pain. Learn more about why ingrown toenails recur. Gout is a form of arthritis that can affect any joint in your body.

One thing you may not know is that eating certain foods can increase your chances of suffering gout attacks. Read on to learn why gout develops and the foods you should avoid. Foot calluses are hard spots of skin that may appear on your heels or other parts of your feet.

That being said, people in the following situations should not even give home treatments a second thought. Call us immediately if any of the following statements are true:. Unfortunately, by the time most people finally make the call to come see us, their toenails are already severe enough that we need to take a more aggressive treatment approach. It turns out that you have absolutely nothing to fear from visiting the podiatrist about your ingrown toenail.

The process just takes a couple of minutes. The pain relief is immediate, most people can go back to regular activities within a day, and back to full activity including swimming and sports within a week to two weeks. But in terms of active treatments, this one, single appointment is able to provide lasting relief for the vast majority of our patients.

If you currently are in the early stages of an ingrown toenail, we strongly recommend you make an appointment with Dr. Brandy as soon as possible. Contact the Trinity Foot Center today by calling , or completing our online contact form.

Contact p. Such home treatments can include soaking your feet in warm water, placing floss or cotton under the toenail to encourage growth away from the sides of the toe, and antibiotic creams. However, like any other medical condition, severity coupled with other underlying conditions can make for more serious, even dangerous complications.

For example, people with diabetes need to be especially careful because of the poor blood circulation in lower extremities associated with the disease.

The biggest concern is that of infection. Left untreated, such an infection can spread to the underlying bone. Gangrene, a condition in which the tissue dies and decays, leaving an open sore is another major concern.

Such complications are especially of concern to people who have diabetes or other conditions in which blood circulation to the lower extremities is impaired.

In fact, left untreated, such condition can lead to amputations. If you are experiencing severe pain, pus discharge, or already have such an underlying medical condition, you should go ahead and see a doctor. If you live in the greater Washington, D. For more information go to www. Would you like to switch to the accessible version of this site?

Go to accessible site Close modal window. A little swelling. But left untreated, ingrown toenails can lead to more serious problems. You usually get ingrown toenails on your big toe, but any toenail can become ingrown. Older people whose toenails thicken are prone to ingrown toenails; so are teens with sweaty feet. Typically, ingrown toenails cause toe pain, redness, and swelling.

But sometimes the toe becomes infected. Then trouble follows. Ultimately, tissue can decay and die.