Understanding and Addressing Baby Ingrown Toenails

Growth is a natural process in every living organism. Only, when it’s ‘Outwards’ like it usually is, not ‘Inwards’!

In babies, an Ingrown Toenail is an even more delicate issue. The next time you’re kissing those precious little toes, you might want to examine them and check if they are all right. The last thing you want is for that Ingrown Toenail to be the cause of all that mysterious crying that you work so hard to quell every now and then.

Luckily for you, we have all the information pertaining to Ingrown Toenails in Babies, covered in this article. From What Causes Ingrown Toenails, to How to treat an Ingrown Toenail, you will find all there is to know about this condition that most people are still in the dark about. Perhaps the best way to begin, would be by shedding some ‘light’ on that Ingrown Toenail that’s quite literally ‘in the dark’. That is, by understanding the phenomenon that Ingrown Toenails represent.

Ingrown Toenails: What they are and what causes Ingrown Toenails

Ingrown toenails are far more common than you think, even though you might not have seen one yourself yet. This usually happens, when the corner of one of your child’s toenails wedges itself into the ‘cuticle’ of the nail. Rather than growing over it, which is the norm.

So, what causes ingrown toenails? There’s more than one reason for them, such as the following.

• The toenails have a natural sort of ‘curve’ to them.
• There might be a fungal infection preceding that ingrown toenail.
• Children might even be born with those ingrown toenails.

Ingrown Toenails: The Classic Signs

How do you even know if your baby has an ingrown toenail? Here’s some classic signs to look out for.

• There is redness in the affected area.
• Pus is oozing from the toe.
• There is a noticeable swelling.
• The affected toe is tender to the touch.

How to Treat that Ingrown Toenail: An Effective Home Remedy

Every problem in life usually comes with a ‘fix’. So, how do you fix an ingrown toenail? Try the following home remedy, that usually sees good results.

Note: If there is any sign of pus oozing from that toenail, or if your child is running a fever, you want to seek professional medical advice.

• Have your little one indulge in the bliss of soaking their toes in warm, soapy water twice a day. Each of these sessions must not be more than 20 minutes.
• When they are getting that ‘pedicure’ of sorts, you want to gently massage the area around the cuticle where there appears to be a swelling. While you are in the midst of doing this, make sure that you apply slight pressure on that toenail, so as to lift it out of the cuticle.
• After you have dried their foot completely, you want to apply an antibiotic cream on the affected area. As touched upon earlier, it might just be some sort of infection that is the underlying cause behind that ingrown toenail.

What to do for Ingrown Toenail Pain

Luckily for us, the issue of Ingrown Toenails can be successfully addressed. Unluckily, though, it might take some time. That being said, there are some things you can do to treat that ingrown toenail pain, in the interim.

• Soapy Water Therapy. Apart from all the things this remedy entails to help you ‘fix’ that ingrown toenail, it also does a stellar job at treating the accompanying pain. Not only the ‘water’ bit, but also the ‘cream’ that is applied to the toe later on.
• Placing dental floss under the affected toenail.
• The application of petroleum jelly to the affected area.

How to Prevent Ingrown Toenails

Prevention is better than Cure, they say. This couldn’t be truer, in the instance of that Ingrown Toenail! It’s best to do all we can, to prevent the occurrence of this most terrible condition. As a parent, here’s what you can do, when looking at how to prevent ingrown toenails.

• It’s about the right Method of Cutting those toenails

While you might be most focused on cutting their toenails religiously, you also want to be cognizant of ‘how’ you cut them.

To do: Ensure that while clipping those toenails, you cut them ‘straight’ and not in a ‘curve.’ Also, ensure that they are not cut too close to the skin. Rather, they should be slightly longer than you intend them to be. This will ensure that they don’t end up growing inwards and causing all that undue stress.

• Ensuring their shoes are not too tight

It might be fashionable for adults to wear shoes that are tight, simply because they ‘look good’! You don’t want to let your children do that, of course! When it comes to tiny feet, tight-fitted shoes might just be the reason for their toenails growing inwards.

To do: Ensure there is enough ‘wiggle room’ in those shoes, for your child’s feet. This refers to the gap in front of the shoe, where kids can happily wiggle their toes.

Note: When choosing the right shoes, you want to ensure that attention is paid to both the Width ‘and’ Length of the shoe. Also, you want to make sure that the socks that they wear are not all that tight, too.

Bonus: Little kids outgrow their shoes fast, so a larger size of shoe clearly makes for a win-win situation here!

• Address the situation before it blows out of proportion

Sometimes, that toenail is not completely ingrown yet. It has started the process of growing inwards, and this presents the perfect time to nip the problem in the bud.

To do: Randomly, after your child has had a bath, you might want to check their toes to see if any of them appear to be growing inwards. If they do, you want to gently bend those corners upwards, as discussed in the home remedy above to fix that ‘full-blown’ ingrown toenail.

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