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The ingrowth of the nail plate into the region of the lateral edge of the nail fold is called onychocryptosis. As a rule, an ingrown nail is diagnosed on the big toe of the lower limb. If you do not provide appropriate treatment, then each time there will be a relapse.
As soon as the nail plate begins to grow into the tissue of the thumb or any other finger, the inflammatory process begins. It brings a lot of discomfort to a person. Sometimes the patient has an attack of pain syndrome. The pain is sometimes so severe that the person cannot simply walk.
To date, there are several methods for solving this problem, which allow you to quickly save the patient from pain and discomfort. The only moment of quick and effective treatment is the timely appeal for help to specialists.
If you do not treat the disease and wait until the nail grows back, then the situation can lead to a relapse. The nail plate will again be subject to violations and provoke serious disorders of the usual way of life.
Untreated onychocryptosis is able to rapidly develop inflammatory processes that will manifest as acute pain syndromes. Often, during the inflammatory process, the patient has an increased body temperature. If this issue is not resolved in time, then skin tissue begins to grow on top of the ingrown nail. This can lead to severe suppuration, which can result in amputation of the finger.
Most often, this problem occurs in males, in women it is diagnosed almost three times less often. At risk are people between the ages of twenty and thirty years.
As a rule, often the ingrowth of the nail plate into the skin occurs on the thumb of the lower limb and on any fingers of the upper limbs.
What can not be done with onychocryptosis?
If you notice that your nail plate is starting to grow into the skin tissue, then you should immediately contact a specialist for help. After all, even if it passes on its own (when the nail plate grows on its own), it is possible that onychocryptosis will not return again. Just remember that when this disease relapses, the symptoms are doubled. With a relapse, there is a risk that a person will not be able to move independently due to bouts of acute pain. Therefore, do not delay with this. At the first sign, contact a specialist for help. Only they can quickly rid you of this disease.
If you notice the development of onychocryptosis, then it is strictly forbidden to do the following:
- trying to remove an ingrown nail on your own;
- engage in self-medication, that is, apply various ointments and compresses. This can cause irritation and only aggravate the situation;
- trim the nail plate from the side of the ingrown.
What are the indications and contraindications for the removal of an ingrown nail plate?
The most common treatment for an ingrown plate is surgical removal. There must be serious indications for this procedure. As a rule, removal of the nail with the help of surgery is prescribed for patients with an advanced stage of the disease, since it is already pointless to carry out a conservative method of treatment.
Without any doubt, doctors prescribe surgical removal to patients in the case when pus and ichor begin to stand out at the site of ingrowth. Also, the main indication is the growth of soft tissue.
Therefore, in order to cure this disease with the help of a conservative technique, it is necessary to turn to specialists for help in time. If you let everything take its course, you will have to completely remove the nail plate.
Fortunately, our medicine does not stand still. More recently, to solve this problem, it was necessary to completely remove the nail plate, but now this can be avoided. The latest technologies allow not only to eliminate the problem, but also to correct the nail plate.
Surgical treatment is contraindicated if: the patient is taking certain medications that can disrupt the blood clotting process (aspirin and all its analogues); the patient was diagnosed with problems with the endocrine system, including diabetes mellitus; the patient suffers from diseases of the vascular system.
How is an ingrown toenail removed?
As we said above, there are several methods for removing an ingrown nail, but all of them are carried out in a medical institution. Before the removal itself, the patient is given local anesthesia. As a rule, lidocaine or novocaine is used for this. The operation itself lasts no more than half an hour. During this time, the specialist makes anesthesia, removes the ingrown plate and adjusts the bandage based on antiseptic agents.
Pros and cons of different ingrown toenail removal techniques
When a patient encounters such a case, the question immediately arises before him – how to solve his painful problem. All methods are based on the same principle – to remove the ingrown nail, but the difference is in the way the tissue is processed. This can be done with a scalpel, laser beam, or radio waves.
However, only a doctor can choose a more effective method of treatment. Only he can decide what works best for you.
During a surgical operation, doctors perform a complete or partial resection. Thus, suppuration in the bone tissue can be avoided. The disadvantage of this treatment is permanent dressings. They need to be changed until the nail is completely healed, which can take more than one month.
Often, doctors resort to laser correction, because it has a lot of advantages, namely: the growth zone is not damaged. During the procedure, doctors completely rid the nail bed of fungal and infectious pathogens. Minus – the tissues heal as long as with surgery.
The radio wave technique consists in the fact that the ingrown nail is removed using a high-frequency radio wave. The difference from other methods is high efficiency, no pain during the treatment period, fast healing. But even here there are downsides. During radio wave treatment, the doctor may choose the wrong power, and thereby provoke re-ingrowth.
The period of recovery
After the patient is removed the ingrown nail, he begins the rehabilitation period. At this time, the patient should periodically visit a doctor so that he can evaluate the result of his work and diagnose any complications in time (this is quite rare). Also, the doctor at first does the dressing himself.
If the removal area was insignificant, then the nail plate overgrows within one week after therapy.
Recall that at the first signs of such an insidious disease, it is necessary to seek help from specialists. This will allow you to avoid serious negative consequences.