Ingrown Toenail Treatment

​An ingrown toenail is one that grows into the skin and the area becomes red, hot and swollen, infected and irritated. Because the nail has grown into the skin and created an opening, it is prone to infection and can be rather painful becoming worse as the inflammation increases. There are a few reasons why people may suffer from an ingrown toenail: one, it could be due to an incorrect nail-cutting technique where a piece of nail is left on the deeper side of the nail and as this grows, it pierces the skin creating an opening; two, you may have experienced damage to the nail from injury or accident and the shape of your nail has been altered which then causes deformity and the ingrown toenail to occur, and three, the hereditary factor which means some people’s toes just have a natural predilection to developing an ingrown toenail. The good news is though that the pain and inflammation don’t have to continue to remain that way; there are ways to treat it. Antibiotics are one effective way to treat the infection but it won’t repair the nail issue itself.

Meet The Team Of Specialists

The Podiatry Room is a family affair and prides themselves on premium-quality care and service. Ashraf Kodsy will always greet clientele with a smile so you can be certain of a warm welcome when attending the clinic. Ash is passionate about being a Podiatrist and utilises the best practices to ensure that your foot and ankle matters including ingrown toenails are attended to. Armed with a belief in developing further knowledge and keeping up-to-date with the latest information, Ash actively undertakes professional development to grow and learn so that he can be an even better Podiatrist each day. Specialising in ingrown toenails as well as warts, general skin and nail issues, diabetic foot treatment and musculoskeletal pathologies and functional lower limb performance, Ash is armed with a diverse range of expertise to help you with a conducive solution and treatment plan. Adam Kodsy possesses a Bachelor of Health Science and a Masters in Podiatric Medicine and has practiced in Galway, Ireland within a hospital setting so he has been exposed to a diverse range of podiatry matters. Adam is passionate about the field and about helping clientele achieve their objectives. 

​Feel free to contact us today!

Wearing high heels is often an expectation in the corporate field and other careers the like. For this reason, we have decided to provide 5 ways in which you can address the challenges and problems that come with wearing high heels on a daily basis. We understand that wearing high heels on a regular basis is not something that you can simply “stop doing”. Hence, our decision to focus on strengthening and conditioning your lower limb (from the hips down) for the demanding environment it is put through on a day-to-day basis. If you can’t change it, adapt to it!

Tip #1: Reverse the effects of high heels at the foundation. Daily.
 
Lets start at the foundation, your feet! In an attempt to reverse the effects of your wonderful heels, we will start with a simple and effective way to release all those knotted, tight muscles and joints. Simply purchase a lacrosse ball from your local fitness store or alternatively, you can click here to purchase them from Wodlife. With that done, just roll the bottom of your feet and don’t be afraid to push through the pain and get into it (as demonstrated in the video bellow).

Tip #2: Lengthen the Achilles and loosen up the calf muscles. 30 seconds, 3-4 x daily.
 
The calf muscle consists of two muscles, the gastrocnemius and the soleus (see image bellow). In order to effectively lengthen your Achilles, BOTH muscles should be addressed. For this reason, two separate stretches are necessary (one with your knee flexed and the second with your knee extended). This stretch is to be held for 30 seconds and repeated 3-4 times daily.
 
Make sure your:

1. Feet are both straight and your knees are passing directly over the midline of your foot
2. Your feet are flat on the ground without your heel lifting off the ground

 
The stretch is demonstrated in the video bellow.

Tip #3: Hip flexor stretch. 30 seconds, 3-4 x daily.
 
That curvature through your lower back that “brings all the boys to the yard” needs to be addressed. This is one way to address those tight hip flexors (illiopsoas muscle group). The stretch is demonstrated in the video bellow.

Tip #4: Strengthen those glutes and hamstrings for additional pelvic stability. 12 reps, 3-4 x daily.
 
As noted earlier, your gluteus maximus (the booty muscle) is inactive when wearing heels. Weak glutes and tight hip flexors go hand in hand, both need to be addressed to maintain stability. This exercise is a single leg bridge and the further your heel is from your backside, the more your hamstrings will be activated. This exercise is great because is has the potential to strengthening both hamstrings and glutes simultaneously, depending on your form. This strengthening exercise is demonstrated in the video bellow. 

Tip #5: Target the glutes even more and stabilise that knee! 12 reps, 3-4 x daily.
 
The single limb step down is used to target your glutes and Vastus Medialis Obliques (A.K.A. the VMO). The VMO is that tear drop muscle on the inside of your quads and it provides stability to the knee. Walking on heels all day can fatigue that muscle and that’s why we condition it to put up with the demand. Make sure your:
 

1. Feet are straight and your knee is passing directly through the midline of your foot
2. Heels are lifting off the ground

That’s a wrap! Be sure to maintain form and check all the details before going ahead and doing it. If it helps record yourself doing the exercises or have a friend assess your form. 

If you have any enquiries or would like to know more, you can contact us or simply make an online booking.

By Ashraf Kodsy

How does it happen?
 
An ingrown toenail is initiated when the nail grows into the skin and creates an opening. This becomes a wound prone to infection and immense amounts of pain as the nail pushes into the wound. This gets worse as the area becomes more and more inflamed (red/hot/swollen), resulting in a build up of pressure (due to a lack of space in the area). Unfortunately, we witness patients put up with the pain for far too long (more than a year in some cases). 

Who gets it?
 
Anyone can unfortunately experience an ingrown toenail. However, the main contributing factors to an ingrown toenail are:

1. Incorrect cutting technique: We see this quite often when a piece of nail (spicule) is left on deep side of the nail. As the nail grows, this sharp spicule pierces the skin and creates an opening in the skin.
2. Nail trauma: You might have dropped something a long time ago on your toe or bumped it into a bench. This can damage the nail matrix (when the nail grows from) and alter the shape of your nail. Due to its deformed shape it has the tendency to grow into your skin.
3. Hereditary: This one is the one you can thank your parents for. Nails can naturally grow thickened, involuted (curled into your skin) or deformed, simply because of your genes. This can contribute to the initial stages of an ingrown toenail.

 
What can you do about it?
 
Antibiotics are effective in dealing with the infection but it wont remove the nail thats caused the issue in the first place. We encourage antibiotics if there is an active infection (so long as the course is completely finished), however we discourage treatment with antibiotics alone. Ingrown toenails are a common issue we see at Your Podiatry Room. An initial assessment of your nails is completely necessary to examine the cause of your ingrowing nail(s), this way we can treat it accordingly.

If you have any enquiries or would like to know more about what can be done to treat your ingrown toenail(s), you can contact us or simply make a booking online.

There are many factors that can lead to degeneration of the tendon, including anatomical/biomechanical abnormalities, as well as external factors, such as poor training methods or poor footwear to name a few. 
 
Achilles tendon pain usually comes about when participating in activities that require movements such as jumping and running. The pain tends to decrease with rest from activity. Due to the poor blood supply to the Achilles tendon, the healing process can be one that is prolonged and can lead to a debilitating and painful lifestyle.

​A range of other conditions that may be misdiagnosed as Achilles tendinopathy include:

• Calcaneal stress fracture
• Retro-calcaneal/superficial calcaneal bursitis
• Achilles tendon rupture
• Ankle osteoarthritis
• Os Trigonum

 
It is best to visit your local podiatrist to have a full assessment conducted in order to come to a correct diagnosis.
 
A range of different treatment modalities can be used to treat Achilles tendinopathy, which include but are not limited to:

• Eccentric calf strengthening
• Calf and hamstring static stretches
• Gastrocnemius/soleus deep tissue release
• Custom orthotics
• Shockwave therapy
• Footwear advise
• Injection therapy

 
These are just a few of our treatment methods. Treatment is not so simple, and for this reason it is important to know what to do and when to do it. If you have any enquiries or would like to know more about what can be done to treat Achilles tendinopathy, you can contact us or simply make an online booking.

Plantar fasciitis often presents as pain in the bottom of the heel. The plantar fascia is a band like structure that runs along the plantar (bottom) aspect on your foot. From your heel to your toes (refer to image). This structure can become painful due to local inflammation. This causes the plantar fascia to become thickened in size, which can be confirmed by ultrasound in most (but not all) cases. Tight calves are commonly associated with plantar fasciitis as it contributes to  tightness along the band. ​

In most cases, it is painful in the mornings when getting out of bed or after rest. Plantar fasciitis can however, present in different ways. It can be most painful throughout the day when walking on your feet for extended periods of time or it may hurt most after extended periods of standing. 

Heel pain however cannot be limited to plantar fasciitis. Although plantar fasciitis is the most common cause of heel pain. there are many other possible diagnoses which would alter treatment protocol. Some of these may be:
​

• Fat pad contusion/displacement
• Tarsal tunnel syndrome of tibial nerve (medial)
• Fracture/stress fractures of calcaneus
•  Heel spur (enthesitis of the medical calcaneal tuberosity)
•  Sciatica (entrapped between piriformis and obturator internus)
• Spring ligament tear (calc-nav)
• Giant cell tumor
• Bone marrow inflammation (osteomyelitis)
• Retro-calcaneal bursitis
• Achilles tendonitis/tendonosis
• Fibrosis of plantar fascia

For this reason, it is not ideal to self diagnose according to your symptoms. it is best to visit your local podiatrist and have a full assessment conducted. 

We utilise a range of treatment modalities to treat plantar fasciitis/fasciosis/fasciopathy depending on the symptoms and pathology specifics. Some treatment options may include but are not limited to:

• Plantar fascial stretches
• Static stretches
• Dynamic stretches
• Eccentric loading
• Gastrocnemius/soleus deep tissue release/dry needling/PNF
• Shockwave therapy
• Custom orthotics or insoles
• Footwear
• Golf ball/iced water bottle rolling
• Ice/heat/compression
• Injection therapy

The list goes on, however knowing how and what to do about it is not so simple. If you have any enquiries or would like to know more about what can be done to treat plantar fasciitis/faciopathy, you can contact us  or simply make an online booking.