Ingrowing Nails - definition - cuses - treatment - prevention

What Is an Ingrown Toenail?

When a toenail is ingrown, it is curved and grows into the skin, usually at the nail borders (the sides of the nail). This “digging in” of the nail irritates the skin, often creating pain, redness, swelling, and warmth in the toe.

If an ingrown nail causes a break in the skin, bacteria may enter and cause an infection in the area, which is often marked by drainage and a foul odor. However, even if the toe isn’t painful, red, swollen, or warm, a nail that curves downward into the skin can progress to an infection.

Causes of ingrown toenails include:

Heredity. In many people, the tendency for ingrown toenails is inherited.

Trauma. Sometimes an ingrown toenail is the result of trauma, such as stubbing your toe, having an object fall on your toe, or engaging in activities that involve repeated pressure on the toes, such as kicking or running.

Improper trimming. The most common cause of ingrown toenails is cutting your nails too short. This encourages the skin next to the nail to fold over the nail.

Improperly sized footwear. Ingrown toenails can result from wearing socks and shoes that are tight or short.

Nail Conditions. Ingrown toenails can be caused by nail problems, such as fungal infections or losing a nail due to trauma.

Ingrown2Treatment

Sometimes initial treatment for ingrown toenails can be safely performed at home. However, home treatment is strongly discouraged if an infection is suspected, or for those who have medical conditions that put feet at high risk, such as diabetes, nerve damage in the foot, or poor circulation.

Home care:

If you don’t have an infection or any of the above medical conditions, you can soak your foot in room-temperature water (adding Epsom’s salt may be recommended by your doctor), and gently massage the side of the nail fold to help reduce the inflammation.

Avoid attempting “bathroom surgery.” Repeated cutting of the nail can cause the condition to worsen over time. If your symptoms fail to improve, it’s time to see a foot and ankle surgeon.

Physician care:

After examining the toe, the foot and ankle surgeon will select the treatment best suited for you. If an infection is present, an oral antibiotic may be prescribed.

Sometimes a minor surgical procedure, often performed in the office, will ease the pain and remove the offending nail. After applying a local anesthetic, the doctor removes part of the nail’s side border. Some nails may become ingrown again, requiring removal of the nail root.

Following the nail procedure, a light bandage will be applied. Most people experience very little pain after surgery and may resume normal activity the next day. If your surgeon has prescribed an oral antibiotic, be sure to take all the medication, even if your symptoms have improved.

Preventing Ingrown Toenails

Many cases of ingrown toenails may be prevented by:

Proper trimming. Cut toenails in a fairly straight line, and don’t cut them too short. You should be able to get your fingernail under the sides and end of the nail.

Well-fitted shoes and socks. Don’t wear shoes that are short or tight in the toe area. Avoid shoes that are loose, because they too cause pressure on the toes, especially when running or walking briskly

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What You Should Know About Home Treatment

Don’t cut a notch in the nail. Contrary to what some people believe, this does not reduce the tendency for the nail to curve downward.

Don’t repeatedly trim nail borders. Repeated trimming does not change the way the nail grows, and can make the condition worse.

Don’t place cotton under the nail. Not only does this not relieve the pain, it provides a place for harmful bacteria to grow, resulting in infection

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OVER-THE-COUNTERmedications are ineffective. Topical medications may mask the pain, but they don’t correct the underlying problem 

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Dr . Tarik Torki

Diabetic Foot Specialist & Foot Care Specialist
Saudi Arabia – Riyadh
0562154241
Khuris Street – In Front of Pakistanian Airline
Info@diabeticfootarabia.com

http://diabeticfootcareonline.blogspot.com.

Podiatrist role in diabetes foot care in Riyadh - Suadi Arabia

Diabetes affects the lives of nearly 26 million people in the United States and nearly seven million don’t even know they have the disease yet.

Podiatrist plays a key role in helping patients manage diabetes successfully and avoid foot-related complications and are an important part of your diabetes management team.

The keys to amputation prevention are early recognition and regular foot screenings performed by a podiatrist.

The role of a podiatrist in diabetic foot care ranges from regular prevention and education to identifying and treating problems before they get out of hand.  In the extreme cases, it can be about helping control an infection and attempting to save a limb

Podiatrists play a very critical and often underestimated role in the care of diabetics. Diabetes is what is referred to as a "small vessel" disease, meaning that it may affect both the larger blood vessels but also effects the smaller blood vessels like those in the eye and toes as opposed to our larger vessels. Diabetes also effects affects the nerves, bones, skin and all aspects of the foot. In many instances the serious problems that diabetics can get in their feet can often be avoided with the good foot care a podiatrist is best qualified to offer. There are many who now specialize in diabetic foot problems.

Podiatrists play a key role in providing appropriate foot care for people with diabetes. A person with diabetes should have a comprehensive diabetic foot examination by a podiatrist on a yearly basis. Depending on the findings on the comprehensive diabetic foot examination based on the risk status of the person, a regular schedule of foot care should be set up. For those persons with diabetes and no risk--yearly foot examinations are fine. For others, depending on their risk status they may need to be seen more frequently. This is the basis for regular scheduled examinations and foot care, but any acute problems should be evaluated immediately. The greatest danger is for those with diabetes that have lost the ability to sense pain in other words they have the loss of protective sensation (peripheral neuropathy). These persons need to be extremely careful and have their feet inspected daily by themselves or a family member to look for any areas of redness, irritation, cuts or sores.

Podiatrists are an important member of the team of providers providing care for people with diabetes. Studies have established that including podiatrists in the care of people with diabetes leads to less lower extremity complications. Prevention is essential in preventing serious diabetic foot problems.

Each year more than 65,000 lower limbs are amputated due to complications from diabetes. By including a podiatrist in your diabetes care you can reduce the risk of lower limb amputation by up to 85%. Podiatrists play an integral role in amputation prevention by performing regular foot screenings and early recognition. For example, a podiatrist will look for the following diabetes warning signs

1) Dry cracks in the skin

2) Ingrown and fungal toenails

 3) Numbness in the feet or toes

 4) Open sores on the feet that are slow to heal

 5) Swelling of the foot or ankle

6) Pain in the legs

 7) Skin color changes

 8) Bleeding corns and calluses.

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Dr . Tarik Torki

Diabetic Foot Specialist & Foot Care Specialist
Saudi Arabia – Riyadh
0562154241
Khuris Street – In Front of Pakistanian Airline
Info@diabeticfootarabia.com

http://diabeticfootcareonline.blogspot.com

Three-Part Limb Salvage System Offers Solutions For Complex Cases

Issue Number: 

Volume 28 - Issue 11 - November 2015

Author(s): 

Amanda Harvey, Contributing Editor

Surgeons can use a new product portfolio that allows them to combine three complementary product platforms together or as individual platforms to provide advanced limb salvage solutions.

Section: 

Technology In Practice

Source Technology In Practice http://ift.tt/1NicP2C

Does Your Documentation Have To Change For ICD-10?

Issue Number: 

Volume 28 - Issue 10 - October 2015

Author(s): 

Jeffrey D. Lehrman, DPM, FACFAS, FASPS, FAPWH

The answer to this question really lies in how you have been documenting up until now. The rule to code to the highest specificity has not changed. The rule that your documentation must support the specificity of the code and justify the code has not changed either. ICD-10 gives us the ability to (and in some cases the requirement to) indicate the etiology, anatomic site, laterality, severity and progression of a pathology with our coding in instances when this was not always possible with ICD-9. Going through some examples is a good way to illustrate this.

Section: 

Practice Builders

Topics: 

Coding

ICD-10

Source Practice Builders http://ift.tt/1Wzjtnt