Treating Ingrown Toenail Pus
Ingrown toenails are the most common foot ailment. If you are experiencing an ingrown toenail, you are certainly not alone. Taking action at the first sign of toe pain can lead to a quick and easy treatment of ingrown toenail.
Left untreated, an ingrown toenail can become infected. Signs of infection are redness and pus at the site. Your body naturally produces pus as part of its immune response to infection. This pus can be clear, white, or yellow in colour. Pus is quite common at a point of infection. If you see pus, treatment is needed for both the infection and the ingrown toenail.
Ingrown Toenail Pus Treatment
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Get out of those shoes.
Avoid wearing tight or heeled shoes of any kind. These pinch the toes together, which may have caused the ingrown toenail. The pus, redness, and infection won’t heal if the cause of the ingrown toenail persists. Wear open toed shoes when possible, and if you must wear closed toe shoes, be sure they have plenty of room for your toes to wiggle.
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Soak and clean the area.
Soaking the foot helps to soften the skin around the toe, allowing the toenail a bit more room. Try using warm salty water. Keeping the area dry and clean after the soak is critical.
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Avoid squeezing out the pus.
We have a tendency to try to help the healing by attempting to squeeze any pus out of an infected wound. However, this can actually push the bacteria further into the wound, making the infection worse.
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Apply antiseptic solution such as Iodine (Betadine).
Applying a topical antiseptic such as Betadine can help control the bacterial causing the infection and pus.
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See a podiatrist.
Even if you are able to get the pus and infection under control, the ingrown toenail must be treated to avoid another infection in the area. Using the at-home treatments listed above can sometimes work to treat a minor ingrown toenail. However, if the ingrown toenail has reached infection, you will likely need a podiatrist to treat the ingrown toenail.
A podiatrist can assess your ingrown toenail to determine the likely cause of it and to provide the most effective and efficient treatment of it.