If you’re suffering from an ingrown toenail and frequenting your nail salon to have it fixed every 3 months, you may benefit from having the ingrown toenail removed. The toe doesn’t necessarily have to present with signs of infection to warrant having a procedure done to remove the ingrown toenail. I have seen many patients who finally make an appointment to have the nail border removed and say they wished they would have done it years ago.

As we age, toenails can acquire a slightly curved shape which causes the nail border to grow into the adjacent nail fold creating pain. While cutting the corner can temporarily relieve the pain from the ingrown toenail, it will not prevent the nail from growing back which recreates the pain in several weeks to months. A procedure known as a matrixectomy, will permanently resolve the problem by removing a 2-3 mm portion of the side of the toenail.

Below are examples of what the ingrown toenail border looks like on a big toe. The shaded red area depicts where the painful ingrown toenail is. Click here to watch a video.