What are the commonest problems with the toenails?

There is so much that can go wrong with the toenails on the foot. They are subjected to so much trauma with things dropping on them and kicking objects. They also get put into the inhospitable environment of the shoe where they get subjected to pressure from the shoes and as well as the dark moist environment that bugs love. Because of these reasons there are so many different conditions that can go wrong with the toenails, most of which will need the expert care of a podiatrist.

Probably the most condition that affects the foot and also the most well-known is an ingrown toenail that is technically known as onychocryptosis. This is when an edge of the nail grows into the skin and sets up an infection. Most often the underlying problem is a very curved nail plate with the edges deep in the nail sulcus combined with a poor nail cutting technique that leaves a sharp corner or splinter of nail. As the nail grows forward, then that sharp corner just grows right into the skin. This can become quite painful. The best approach to deal with this is to see a podiatrist. With great skill they can remove that sharp corner that is growing in and give almost immediate relief. They can give advice on how to prevent it from becoming and ongoing problem and do some minor surgery on it if it does become an ongoing problem. A related problem to an ingrown toenail is the development of a callus down the edge of the nail groove that gets called onychophosis. This is very commonly confused with an ingrown toenail as the callus becomes thicker it causes a similar pain to the ingrown nail. This sort of problem really does need a good podiatrist who can get the callus out with their expert skills. Onychophosis does tend to be a bit of an ongoing problem if advice is not followed. It is important that the shoe does not put any pressure on the edge of the toe to help cause this problem.

Another common problem with the toenails is that the nails become thicker, which is known as onychauxis if the nail is just thicker or onychogryphosis if it is also deformed as well as being thicker. The biggest problem here is that it is next to impossible to cut the nail. The most common cause of these thicker nails are trauma, such as dropping something like a brick on the foot that damages the growing area of the nail. Nails do also tend to get thicker as we get older. If someone has this onychauxis and can not cut the toenails, then they are going to need to see a podiatrist to get the thickness reduced. As this problem is due to damage to the nail growing area, then this is going to grow thicker again. A whole range of systemic medical conditions can affect the way the toenails grow. One of these is onychorrhexis which is a longitudinal ridging with shallow grooves in the nail plate caused by a number of different medical problems.

Craig Payne is a University lecturer, runner, cynic, researcher, skeptic, forum admin, woo basher, clinician, rabble-rouser, blogger and a dad.