Ingrown Toenails

I have had this too and my doctor numbs it up and cuts it out. Only way to make it better. Cant believe a doctor would tell you to cut it out yourself!

I worked for a podiatrist for 3 years and I too, get ingrowns constantly.

You need to seek professional help and get them cut correctly, like seeing a podiatrist. They'll show you how to correctly maintain your toenails yourself.

I know that for myself, I have to do the "v" technique. It helps, but isn't the prettiest. Do yourself the favor, before your deductible is up and go seek professional guidance.

Your doctor sounds like a nut. Yes, if you don't have any pain tolerance and can handle ripping out half your nail go for it. Ive had ingrown toe nails a few times and every time I had to go to a foot specialists and have part of my toe nail removed. Not a lot of it, but just enough to stop the problem. All a ingrown toe nail is, is part of your nail growing wrong and jabbing into the side of your big toe, so the doctor will go in and cut the toe nail so it will start growing right. It's usually caused by cutting your toe nails too short or having something hard slam on them.

Had this problem when I was a teenager. Dr cut out several in his office -- very painful. Cutting the V-notch didn't work. Leaving them long didn't work.
Finally, he put me in the hospital. While I was "under" he scraped the bone under the nail so it wouldn't grow back.
As far as keeping the nail from re-growing, that didn't work, either; however, I haven't had a problem with ingrowing since.
The oddity is that I have 2 toenails. They are split about 60-40 across the width.
They kinda overlap each other, so I have to keep them trimmed short or it hangs on my sock.
I can live with that easier than having recurrent ingrown nails.

your doc didn't do a good job numbing then because you shouldn't feel anything when they cut it out

I'm prone to getting ingrown toenails so I feel your pain! What has worked for me is getting regular pedicures. They dig them out for me, as nicely as possible without hurting me, Then they cut my toenails the proper way so they hopefully don't happen again.

What you can do at home is soak your affected toe in warm water and epsom salt. If your ingrowns are causing you a lot of trouble I would suggest going to a dermatologist and having part of the toenail removed. Not sure exactly what they do, but I know my neighbor did that to get relief.

Me too! In fact I just went today. It is amazing how much pain that itty bitty little piece of nail can cause. I don't give a darn about the pretty paint job (although that's a nice bonus!), I basically use them as a podiatrist.

A shot in the dark here, but I suffered a long time with these, until I happened to buy a new pair of good-fitting shoes. Quite by accident, mind you.
I might recommends trying to get someone to fit you properly.

I was an Irish dancer for 10 years and I get them all the time. Whenever my toenails grow, they always grow into the sides of my toes on both sides right at the corner of the nail. As my feet are unsightly anyways, I always used to just cut them very low because I didn't care. I have tried to grow them out a few times in the hopes of them just pushing through the skin in the corners to solve the problem once and for all, but it just gets to be too painful when I wear gym shoes. I just settle for trimming them down in the center and pulling out that chunk thing that grows with it, it's just such a relief afterwards that I don't mind the 2 seconds of pain to pull it out.

Guess I'll never get to have a pedicure!