An ingrown toenail is a lot like a sliver. Slivers may be a piece of wood or possibly metal. They are a foreign body. There is no blood supply and they are a great place for bacteria to hang out. Inherently they are usually “dirty and/or contaminated." Toenails on the other hand are not a foreign body. They also do not have a blood supply and are a place that tends to have a higher bacteria count than other parts of the body and skin. 

Therefore when you get inflammation around the toenail and an infection develops, it is hard for your blood supply to bring the antibiotic where it’s needed. Again the toenail really doesn’t have a blood supply and so the bacteria can just “hide" around that area. When this happens with our patients our doctors have to do an I&D. An I&D is also called an incision and drainage. By removing that ingrown toenail or portion of the toenail, you’re basically “removing a sliver. The bacteria no longer have a place to hide and it will heal quite quickly once this is done. 

If you have an ingrown toenail, contact your Issaquah Podiatrists today. Give us a call at 425-391-8666 or make an appointment online.