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Have you had ingrown toenails before? Are you just worried about how you can easily prevent them so you don’t have to endure the pain?

You can easily prevent ingrown toenails in nearly every case. Here’s how:

1. Clip Them the Right Way

Always go straight across when you clip. It’s tempting to clip to match the natural curvature of your toe. Or, you might want to clip and tear.

Don’t do either. That puts your toenail at risk for becoming painfully ingrown.

2. Footwear That Doesn’t Fit Right

The shoes you wear shouldn’t crowd your feet. Socks that are too short or tight can lead to ingrown toenails. This happens most commonly to teens going through growth spurts.

Make their old shoes hand-me-downs for your next child. Or pay less for the right-size shoes more frequently to keep the costs of footwear for your child manageable.

3. Pedicures from Inexperienced Technicians

Nothing wrong with getting a pedicure. However, just make sure you get one from a technician who knows how not to give you ingrown toenails.

Sometimes, they get a little too excited about cutting back your toenails. If you’re not sure about their experience, show them where to cut to so you don’t end up with ingrown toenails.

4. Repeated Toe Trauma

Sometimes this is preventable, and other times it is not. Stubbing or jamming your toe, or dropping something on it, may not always be preventable. Just make sure that whatever tasks you do, that you’re as careful as you can be so you don’t hurt yourself.

Ingrown toenails can also happen from running, soccer, or ballet. Make sure you take proper care of your feet and give them a quick examination each day so you don’t develop ingrown toenails and find yourself sitting out.

5. Genetics Play a Role

Do in-grown toenails run in your family? This doesn’t guarantee you’ll get them, but it does increase your chances. If you do, take extra caution and time to examine your toenails to make sure they don’t become ingrown.

If You Have an Ingrown Toenail, Act Fast

The longer you let ingrown toenails persist, the more pain they cause, until finally you can’t stand it anymore. So if you notice you or a family member with one, get it addressed as fast as possible to minimize your pain and downtime.