Big Toe Pain and Pus: Could an Ingrown Toenail Be the Cause?

Big toe pain and pus — a nail growing into the skin

may be the cause of an ingrown toenail.

If you notice something feels off around your big toenail — and you are seeing increasing pus and inflammation around the toe — you may be dealing with an ingrown toenail.

A male patient in his late 30s with an ingrown toenail.

He had visited a dermatology clinic for the pus and inflammation in his toe, but the underlying cause was not identified, and he had been prescribed antibiotics for the inflammation and was simply taking them.

Over several months, the ingrown toenail (indicated by the dotted area in the image) had continued to overgrow, with the big toenail repeatedly irritating the surrounding skin. A thick layer of overgrown skin had built up and filled the tissue around the big toe.

When we gently lifted the skin using a medical instrument, the toenail that had been embedded deep within the tissue — and had been the source of persistent big toe pain — was revealed from inside the toe.

The root cause of this patient's toe pus and inflammation was the ingrown toenail itself.

Removing it was necessary to resolve the pus, inflammation, and pain. At this stage, antibiotics alone were no longer sufficient to bring improvement.

The asymmetric shape of the toenail suggests that the patient had repeatedly attempted self-treatment of the ingrown toenail whenever it became painful.

At our clinic, ingrown toenail removal surgery is performed under local anesthesia.

After local anesthesia, when the skin was gently retracted, the inflamed skin around the big toe and the ingrown toenail that had been embedded within the tissue were clearly revealed.

At our clinic, Dr. Jo Ju-won, our head physician specializing in foot and ankle surgery, personally oversees the entire procedure — from anesthesia through ingrown toenail removal surgery.

Patients can return home without worry after the procedure is complete.

Patient satisfaction following ingrown toenail removal surgery at our clinic is consistently high. Gangnam Standard Orthopedics is a clinic we are confident in recommending for ingrown toenail treatment.

This is the portion of the ingrown toenail removed — the source of the pus and inflammation in the big toe.

At Gangnam Standard Orthopedics, we focus on accurately identifying the cause of each patient's ingrown toenail and performing root removal surgery to minimize the risk of recurrence.

Directions to Gangnam Standard Orthopedics

Gangnam Standard Orthopedics

205, 2nd Floor, Boeun Building, 180 Saimdang-ro, Seocho-gu, Seoul

※ Gangnam Standard Orthopedics is an officially registered medical institution able to provide care for international patients.