Ingrown Toenail: Causes of Big Toe Pain and Nail Pus Explained

We explain the exact causes of ingrown toenails, big toe pain, and pus around the big toenail.

If you are experiencing big toe pain or pus caused by an ingrown toenail, please visit Gangnam Standard Orthopedics near Gangnam Station — a clinic with a resident foot specialist experienced in ingrown toenail care.

A patient in their early 40s who visited us for an ingrown toenail

They had heard from people around them that the anesthesia and surgery for ingrown toenail removal are very painful, so they kept enduring the discomfort — until the inflammation and pain in their big toe became so severe that they finally came to see us.

Patients in significant pain from ingrown toenail pus and inflammation

Unless you have experienced it yourself, it is hard to imagine how painful an ingrown toenail can be. Even the slightest touch near the big toe causes intense pain.

If the ingrown toenail had been caught at an early stage, medication alone might have been enough to reduce the pus and inflammation. However, this patient's condition had progressed to the point where a procedure was the only option, so we decided to proceed directly with ingrown toenail removal surgery.

At Gangnam Standard Orthopedics, ingrown toenail removal surgery is performed under local anesthesia rather than sedation. This means that even patients with a strong aversion to anesthesia can generally go through the procedure without significant difficulty.

For local anesthesia during ingrown toenail surgery, we administer the injection at the site where the nerve tissue is least developed — and therefore least sensitive to pain — rather than around the inflamed area of the nail or toe, as is done at some other clinics.

Ingrown toenail removal surgery: procedure overview

The appearance of the nail and nail root beneath the inflamed tissue after ingrown toenail removal surgery.

The removed portion of the toenail is what had been embedded beneath the skin of the big toe, continuously causing inflammation from below.

This is the key factor responsible for recurrence after ingrown toenail removal surgery.

Gangnam Standard Orthopedics — ingrown toenail surgery clinic

After ingrown toenail removal surgery, the resulting space is closed with sutures, which helps achieve hemostasis and prevent recurrence at the same time.

The ingrown toenail and its root after precise removal from beneath the inflamed tissue

If ingrown toenail fragments are not completely removed, they will continue to cause pus, inflammation, pain in the big toe, and recurrence of the ingrown toenail.

If you have been attempting self-treatment for an ingrown toenail and the inflammation and pus in your big toe are getting worse, it is important to have the procedure done at a clinic specializing in ingrown toenail surgery where the underlying cause can be accurately identified and removed. This is the most reliable way to prevent recurrence, which can otherwise repeat up to ten times.

At Gangnam Standard Orthopedics near Gangnam Station, we aim to spare our patients the unnecessarily painful anesthesia methods and the repeated recurrences that can come with ingrown toenail treatment.

Directions to Gangnam Standard Orthopedics — ingrown toenail specialist clinic near Gangnam Station

※ Gangnam Standard Orthopedics is an officially registered orthopedic clinic near Gangnam Station that provides medical services to international patients.