Ingrown Toenail on the Big Toe: Why an Accurate Diagnosis Matters for Nail Piercing, Pus, Curved Nails, and Toe Pain
Learn why an accurate diagnosis is essential for ingrown toenail in children and adolescents, and how surgical removal at Gangnam Standard Orthopedics addresses inflammation, pus, and recurrence.
If you are experiencing an ingrown toenail on your big toe — with the nail digging into the skin, pus, a curved or deformed nail, or toe pain — an accurate diagnosis of ingrown toenail is essential.
Ingrown toenail in children that has progressed to the middle-school stage
Ingrown toenail in children, middle-school students, and adolescents
The ingrown toenail was digging into the skin, causing severe inflammation and pain in the big toe. The patient had been prescribed antibiotics at another clinic and took them as directed, but the pain relief was only temporary.
The pain kept recurring, so the patient visited a clinic specializing in ingrown toenails to identify the exact cause, and ultimately underwent ingrown toenail removal surgery.
When there is inflammation from an ingrown toenail, antibiotics can sometimes bring gradual improvement, but in cases that have progressed severely, many patients find that medication is no longer effective.
Many patients endure the inflammation and pus from an ingrown toenail while relying only on antibiotics, and end up visiting a specialist clinic when the medication stops working.
Ingrown toenail in children, middle-school students, and adolescents
Ingrown toenails (onychocryptosis) that develop during adolescence often cause pain that is broader and longer along the side edge of the nail — not just at the tip — which is different from the pain pattern seen in adults.
The photo above shows a step in the ingrown toenail removal surgery in which the inflamed tissue that has formed along the nail edge is being scraped away.
Even when the ingrown nail was lifted only slightly, discharge and pus were visible and significant inflammation was apparent — indicating how much pain this child must have been experiencing.
During ingrown toenail removal surgery,
this is the surgical step in which an electrocautery device is used on the nail bed to help prevent recurrence of the ingrown toenail.
Why suturing is performed after ingrown toenail removal surgery
After the ingrown toenail is removed, suturing is carried out over the area where the nail was excised. The purpose is to achieve hemostasis and to help prevent recurrence of the ingrown toenail.
The photo shows the nail after removal — the source of discomfort that had been interfering with school life and daily activities. What sets a specialist ingrown toenail clinic apart from other clinics is the commitment to an accurate diagnosis and complete removal of the underlying cause. Simply removing the ingrown nail is not enough; only by removing tissue to the precise extent required can recurrence be prevented.
Ingrown Toenail Specialist Clinic — Gangnam Standard Orthopedics
Gangnam Standard Orthopedics is a 4-minute walk from Gangnam Station Exit 5.
From Gangnam Station Exit 5, walk 275 m toward the Useong Apartment intersection, then cross one crosswalk in the direction of Paris Baguette Gangnam Station Seocho branch — immediately to the right, pass Son Sang-won Climbing Gym, and we are located on the 2nd floor above Nuaju Gangnam Station café and Cheongdam Witch Gimbap Gangnam Station branch.
※ Gangnam Standard Orthopedics is an officially registered medical institution able to treat foreign patients.
