Toenail Edges Growing Into the Skin

I think it all started with my father. He had thick toenails that tended to curl inward as they grew. The end result: a tendency toward ingrown toenails. I remember once going with him to my podiatrist in Los Angeles. He was in such pain from the cleaning out of the ingrown toenails that he resolved never again to visit a podiatrist.

It was my misfortune to inherit my father’s toenails. Mine, in fact, are so thick that I could probably slice through heavy sheet metal with my bare feet. The difference is that I go to a podiatrist regularly to clip my nails and dig out the ingrown ones. And I tend to have at least one or two a month. Yes, it is painful; but catching them early is less painful than neglect.

Is it my shoes? I don’t believe so, if only because my toes never hurt when I walk. The only time I feel I have an ingrown toenail is from the weight of my bedsheets brushing against my toenails.

What can I do about my ingrown toenails? Since I can’t control how my toenails curcl as they grow, I just have to grin and bear it.