How to Naturally Cure Ingrown Toenails

Ingrown nails are annoying, painful inflammations that form on the skin around a nail when it becomes ingrown.  It can even cause an infection in the area.

Today, we’re going to talk about the causes, symptoms, and how to naturally cure ingrown toenails.  There are some great natural home remedies you can use to treat them. They’re not at all complicated and use common kitchen ingredients: lemon, salt, thyme, onion, egg, and carrot.

What are the symptoms?

It’s easy to tell when you have an ingrown toenail because you can see how the area around the nail looks red and/or inflamed, and is generally painful to touch.  In some cases, it can also become infected, and have pus-filled sores.

Possible causes

Ingrown toenails can happen for one, or multiple of the following reasons:

• Excessive nail growth.
• Abnormal nail growth.
• Injury caused by the nail growing into the skin.
• Improper footwear that puts too much pressure on the toes.
• Excessive sweating.
• Injuries
• Skin diseases

Thyme infusion to naturally cure ingrown toenails

Thyme is a medicinal plant with multiple benefits. One of those is that it helps  fight inflammation, infections, and can relieve pain.  This makes it a perfect remedy for treating ingrown nails.

Instructions:

• Make an infusion with one cup of water and two tablespoons of thyme.
• Boil for five minutes and, once the infusion is warm, submerge the affected toe for 5 to 10 minutes.
• Repeat several times throughout the day.

Lemon and salt

You can make an effective ingrown toenail treatment with just these two simple ingredients.

Instructions:

• Make a small hole in the lemon and add a bit of sea salt to it.
• Stick the affected toe in.
• Leave it for 20 minutes, and do this daily until the ingrown nail is cured.

Both lemon and salt are great disinfectants and inflammation reducers.

Onion poultice

Onion is a great anti-inflammatory you can use to treat multiple diseases.  That means it can be very helpful if you’re looking for a natural way to cure ingrown toenails.  It’s also very simple.

Instructions:

• Boil one onion, and blend it once well cooked.
• Apply the onion to a sterile piece of gauze when still warm.
• Apply the poultice to the affected toe.
• You can cover it with a bandage or surgical tape to make sure that it stays on for at least two hours.

Carrot poultice

All of these remedies are very effective ways to naturally cure ingrown toenails. So, you can choose based on what you have in your kitchen,  or you could alternate to see which one works best for you.

This poultice, for example, is similar to the onion one, but you use carrots instead.  Along with helping to eliminate the ingrown toenail, it also revitalizes affected skin.

Apply three times a day, for at least 15 minutes.

Egg white

This remedy is super quick and also provides great results if you do it until you see improvement.  All you have to do is beat one egg white and apply it to the affected area several times a day.  You can keep egg whites in the fridge for 3 days.

Can you prevent them?

You can prevent ingrown nails by following this advice:

• Always keep your nails cut and uniformly trimmed, keeping the cuticles in mind too.  Always use a file so that you don’t leave any rough edges.
• Avoid wearing socks that are too tight. Instead, choose socks that respect the natural shape of your foot.  Make sure they’re breathable. Ideally, you should also avoid high-heeled shoes.
• If you’ve had any kind of injury, like someone stepping on your foot, treat it with natural remedies even if it doesn’t seem severe.
• Moisturize your hands and feet regularly, with creams that contain vitamin E or plant oils.
• If you have had fungus on the affected area, apply a drop of pure tea tree oil every day. It’s a powerful fungicide.

Photos courtesy of FoundryParkInn