In particular, soaking the feet in salt water may help to mitigate the condition as well as reduce the swelling in the feet. Soaking might even make the nails softer, making it easier to cut them.
Soften your toenails by soaking your feet for 10 minutes in warm water. Dry your feet and toenails with a towel. Now you're ready to trim your toenails. Nail nippers work best.
These will also help soften the toenail.” If you can't get Epsom salt, plain old table salt will also do the trick to “help reduce the growth of bacteria.” After you've soaked, make sure to dry your foot thoroughly, as moisture can invite bacteria.
Gehwol Nail Softener works quickly and painlessly to soften hard and difficult to trim nails. It makes an excellent home treatment for corns and calluses around toenails, as well as uninfected ingrown toenails.
Soak your toe in a warm foot bath with unscented Epsom salt.
Mix 1-2 tablespoons of unscented Epsom salts into one quart of warm water and soak your foot for 15 minutes at a time. Do this several times a day for the first few days. Always dry your foot completely after soaking.
Evidence suggests that soaking feet in warm water and Epsom salt will relieve pain. However, there is no such evidence for soaking your feet in table salt. Beyond this, if the pain has been ongoing for a while, it may be worth visiting a doctor to help decide on a proper pain management approach.
Overall, Epsom salt and table salt are not really comparable — it's an apples and oranges situation. Regular salt isn't going to provide healing benefits the way Epsom salt does thanks to the dramatic differences in the two substances' basic chemical makeup.
Minerals, in concert with the soak, can clean your feet thoroughly enough to remove germs and substances not seen with the naked eye. The combination of salt, water, and soaking sanitizes feet because bacteria can't thrive in salty environments, so these footbaths can help inhibit the growth of nasty microorganisms.
Vaseline petroleum jelly is ideal for keeping your heels and toes soft. For added protection, you can even grease your soles with salve before putting your socks on. The results will be amazing, you will have softer feet and cuticles and fewer calluses.
Soak in Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple cider vinegar is a natural disinfectant and can also help with the inflammation surrounding the ingrown toenail. It's powerfully potent, though, so be sure to dilute it in warm water.
Before you trim your toenails, soften them by soaking your feet in warm water for 5 to 10 minutes. Then dry your feet and toenails with a towel. Nail nippers, shown below, work best for trimming thickened toenails.
Keratin is a protein that promotes the development of the skin and nails. Nail psoriasis sometimes causes too much keratin to grow under the nail. This overgrowth is called subungual hyperkeratosis. People with hyperkeratosis may notice a white, chalky substance under the nail.
Olive oil helps repair damage, softening the nails and cuticles, which contributes to nail strength.
Podiatry treatment for thickened toenails
Our podiatrists regularly reduce thickened toenails as part of a general foot care treatment (medical pedicure). This involves nail cutting, removal of corns and callus, followed by application of a heel balm, making your feet feel great again.
Once your toenail grows thick, it will always be thick, this is a permanent change. There are only two main options when we have a thickened toenail: Conservative treatment where the foot specialist will debride (file) your toenails to their normal flat level.
What Causes Thick Toenails? Thick toenails come from a buildup of the cells that make up your toenails. Three possible causes are increased age, nail fungus, and nail psoriasis (an autoimmune disease).
“Applying Vicks VapoRub to fungus-infected toenails can clear up the notoriously hard-to-treat condition. Michigan State University clinicians found that applying the product daily to the infected nail cleared the condition in 32 of 85 patients, though it took anywhere from 5 to 16 months…”
With age, there is a rapid decrease in the growth rate for both toenails and fingernails, said Dr. Richard K. Scher, head of the nail section at Weill Cornell Medical College. As a result, both kinds of nail thicken, because of the piling up of nail cells, called onychocytes.
Epsom salt is generally safe for most adults and children. However, certain people should avoid drinking Epsom salt solutions. Consuming Epsom salt can lead to side effects, including diarrhea, irregular heartbeat, and muscle weakness. Epsom salt is available to purchase in stores and online.
Adding baking soda to a foot soak can help exfoliate the skin, ease itching, and cleanse the feet. Try adding 3–4 tablespoons of baking soda added to a basin full of warm water. Use 2 parts water and 1-part vinegar for a foot soak. The vinegar helps kill bacteria which reduces foot odor.