How To Treat An Ingrown Toenail With A Warm Water Soak
by Linda Lopez
If you have an ingrown toenail, then you probably don't want to deal with the stress of walking around and shopping for a remedy. Thankfully, there are a variety of ways that you can treat it without leaving the comfort of your own home. Here is one popular home remedy that can make life with an ingrown toenail much more bearable:
Warm Water Soak
One of the cheapest and easiest solutions is to simply soak the afflicted toe in warm salt water for several minutes, several times a day. This will greatly alleviate some of the pressure and can make your problem disappear entirely if there is no infection present.
Why Does This Work?
The general idea behind this solution is that an ingrown toenail can force a lot of fluid to buildup in your toe. This will create a great deal of sensitivity. In order to relieve that pressure, you want to draw some of the fluid out of your toe. Creating a pressure differential between your toe and the surrounding environment (some nice warm salt water) will essentially draw some fluid out of your toe.
What's the recipe?
There is no specific recipe that you need to follow, so just add a bit of salt to some warm water and stir it around to ensure that it dissolves. If you want, you can add some magnesium sulfate to the water for increased effectiveness.
Of course, you want to make sure that the container is big enough to fit your foot. You want to be able to comfortably rest your foot inside the soak for several minutes at a time, several times a day, so setting up an uncomfortable container will be quite stressful.
Is There Anything To Worry About?
However, you don't want to leave your foot in salt water for too long. Short bursts of 10-20 minutes or so should be perfectly fine, so once the water stops feeling warm, then that's a good sign that you should take a break.
What About Infections?
That being said, if you do have an infection, you will want to talk to a doctor as soon as possible. The infection cannot be treated with a warm water soak, but if you make sure to have a lot of salt in your soak, then you can kill off most of the bacteria that are present. A warm water soak without any salt can actually help bacteria and fungi grow, so you want to avoid that if possible.
For more information about foot care, contact a business such as Accurate Foot & Diabetic Care.
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About Me
Your feet might not seem like an important part of your personal health and wellness routine, but you would be hard-pressed to work out without them. Unfortunately, many people overlook their foot health, only to end up suffering from debilitating bunions and painful ingrown toenails. A few years ago, I ignored a cut on my foot which eventually turned into a full-blown infection. After a near-amputation, I realized that I needed to start focusing on my whole body. I know that if you can start focusing on your foot health, you can avoid troubling conditions so that you can enjoy your life.