Blog Layout

Painful ingrown toenails?

May 29, 2022

How can we treat them and why do they happen?

Ingrown toenails can be extremely painful. For such a small area of the body they can really cause a lot of grief. And why is it that we always seem to kick our toe when we have one? Or someone always seems to step on your foot. But how can we treat them and why do they happen?


An ingrown toenail is where a small nail spike has been left down the side of the nail and it is starting to pierce our skin and cause an infection.


They can be caused by:


  • Cutting your toenails incorrectly

Cutting your toenails straight across will limit your risk of an ingrown toenail. If you cut your nails down the sides you run the risk of leaving a small nail piece behind. We also recommend cutting your nails with either a pair of nail scissors or a pair of nail clippers as seen below.



  • Wearing incorrect shoes

Wearing shoes that are too tight can cause a lot of pressure on the inside of your toe and cause rubbing/friction between the side of your toe and the skin. This rubbing can cause enough irritation and may cause a breakage in the toenail and ultimately lead to an infection. Best way to avoid this is to ensure you are wearing the correct shoes and ones that are wide enough for your feet. 


  • The way you are walking

Believe it or not, some walking patterns can lead to ingrown toenails. If your foot excessively pronates (rolling in) this can cause increased pressure through the first toe leading the skin to bunch up over the side of the nail. With this repetitive pressure it irritates the nail and results in a buildup of skin and nail. This build up is what causes the ingrown toenail. 


Treatment options include:

  • Seeing your local Podiatrist to help assist you with cutting your toenails correctly and clear out the side of your nails. 
  • A Podiatrist can also help you determine why the ingrown toenails are occurring and fix the root of the problem
  • Ensuring you clear out the sides of your nails when you are cutting them
  • Toenail surgery. This is a long term treatment option that can permanently fix your ingrown toenail. This is a treatment option that you can explore with either your GP or Podiatrist. 
  • Nail bracing
  • Placing cotton wool under the edge of the ingrown nail


If you or anyone you know is suffering from ingrown toenails we do recommend you seek help from a health practitioner.

Our Podiatrists are available at both our Toowoomba and Dalby clinics to help with your toenail needs.

Painful ingrown toenails?

By Grace Attenborough - Podiatrist (B.Pod) • May 29, 2022
How can we treat them and why do they happen?

Why exercise is medicine for Type 2 Diabetes

By Kathleen McCosker (Accredited Exercise Physiologist, Diabetes Educator) • November 26, 2021
Managing your diabetes is certainly an important aspect of maintaining your health and quality of life, but your goals and interests are very important too. Exercise Physiologists are specially trained in prescribing exercise to achieve your goals and manage your health while considering all aspects of your life, come and visit one of our Exercise Physiologists to discuss the best exercise for you, your life, your goals, and your diabetes. What is Type 2 Diabetes? Type 2 Diabetes is the result of increased insulin resistance and beta-cell impairment. Your pancreas has cells, named beta-cells, that produce insulin which helps your body use and store glucose, the sugar your body gains from the carbohydrates you eat. When you eat carbohydrates, your pancreas makes and releases insulin, which helps your body use and store the glucose (usually known as ‘sugars’) that are contained in carbohydrate foods. This insulin helps your body use the glucose as energy for your brain and muscles, or store the glucose in your muscles and liver to be used later. Without insulin the glucose stays stuck in your blood, which raises blood glucose levels and reduces the amount of glucose your brain and muscles have available to use as energy. In Type 2 diabetes, two areas of this process are impacted. 1. Beta-cell death: The cells in your pancreas that make insulin are overworked and some cells can die. Usually due to years of working too hard to create enough insulin to keep up with high carbohydrate and sugar intake and/or because they were a bit weaker to begin with and became more easily overworked than usual (due to family history and genetics). 2. Insulin resistance: Your body needs more insulin than usual to get the glucose out of your blood and into cells where it can be used as energy or stored for later. This puts stress on your body to produce more insulin than it usually would and often leads to further beta-cell death. These two processes cause ongoing problems, because as your insulin resistance gets worse and you need more insulin to do the same job, your cells get more and more overworked trying to keep up with your bodies demand. How does exercise help? As you exercise your heart rate increases and pumps your blood around your body more rapidly, this increase in blood flow helps deliver the glucose in your blood to your muscles, so it is pulled out of your blood more quickly than usual. Within your muscle cells there are transporters that move the glucose from your blood into your muscle cells to be used, some of these cells are powered by insulin, but some of these transports are powered by exercise. So, as you exercise, your cells have access to both the insulin and exercise transporters to get the glucose out of your blood and into your muscles, enabling much more glucose than usual to be moved out of the blood. Once you have moved your body and muscles, your muscles need to replenish their energy supplies again. To do this, a large amount of glucose is taken out of your blood and stored in your muscles, ready for the next time exercise is completed, taking this glucose out of your blood reduces your blood glucose levels. Replenishing the glucose stores in your muscles is also beneficial for preventing weight gain because if more glucose is stored in your muscles, less if left over to be stored as body fat in your adipose tissue. As your exercise more regularly and get fitter your body becomes more efficient at storing glucose and can store much more in your muscles than previously. However, this does not increase forever, and you must continue physical activity regularly to maintain your improved ability. What type of exercise is best? To choose the best exercise for you it is important to consider all the other aspects of your life and health, because you are much more than just your diabetes diagnosis. Exercise should be focused on improving your health and wellbeing, making you feel stronger, increasing your independence and ensuring you can continue to complete all the activities you enjoy throughout your lifespan

School Shoes

By Better Movement Clinic Podiatrist • November 16, 2021
Choosing the right shoes for your child

In-Toeing

By Better Movement Clinic Podiatrist • November 9, 2021
In-toeing or pigeon-toed is a very common walking pattern in young children. As they walk their toes turn inwards ‘like a pigeon’. This type of walking is commonly seen in children between the ages of 2 years old and 7 years old. A lot of the time, in-toeing at these ages isn’t cause for concern as it can be a very normal part of your child’s development. However, this isn’t always the case. If your child is in-toeing and you notice the following: Excess tripping and/or clumsiness Fatigues very quickly Wants to be carried all the time Can’t keep up with other children their age Wears through footwear very quickly Is over the age of 7 Is excessively in-toeing and it doesn’t just look quite right We do recommend that you see a health professional. Our podiatrist can assist you with any of the above concerns you may have or if you just want to get a check up on your child’s feet, we are here to help. Contact the Toowoomba clinic today on 4632 7024 or 4662 2855 for our Dalby clinic.
Show More
Share by: