5 Reasons You Keep Getting Painful Ingrown Toenails
Jun 08, 2026
/assets/images/provider/photos/2848742.jpeg)
Ingrown toenails are no fun. They’re unsightly, last a long while, hurt, and can be annoyingly difficult to treat.
Once your ingrown nail does start to improve, though, you may experience another instance of the same issue not too far down the road. Why does it keep happening?
Southwest Foot & Ankle in Scottsdale, Arizona, offers treatment for chronic foot issues, including ingrown toenails. Our providers, Petrina C. Lewis, DPM, FACFAS, and Mark T. Lewis, DPM, FACFAS, want to help keep your feet feeling and looking healthy.
In this blog, we look at some of the reasons you keep getting ingrown toenails and what you can do about them.
One of the most recognizable causes of ingrown toenails is repeated trauma to the same (or multiple) toes. For example, maybe you stubbed your toe several months back.
Then, once it started to heal, you crushed your foot playing sports. Repeated injuries like these can change how your nail grows, making ingrown toenails more likely.
If you’re prone to injury, make sure you’re more careful about your toes. Baby them whenever possible, and avoid walking around barefoot.
In addition, if you’re diabetic and realize that part of the problem might be a lack of feeling when you hurt your toes, consider getting checked for neuropathy.
Shoes that are too tight, don’t have adequate toe protection, or high heels that squeeze your toes together can contribute to ingrown toenails. When you wear shoes that don’t fit properly, the skin near your toenails can press into them, causing swelling and discomfort, as well as ingrown nails.
If you think this might be your issue, start wearing shoes that fit properly. If you have a foot condition, consider custom orthotics to ensure your feet fit properly in your shoes and have appropriate cushioning and protection.
When cutting your toenails, trim straight across rather than rounding the sides of the nail or tearing them with your hands. You also want to avoid cutting them too short, as this can cause ingrown toenails, too. Trim your nails right after a bath or shower, so they’re soft and easy to cut in a straight line.
Improperly trimming your toenails is a surefire way to experience chronic ingrown nails. If you’re still unsure, the next time you visit your podiatrist, ask for a quick demonstration on how to cut your toenails properly.
Ingrown toenails happen because the nail grows into the skin of your toe, pinching and putting pressure on your skin. As such, the pain you experience doesn’t always indicate an infection. However, sometimes an underlying infection makes the problem worse and keeps it from being treated with simple, at-home remedies.
If this is the case, visit Southwest Foot & Ankle. We’ll provide you with the appropriate treatment, which may include lifting your nail to allow healing, prescribing topical or oral medication, or, in rare cases, removing part or all of the nail.
Unfortunately, some people are just more likely to experience ingrown toenails. It can be how their toenails are shaped, the position of the skin around the nails, or other anomalies. But this doesn’t mean you have to live with the problem.
Everyone is different, but practicing the habits listed above can do wonders to help you avoid ingrown toenails, even if you have a genetic makeup that causes them to be more prevalent in your life.
Also, it never hurts to visit your provider often, especially if you have certain medical conditions, to ensure your long-term foot health.
There are simple habits you can start right now that make ingrown toenails much less likely to return. If you’re dealing with the issue currently, don’t wait until it gets worse.
Reach out today. Call our office at 480-900-7399 or visit us online to schedule an appointment.