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How to cut your toenails so they do not become ingrown

Gloved hands using a scalpel to remove hard skin from a heel during a chiropody treatment
Everyday care

Straight across, without going deep at the sides. It sounds simple, and it is the most common cause of a nail digging in.

Most of the ingrown toenails that come into the clinic are not the result of a knock or bad luck: they are the result of how the nail was cut. The good news is that this takes two minutes to correct, and you do not need to buy anything.

There is one rule: straight across, without going deep at the sides. The rest of this article explains why, and when it is better not to do it yourself.

Why a rounded cut ends up digging in

When you round the nail to follow the shape of the toe, the edge ends up below the fold of skin at the sides. The nail keeps growing forward, but the part that was left hidden grows against the skin instead of over it: it digs in, the area becomes inflamed and it starts to hurt when the shoe presses.

Digging into the sides with the tip of the scissors does the same thing, only worse: as well as leaving the edge hidden, it usually leaves a tiny spicule that acts like a splinter. That is what produces the stabbing pain that appears days after the cut and cannot be explained by looking at the nail from above.

How to cut them, step by step

  • After a shower, when the nail is slightly soft: it cuts without splintering.
  • With straight-jawed nail clippers or straight scissors, not curved ones.
  • Straight across, from one side to the other, following the free edge of the nail rather than the curve of the toe.
  • Leaving the nail level with the tip of the toe, without cutting back into the flesh.
  • Without putting anything down the sides: if something is bothering you there, it is not removed by poking.
  • Filing the edge with an emery board to smooth corners that might scratch, without cutting them off.

When it is better not to do it yourself

There are three situations in which cutting your nails at home stops being a routine and becomes a risk, and in all three a regular check at the clinic is the better option.

  • If you have diabetes or circulatory problems: sensation may be reduced and a small wound can go unnoticed for days.
  • If you take anticoagulants: a cut that would not matter in someone else does matter here.
  • If you cannot reach or cannot see the foot clearly: forcing the position ends in cutting blind, and the big toenail is the least forgiving.
  • If the nail is thickened, deformed or an unusual colour: there, the first thing is to find out why, because cutting it does not fix the cause.

If it has already dug in

Do not try to remove the piece that is digging in. Poking at the side usually pushes it further in and adds a wound to the problem you already had. What does help while you book an appointment: footwear that does not squeeze the front of the foot, and not cutting that nail again.

And if there is pus, heat, spreading redness, or pain that stops you standing on it, do not wait: that is no longer just a badly cut nail.

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