Niles H.

Roomy shoes have solved some foot problems for me. There is more involved in your son's case, or course; but roomier-than-average shoes might be a small added help, and might help prevent the development of future problems....

I especially appreciate unusually roomy toe sections -- the front part of the shoe is wider than the usual, and doesn't squeeze or press anywhere at all. There is extra room for the big toe, which is often 'encouraged' or pressed inward by the shape of the toe section. A few shoe companies offer alternative shapes.

Ray Jardine recommends going a size or even a size and a half larger than most people tend to choose; it has worked for him, and I've found it to be a very good approach.

Hamish200sx

I never had an ingrown toenail until I turned 17 and joined the Marine Corps. The boots I was forced to wear gave me some very serious foot problems, one of which was a multitude of ingrown toenails. I know how annoying it can be to deal with these things. About every 3 months for 4 years I had to have one side of the nail cut out. I finally had enough of it and just told them completely remove the nail and use phenol to make sure it doesn't grow back.
The doctor needs to make sure that they run the swab with phenol on it as deep under the skin as possible, where the the base of the nail would be. The more phenol they use, the better the chances of it not growing back. If they don't do it right it will just grow back all yellow and rigid and gross looking so make sure they really get in there with it.
Good luck with the power straps, I think those should help as well. The ingrown toenails are undoubtedly due to footwear.

Cave

Hi Nance, I haven't read the whole thread so sorry if I'm repeating.

Re prevention:
most important thing is to get pressure off the toenails; next most important is how you cut them.

He should look at wearing sandals. Most bike shoes have narrow toes, any pressure is going to exacerbate the problem. He is entering the 2nd fastest growth phase of his life, even if shoes fit well they're going to be giving some toe pressure after a couple of months. If sandals are a no-go (they really are the best thing though) then get something with a really wide toe section.

Cut the nails straight across. Don't trim the corners back like you do with fingernails. This will decrease the chance of the toenails growing in. He will, however, need a bit more space at the toes of the shoes; he will also put holes in socks more quickly.

Re treatment:
(1) Infected ingrown toenails.
This requires medical care, to drain an abscess if present, and to prescribe antibiotics. The nail sometimes needs to be removed.
(2) Preventing recurrence.
Generally a wedge resection (removing the edges of the nail AND NAIL BED, all the way back to the joint). Really you need a surgeon for this. Too much risk of growing back if the corner of the nail bed is not removed. If done properly, and allowed to heal properly, generally solves the problem.
If he is still getting problems sometimes a radical nail bed excision is done. This basically gets rid of the nail completely. Not needed often.

I don't like toenail surgery but it's part of the job! Good luck!

--- edit
I don't like phenol myself, but then again I have access to an operating theatre... Phenol is an OKish option, but as indicated above there is a failure rate with it...

Bazaaretw

Just to throw my 2 cents in, when I was 15-16 I had 3 ingrown toe nails at the same time, and I kept them going for months at a time, I eventually went to a foot specialized doctor, and he cut the sides of the nails off and cauterized the roots, I have no had problems with them since,

Although right now, the last available side of my big toe that can become ingrown has... and is now infected, I went to my doctor a couple months ago because it was bothering me, and as I read previously in this thread, she basicly just fed me BS. like massaging the side of the toe away from the nail... Sure that might work as a preventative measure, but if you nail is stuck in your toe already, something has to be done.

Bazaaretw

Just to throw my 2 cents in, when I was 15-16 I had 3 ingrown toe nails at the same time, and I kept them going for months at a time, I eventually went to a foot specialized doctor, and he cut the sides of the nails off and cauterized the roots, I have no had problems with them since,

Although right now, the last available side of my big toe that can become ingrown has... and is now infected, I went to my doctor a couple months ago because it was bothering me, and as I read previously in this thread, she basicly just fed me BS. like massaging the side of the toe away from the nail... Sure that might work as a preventative measure, but if you nail is stuck in your toe already, something has to be done.

nancy sv

Thanks so much for all the info! At this point, he is OK - although sans toenail. As it starts to grow in, we'll need to have the surgery done to get the root cauterized - we'll most likely have it done in Peru somewhere. We're really hurting for shoes - his feet have grown so fast and is now in the biggest shoes we can possilby find here. We'll have to have a pair sent down from the USA, but we aren't sure where to have them sent to - how fast will his feet grow? Will be able to make it to Cuzco and have them sent there? Or send them to Trujillo in the north? We dunno!

cyclist2000

Are you sure they are growing and not just swelling up? lol

Another thing that my doctor had me try before I got the root cut and cauterized was to cut the toe nail in a V shape. This didn't work too well for me but its another idea.
This caused the problem of holes in my socks and was too expensive in replaciing my socks all the time.

nancy sv

We can't get the nails grown out long enough to cut the V notch in them! EVerybody keeps telling us to do this, that, or the other... but they only work when the nail is grown out. If we can't get it grown any longer than about 5 mm from the base, all those tips simply don't work. I wish I knew why he was getting these these.

Bazaaretw

Try just filing the nail down so that it's straight, many ingrown toe nails are caused because you cut them with too much curvature, This worked for me, I just took a few minutes each day to file my nail down in the center of the toe, where this "v" shape should go (DO NOT CUT IT) and make it straight, and let it grow out. and keep in mind that you will always be prone to ingrown nails, so you much keep care in making sure you're toe nails are straight.

nancy sv

But that's the problem - how can we file it if it never grows out to that point? We had his nail completely removed and I know there is no way we are going to get it grown out again. As soon as it is about 5 mm from the base, it grows in - a great big chunk breaks off and embeds itself in the flesh.

Bazaaretw

Then you should probably look into consulting with a physician.

kdiehl

This is probably not a practical tip for you, but I use a tiny ball bit ( something like this https://www.dremel.com/en-us/Attachme...l.aspx?pid=107 ) on a Dremel Tool to carefully grind the top surface of the nail along the edge as thin as I can stand. (The grinding makes heat!) Then, rather than growing into the skin, it is so thin that it just rolls up and can be easily removed periodically.

I mentioned this to my podiatrist once, expecting to be chastised for my efforts. He laughed and pointed to the battery powered Dremel Tool on his desk.

ransom63

Congratulations! Having it permanently removed is the best possible solution. The nail bed will be sensitive for a while, but after all is said & done, your son will NEVER have the problem again. Like I mentioned earlier, I had both my big toe nails removed decades ago due to ingrown and infected problems & have never regretted it. Good luck in your travels!

bikeman68

Did you ever consider the shoes being too small, and tight at the toe, smashing into them and contributing to the problem? i have never felt that toe clips were the cause of this, I used them back in the 80's, and my shoes didnt smash the toe section into the opening of the clips either, so I wouldnt think tahts an issue.BUt do look closely at the clips to see if they were binding into the front of the feet, and remedy with spacers where the clips attach to the front of the pedal cages.You can use the threaded knurled bits from presta valve tubes for that.
Good luck with teh toes on the boy, and be careful!

m_yates

+1 on that. Bikeforums.net is not exactly the best place to go for medical advice. Sometimes it is not even the best place to go for bicycling advice.

Not to sound judgmental, but it borders on child endangerment to continue pushing a 12 year old to pedal all day on a bike while the child is suffering from repeated toe infections possibly caused from pedal toe clips. If an adult chooses to do that and looses a toe, then more power to them, but a 12 year old can't make such a decision and shouldn't have to. The whole thing sounds quite frankly nuts to me.

Niles H.

That seems a little harsh. They're having a great trip, and you can't expect such a journey to be entirely without some bumps in the road.

There is a very good Grant Peterson article about riding in comfortable shoes without clips. It's worth a read.

Niles H.

You've probably already checked, but there has to be a lot of information on the web. Wikipedia might have some good external links.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingrown_nail

The Mayo Clinic, Cornell University, Harvard, and Columbia all have good sites for medical information.

Niles H.

It looks as if finding some way of lifting the tip of the nail might help -- keeping it away from the skin, even by a small fraction of an inch. Then the nail can't even get to the skin. A toothpick is sometimes used for this, but there are certainly other items that could be used.

A thin, flat barrier might also work well for this. You could attach a small bit of plastic to the underside of the nail, making a substitute nail (or nail extension) that would be long enough to avoid digging into the skin.

jamawani 

Hewwo?!
All has been taken care of and everyone is fine.

And to the person bleating about child endangerment -
Don't you have anything better to do than play "Holier than Thou"?

m_yates

Not trying to play "Holier than Thou". Everyone is entitled to an opinion, and what I said isn't harsh. I'm a parent of two children. If they were suffering from repeated infections possibly caused by riding all day, every day, I'd have them stop riding until it was taken care of. I'd take them for proper medical care. I wouldn't try pressing on the trip, treating it myself, or posting on a bicycling forum for medical advice.

But hey, that's just me. I think my response is sane, but others can think it is harsh or Holier than Thou if they like.

mcasa

Hello. New here... and I see this thread is SEVERAL months old. I'm just wondering if anyone is still having trouble? No, this isn't spam, but I think I have cracked the code after 40+ years of tweezers, exacto knives, cuticle removers, leathermans, etc. If this thread is still active, I'll share. I'm not completely out of the woods yet, but my home remedy is on it's way. You'll be amazed to, as to how simple, and cheap (free), and effective, and painless it is. Hope I can't help somebody out there!

MH

10 Wheels

Well most of us have ten toes.

mcasa

I´m sorry, that last comment was lost on me. I used to surf the web looking for solutions. Finally came up with one on my own. Now I surf a little now and then to see if I can help somebody else. I´ll try somewhere else.

Be safe!

M

10 Wheels

What is the remedy?

lechatmort

99.99% sure that this is a spammer