I know, I make about 50,000 topics a day. If you don't like 'em, don't read 'em!

I know MTS isn't the place for medical advice, but has anyone here suffered from ingrown finger or toenails? I've had them almost my whole life, but did not realize it until maybe a week ago. I've noticed that my fingernails have always been "bent" and gross. I can't remember since when, but I do remember being six or seven with achy, battered nails. It must of began sometime in first or second grade.

When I told my doctor at thirteen, she seriously suggested I get a manicure. There's no way around that; she really said, "Well, I don't know what to tell you. Except you should go get a manicure." My father and sister did not take this lightly. They thought either I was overreacting, or my doctor was eating us up with lies. "Whatever, just cut them better." (Mostly anything that the average American does or likes, we won't, but that's another story.)

Even after I got the manicure, it did not help. My nails became shiny and glossy and stinky, but within two weeks, the white and clearness peeled off and I realized no amount of manicures would fix the disgusting bentness I now called my nails.

I went to the same doctor again and she bailed out on me. Waited in the waiting room for an hour and the woman had six physicals lined up in a row (hahaha, talk about irresponsibility).

Any suggestions? I've heard everything from, "It's hereditary!" to "You can just put fake nails on and cut 'em off!" to "You could ask the doctor to give you surgery and remove the entire nail!" My family seems in denial somehow, but it hurts. It's like the nails dig into the side of my finger and skin. I cut them the shortest I could for the past three years on a weekly basis. I think it just got even worse.

I did look it up, but I mostly found severe toenail cases. I think it is rare for fingernails.

Thanks in advance!

I'm a cosmetologist and I'd like to see them. It's hard to give out advice, sight unseen.

How are they bent? Did you say stinky? Why did your dad get so serious about a $12 manicure? Does anyone else in your family have the same problem?


Yeah.....find a different doctor. This is getting a little too personal.

Hang on, I'll PM you.

I had an ingrown toenail recently, and it hurt so bad that I couldn't walk right, which ended up making my foot hurt and... ugh. Anyway, I just soaked it in a mixture of warm water and epsom salt and it dried it out (which was a bit uncomfortable) but made it much, much better.

Go find a better doctor. There are better fixes than a "manicure".