Dealing with an ingrown toenail can be a painful and bitter experience.
It can easily lead to a full-fledged infection that makes walking or standing extremely difficult.
There are many reasons why ingrown toenails worsen or exist in the first place. Luckily, most of these causes can be easily controlled.
If you use your feet extensively for athletic activities like sprinting or playing soccer, there is a high chance that your toenails will suffer from damage.
They might break, become brittle, or develop an ingrown infection that can be very hard to heal.
Preventing an ingrown toenail is the first step to avoid any ensuing discomfort or infection.
Nevertheless, even if you have one now, there are many ways to mitigate the pain. However, reversing an ingrown toenail is not an overnight process.
Whether you’re using a medicated or herbal treatment, it can take up to a few weeks to see any improvements at all.
Most often it’s not the unsightly toenail that’s the problem— it’s the searing pain that comes with it.
While fixing the toe may take longer, there is a sure-fire way to get rid of the pain, swelling, and redness around the ingrown toenail overnight.
Keep reading if you want to find out the holy-grail recipe for ingrown toenails.
Ingrown Toenails And Essentials Oils
There are many over-the-counter products to help with the pain, but they have their share of side effects.
If you think you’ve tried just about every remedy for ingrown toenails, you might have to re-think.
If you haven’t given essential oils a chance, then this is the perfect time to try these exceptionally soothing, pain-reducing, and healing elixirs for your ingrown toenail.
How Do Essential Oils Work?
Essential oils are commonly used as a form of alternative medicine for many ailments.
Infused with life-giving plant extracts, these oils capture the “essence” of the plants they’re taken from.
Lavender oil, for example, has powerful anti-inflammatory and antiseptic properties that readily calm down angry and inflamed ailments, like an ingrown toenail.
Essential oils are known to act fast because they’re potent extracts. You only need a few drops to create a healing concoction for your ingrown toenail.
Many essential oils have cooling effects and readily reduce swelling in the toenails. Let’s have a look at how you can use them to heal your ingrown toenail!
The Best Essential Oils To Heal Ingrown Toenails
The best way to soak up all the benefits of essential oils is by preparing a footbath.
Since these extracts can be too severe for the skin, it’s best not to use them directly on the affected toenail.
Instead, you can infuse them into your foot soak so that your ingrown toenails can reap all the benefits.
However, if you want to use these essential oils directly on the skin, then it’s best to add a carrier oil like olive, jojoba, or coconut oil.
1. Peppermint Essential Oil
Peppermint essential oil is a versatile, multi-purpose oil for skin ailments like an ingrown toenail.
It has two active compounds called Menthone and Menthol that provide a cooling sensation to an inflamed, swollen ingrown toenail.
The oil is known for instantly energizing and rejuvenating the skin after application.
Peppermint oil softens the toenail and redirects its growth.
Instead of penetrating the skin, the nail gradually grows outward and aligns with the other toenails. Here’s how you can use it.
Prepare a foot bath with 10-12 drops of peppermint oil and some Epsom salts.
Dip your feet for about 30 minutes at least thrice a week to reduce the redness and swelling dramatically.
You can also apply it directly by mixing it with some coconut oil. Use a cotton ball to apply this concoction on the affected toenail and leave it overnight.
Doing this daily for a week will gradually soften the toenail and enhance the healing process.
2. Tea-Tree Essential Oil
Tea-tree essential oil is an extremely potent portion known for its antibacterial, antiseptic, and anti-fungal properties.
It can quickly disinfect and eliminate bacteria around the ingrown toenail.
The oil contains several compounds that increase the activity of white blood cells to help expedite the healing of the ingrown toenail. Here’s how you can use it.
Add a few drops to a warm footbath and soak your feet for at least 30-40 minutes. Do this for four days weekly to notice a visible improvement.
You can also use it directly by mixing some jojoba oil and apply it on the affected toenail with a cotton ball.
The jojoba oil will offer extra moisture, while the tea-tree oil will kill the toenail bacteria.
3. Clove Essential Oil
Clove oil has great antiseptic properties, which makes it wonderful for treating wounds and infections.
It is also antimicrobial and a quick pain-reliever to use for a red, inflamed ingrown toenail.
The oil also has a cooling sensation, which is great for reducing the seething pain of toenail infection. Here’s how you can use it.
Use 9-11 drops of Clove oil and Dead sea salts to prepare a warm foot soak.
The natural salts will stimulate blood circulation and hasten toenail healing.
Dip your feet for at least 20 minutes every day to reduce the swelling and inflammation.
With subsequent uses, the clove oil will soften the toenail, allowing you to clip it properly so that it grows outward.
You can also use a carrier oil like coconut oil. Mix at least 15 drops of clove oil with coconut oil to make an effective 2.5 % solution.
Apply the concoction to the affected toenail daily before bed.
Essential oils are a wonderful way to treat an ingrown toenail without having to bear any side effects.
While the above-listed essential oils are the most common for ingrown toenails, you can always do your research and add to the list.
The best thing about essential oils is that they’re all anti-bacterial and support healing in one way or the other.
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