My toe has been swollen for a week now. It hurts on the nail/skin contact area. What is it?

i think it may be an infected ingrown toe nail. Do I need to go see a doctor? Does surgery hurt?My toe has been swollen for a week now. It hurts on the nail/skin contact area. What is it?
This definitely sounds like an ingrown toenail. You can try to ease the pain and lessen the infection by soaking your toe in warm bath water mixed with Epsom salt and then applying Neosporin. Your chances of the toenail ';curing'; itself are about 50-50.





I suffered from ingrown toenails off and on for about 15 years. When I had a particularly painful one, I decided to go to the doctor for surgery. The worst part of the surgical process is the lidocaine shots, but you really can feel nothing but pressure afterward.





Also, you have the option of having the toenail removed or permanently removed. By permanently removed I do not mean the entire toenail. Rather, the doctor can inject a chemical compound into the nail bed on the side(s) where the toenail typically becomes ingrown. I opted for this procedure and have not suffered from an ingrown toenail since: It's been 10 years!





From my experience, the 15 minute surgery was soooooooooo worth it.