Treating an ingrown toenail yourself: what works at home – and when it doesn't

July 26, 2026

Nail lifter with probe for lifting the ingrown nail corner

An ingrown toenail almost always starts the same way: the corner of the nail presses sideways into the nail wall, the area turns red and hurts in your shoe. At this early stage, you can get the problem under control at home – with patience, warm water and two simple instruments. As soon as the area weeps, forms pus or develops proud flesh, self-treatment is over. This guide shows what works at home, what you should avoid and how to recognise the limit.

You will find nail lifters, probes and cotton hooks for home treatment in our category Nail lifters.

First: which stage are you at?

Stage 1 – pressure and redness. The nail edge presses, the skin next to it is red and slightly swollen, it hurts when walking or in tight shoes. No fluid, no pus. This is where you can do something yourself.
Stage 2 – inflammation. The area is hot, severely swollen, weeps or forms pus. Do not treat it yourself – see a podiatrist or your GP.
Stage 3 – proud flesh. Reddish tissue that bleeds easily (granulation tissue) grows over the nail at the nail edge. Doctor. It will not heal without treatment.

Regardless of the stage: with diabetes, circulatory disorders, blood thinners or reduced sensation in the foot, an ingrown nail always belongs in the hands of a podiatrist or doctor. The reasons are explained in Nail care with diabetes.

What helps at home – step by step

Warm foot bath, twice a day. Ten to fifteen minutes in warm water, ideally with a little curd soap or salt. This softens the nail and skin and relieves the pressure. Then dry the foot thoroughly.
Gently lift the nail corner. Slide a corner lifter or a probe under the ingrown corner and lift it one millimetre away from the skin. Do not lever, do not poke – the instrument glides between nail and skin, it does not dig.
Insert a tamponade. Use the cotton hook to push a small piece of cotton wool or gauze under the lifted corner. The tamponade keeps the nail corner away from the nail wall so that the nail can grow out over the skin instead of into it. Replace it daily after the foot bath.
Let the nail grow straight. Do not cut off the corner now. The nail has to grow long enough for the corner to lie freely above the nail wall – this takes two to four weeks. Whatever protrudes beyond the tip of the toe may be trimmed straight across; the corners stay.
Take the pressure off. Wide shoes, no tight socks, no shoes with a hard toe cap. As long as the area is irritated, wear open shoes if necessary.

Improvement shows within a few days: less pressure, less redness. If it has not improved after a week, or gets worse, it is time to see a podiatrist.

Instruments for self-treatment

Exactly the three steps from the guide – lift, insert a tamponade, free the corner:

Corner lifter with probe – lifts the nail corner, the probe loosens the edge from the fold
Tamponade probe & cotton hook set, 2 pieces – tamponade probe and cotton hook, with two tamponades to get started
Corner nail nipper, blade tapered at the side – reaches the corner from the side without injuring the nail wall

View all corner lifters and probes →

What you should not do

Do not cut out the corner. The most common mistake. Cutting the ingrown corner away in a curve or at an angle gives you two days of peace – and afterwards a nail that grows even deeper into the skin, because the new edge starts in the nail wall again.
No V-cut. The idea of cutting a notch into the middle of the nail so that the edges “pull inwards” is a myth. The nail grows from the root; a notch at the tip changes nothing.
Do not poke around with a needle or knife. Anything sharp that goes under the nail injures the fold – and an injured area becomes inflamed more easily than it heals.
Do not press ointments under the nail corner. Creams and drawing ointments do nothing against the mechanical pressure of the nail. They soften the skin, and soft skin is cut into even more easily by the nail.

The instruments in detail

Corner lifter – a flat, slightly curved spatula. It is guided under the corner from the tip of the nail and lifts it. The double-ended model has a wide and a narrow side for corners of different depths.
Probe – narrow and rounded. It loosens the nail edge from the nail fold and cleans the groove where callus and dirt collect. Usually a double instrument together with the corner lifter.
Cotton hook / tamponade probe – a fine hook used to pull the tamponade under the nail corner. This is hardly possible with your fingers; with the hook it takes seconds.
Corner nipper – a narrow nipper with a long, straight blade. It is not meant for cutting out the corner, but for neatly trimming a splintering nail edge or a nail spur once the nail lies freely above the wall again.

Everything together is available as the professional set for ingrown nails with corner nipper, double instrument, file and nail lifter.

When you should see a podiatrist or doctor

Immediately if any of these signs appear:

The area forms pus or weeps.
There is proud flesh growing at the nail edge that bleeds easily.
The toe is hot and severely swollen, or you have a fever.
The nail has become ingrown repeatedly – then the cause is the shape of the nail, and a nail brace (orthonyxia) from a podiatrist is the lasting solution.
You have diabetes or a circulatory disorder.

A nail brace is a small wire brace that is glued onto the nail and pulls it flat over several weeks. It is the method of choice when the tamponade does not help permanently – painless and without surgery. Only if that also fails is surgical removal of the nail edge (Emmert procedure) considered.

How to prevent the next time

Cut straight. Toenails are trimmed straight across, not rounded. The corners may protrude slightly beyond the tip of the toe. Details in Cutting toenails correctly.
Not too short. A nail cut too short gives the nail wall room to fold over the edge – and the regrowing nail then pushes into the skin.
File corners instead of cutting them. If a sharp corner bothers you, smooth it with a file instead of cutting it away.
Shoes with room for the toes. A thumb's width of space in front of the longest toe. Especially important for sport and hiking, because the foot slides forward.
Keep thick, hard nails thinner. Thickened nails grow unevenly and tear at the edges. How to get them under control is explained in Thick toenails in old age.

Frequently asked questions

Can an ingrown toenail grow out on its own?

In the early stage, yes – if the corner is kept away from the skin with a tamponade and the nail continues to grow straight. Without this help it usually keeps growing into the skin, because the nail wall pinches the edge again and again.

How long does it take to get better?

The pressure often eases after two to three days of foot baths and tamponade. It takes two to four weeks until the nail corner lies freely above the nail wall. Until then, the tamponade must be replaced daily.

Does a plaster or drawing ointment help?

A plaster can pull the nail wall slightly away from the nail corner and so reduce the pressure – useful as a supplement to the tamponade. Drawing ointment does nothing against the nail; with incipient inflammation it can “draw out” pus – but that is already stage 2 and therefore a case for a podiatrist.

What is the minimum instrument I need?

A corner lifter with probe and a cotton hook. With these you can lift the corner and insert the tamponade. The corner nipper only comes into play once the nail lies free again and a spur or a sharp edge needs trimming.