Nail trauma is common. Many people will experience some form of nail trauma in their life. This can result in pain when wearing shoes, pain when walking and ultimately untreated nail trauma or wrongly treated nail trauma can lead to permanent toenail deformity.

Toenail Trauma can occur in three ways: crush injuries occur when heavy objects are dropped on the foot, toenails can also be damaged if they get stepped on, wearing shoes that are too soft or too small will lead to pressure injuries to the toenails and repetitive stress injury due to biomechanical abnormalities such as hallux rigidus or flatfoot can also cause damage to your toenails.

A traumatized toenail typically lifts from the nail bed, with blood and fluid filling the space between, this is known as a subungual hematoma and is the reason why toenails turn black. An increase in nailbed pressure causes painfully swollen toes that cause discomfort.

Leaving fluid under the nail can quickly lead to secondary infections, chronic nail bed deformity and secondary lesions such as bursa. Draining the fluid by puncturing a small hole in the damaged nail is good in theory, just to help drain the blood and reduce pressure on the nail bed, but it opens a portal for water to seep into and stagnate under the nail plate, once again leading to infection and reduced chance of normal nail growth.

If the toenail shows signs of damage, recurrently injures or if the toenail develops spots in black, red or white, know that it is your body's way of informing you there is a toenail trauma that needs to be addressed promptly.

Toenail damage should be taken seriously, especially if you care about how your toenails look. If neglected you may experience a permanent loss of your toenails. Nail Trauma Treatment depends on the severity of the toenail damage, early intervention may only require noninvasive toenail treatment, customised foot orthotics or conservative wound care. If the toenail is not treated for weeks and months the toenail damage may worsen and lead to the need for surgical intervention.

See a Podiatrist today!

EAST COAST PODIATRY ( ECPC )

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www.EastCoastPodiatry.sg | email: [email protected]

Clinic Locations:

Orchard Clinic
302 Orchard Road . Tong Building #0902 . Singapore 238862
Tel: (+65) 6884 4123

Kembangan Clinic
18 Jalan Masjid . Kembangan Plaza # B102/04/05 . Singapore 418944
Tel: (+65) 6848 5156

Novena Clinic
10 Sinaran Drive . Novena Medical Center #0812/13 . Singapore 307506
Tel: (+65) 6235 2132

SINGAPORE DIABETIC FOOT CENTRE – a specialised high risk unit of East Coast Podiatry

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www.SingaporeDiabeticFootCentre.com.sg | [email protected]

302 Orchard Road, Tong Building #0901A, Singapore 238862

Tel: (+65) 6732 1486