Ingrown Toenails

[Guest]

I hope this question will be interesting enough for someone to respond to. If not, I hope the information I've offered is interesting enough to prod someone to research, or to offer them a different way of thinking.

I am a 36 year-old male barefooter (nearly 100% of the time, year-round, for the past two years). My feet feel better than I can ever remember. I feel I have better posture and balance, and know I have fewer problems with my feet. I feel they are strong, well conditioned, and healthy. With training, they have also become much more tolerant to temperature and texture. (I can shovel my driveway in the snow, barefooted, for example, and can walk on gravel for miles.) For more information on this philosophy, you might visit www.barefooters.org, of which I am a member.

This isn't my question - only a bit of background, since I have some unique practices.

Through the years, I have had problems with an ingrown nail on my great toe (right/primary foot). Whether this is hereditary or due to footwear, I don't know. For the past two years, I have cared *very* well for my feet and nails, and have spent some time on research. I've learned how to trim my nails properly, and give myself fairly frequent pedicures for aesthetic reasons. Obviously, footwear hasn't been a factor in recent years (and what little footwear I've worn is properly-fitted, and usually in a 'wide toebox' fashion, since anything else is uncomfortable, considering my typical footwear).

My problem/question is nail curvature. The nail on my great toe (right/primary) curls along it's length (it is traight from heel to toe, but curls in the direction of ankle to ankle). Proper trimming (past the toe edge) has, I feel, prevented an ingrown condition; however, the curvature is a problem, aesthetically. The nail on my other foot is flat and looks pleasing, so I do (genetically) have the ability to grow one straight nail.

Is there a method of correction to train my nail to grow with a more flat profile, or am I stuck with a curved nail? I've read of a corrective strip (a flat, carbon fiber band) that is adhered to the nail and helps lift the nail to a more natural position. I don't know whether this would be beneficial. I haven't found any 'reasons' in my research for a nail to curve other than heredity, but since I have the one straight nail, I figured my problem may be a 'learned' condition for the one nail.

Your patience entertaining this query is greatly appreciated.