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Onychogryphosis - Causes, Symptoms and Treatment Tips

Onychogryphosis is inspissating of a toenail to the point where the nail curves, giving it a clawlike look. Severe deformation of the nails, most often involving the nails of the great toes. The involved nail becomes highly thickened and curved, presenting a claw-like shape.

Onychogryphosis may be due to trauma and permanent shoe pressure. Anomalies of foot position have a promoting effect. Onychogryphosis may also occur in patients afflicted from psoriasis, ichthyosis hystrix and other epidermal dysplasias. This is a gross abnormality of nail growth. This disorder usually affects the big toe nail:

Symptoms of Onychogryphosis

This is a gross abnormality of nail growth. This disorder usually affects the big toe nail:

The nail of the great toe becomes greatly thickened and distorted
usually seen in elderly patients

Causes of Onychogryphosis

Nail cutting with conventional nail clippers becomes nearly perverse. Onychogryphosis is probably caused by previous trauma to the nail bed. Onychogryphosis can be caused by several factors, including poor blood supply, infection, injuries, diabetes, or the inadequate intake of nutrients.

Treatment of Onychogryphosis

The treatment of the Onychogryphosis can abridge the thickness by cutting and filing the nail or by means of surgical procedures removing the nail under the aid of local analgesia, although the nail germinal matrix has to be destroyed, otherwise the damaged cells will regenerate to continue producing a thick new toenail if the nail is just removed but the nail root is left intact, leading to small spikes of growing nail popping out across the surface of the old nail area. Treatment involves frequent nail cutting or trimming.