CurveCorrect® Ingrown Toenail Corrector Kit - 10 Toenail Braces for Ingrown Toenail Treatment, Pain Relief, and Removal - at Home Big Toe Ingrown Nail Treatment Tool

I ordered this in the beginning of October of 2019 and am writing this review at the end of February 2020. Now I’m going to give some backstory: I started having issues with ingrown toenails on the big toe of both feet in high school, and then I was stupid enough to have enlisted and made it worse because oh my god, those boots okay? So without saying how oooold I am we’re talking 20+ years of ingrown toenails, tried like every thing I could find, and even had a surgery that didn’t work but was so very traumatizing and lost me half a toenail for more than a year, and it all failed.This. Works.I had this on my wishlist for a while before buying, because it IS expensive, but I finally hit the point where I was like “it looks promising so let’s get it because this is getting past unbearable and I am tired of doing nail trimming yoga to do the necessary pruning to have painless toenails.” I ordered it, it came, and yes I read the instructions in advance before trying it. We’ll get to the tips for how to use it later, but suffice to say that it DOES take a little practice to get it on really good. However it isn’t as hard as some of the other reviews make it out to be, once you figure it out. But again, more on that later.I’m going to start with it wasn’t the most comfortable thing at first, not at all. It made my toes tender when I started them, for a couple days but no more than that. Yes, it could be interpreted as a bruised feeling, but frankly the ingrown toenails hurt me worse and I have a higher than normal pain tolerance anyway so it was tolerable for me. for others, putting this on before a couple days of staying at home might be the best course of action. However, I noticed a change right away. For me, because the cuts I used on my nails was so deep, I placed 2 strips the first time I put them on; one at the mid-nail to lift the cut out of the skin groove, and the other at the tip to keep it up, too. (I did put it on other toes, as well, that was a terrible idea, please check the tips for the different strengths because it’s important. But it worked on those too, just with bruising painfulness.) The relief was pretty much immediate, no lie the pain from the ingrown nails was gone nearly the moment I got it on. It was tender and sensitive where it had been dug in for a few days to a week, but even that little bit got better, too. And then was the slow growing out process, and reapplying, and getting way better at that too, and even more waiting.Now to the reason I have done the review now, and how I know it works 100%. It’s been about a month since the last time I had them on, and I will be putting them back on for another period soon to continue this, but last week I was binging on Netflix and had a foot propped up and absently ran my finger over my big toenail. It. Felt. Weird. I freaked out, because why would I have a ridge in my nail?? But lo, after inspecting, I got really really REALLY excited, because I DO have a ridge, but it’s not a ridge. IT IS NEW NAIL GROWTH IN THE APPROPRIATE CURVE TO NOT GROW BACK INGROWN. So that right there proved to me that while I was sure it was working because the ingrown nail is over the skin and long enough not to go back in, and it’s not hurting, and everything is fine. It has corrected the sharp curve cutting it back so far created, and all the new nail growth is going to be normal again.I CAN’T STRESS ENOUGH THAT IT WAS A PROCESS BUT IT WAS SO WORTH IT.Now, the tips and tricks.1. The biggest one is that this is the curve strength for the big toenail, not any other nail. You can order other strength kits on their website, or as they specify you can also narrow this one to be weaker for smaller nails. Don’t just put this on anything but the big toe. If you put it on the big toe and it feels bruising, take it off and thin it out, it’s too strong for that nail.2. You can contact their customer service to order new strips sans the kit.3. When applying, roughing the nail is so needed, it makes the glue stick better. Make sure you take that step instead of skipping it.4. A pair of tweezers to sit the strip with glue on it in place is very helpful, and not putting too much glue is also helpful. Less is more.5. Don’t use the swabs in the kit for what they’re for. Use regular swabs, and take the ones from the kit and use those wooden ends to hold the strip down while the glue sets. The longer you hold it tight to the nail while the glue dries, the longer lasting it is. Rotate the swab so it doesn’t get glued down while doing this.6. The strips stay on for ages if properly applied, and the company has reassured me that you can reuse them. So do that instead of ordering more if you can!7. If you are ready to reapply the strip, you can help with the initial “I just put this on and the ingrown area hurts as it lifts out” with liberal application of Neosporin and many bandaids to keep it in.Pretty sure that is all the tricks I learned. It takes practice. If you fail at first, keep trying. Use acetone or something to clean the glue off, and go for it again until you get it right. It’s like anything else, you are not going to get it perfect the first try. Perfection isn’t even necessary, good enough will work because that is what happened to me most of the time.This product works. I can’t believe it, honestly, I am still in delighted shock that it’s corrected so much to give me perfect new nail growth. 20+ years of ingrown toenails? Fixed.UPDATE 11/2020: I see tons of negative reviews, so I wanted to continue my own positive story. I am still using them, I haven't managed to wear them nonstop like I know I should, but it turns out the older I get the more V shaped my nails become like my grandmothers snaggletoes. However, popping these bad boys on every couple of months has made my life so much easier and pain free. I still do have good nail growth, the problem is no longer the big toes for the most part. The little toes next to them have started that old lady shape, and I just trim a strip thinner and glue it in place and BOOM. Little toe is tender for a couple days, not painful I am super careful of that, and now little toe does not give me issues with bad nail shape. I imagine to counter that hereditary problem I might be looking at lifelong usage, but when the alternative is pain or having a procedure to stop the nail growth on the sides of the nail (which looks very unsightly to me, I'd like to skip it personally if I can, because I live in a beachy place and open toed shoes are a daily thing) which I don't want. I'm still very pleased with the product and I hope that my tips and trips help anyone who uses them.

UPDATE October 2015: Wow, it's been almost two years since this product changed my life! As winter approaches, I don't have to worry about the pain of closed-toe shoes or the pressure of socks or a blanket on my toes. I stopped using the product a few months ago, and my toenails are still NORMAL!!! I probably could have stopped using it long ago, but I was afraid to stop. Then one brace came off while on vacation, and I decided to give it a test run and go "brace-less"... and found that I now have NORMAL TOENAILS!!!EVERY PODIATRIST SHOULD RECOMMEND THIS PRODUCT. Thank you, Curve Correct!UPDATE September 2014: It's been seven months since I started using Curve Correct, and I love it! I just re-ordered, and recommend this to everyone who has ingrown nail problems. My right toe, which had a very pronounced curve (U-shaped) is now completely normal. My pedicurist can't believe the difference! Toe pain is a thing of the past for me, thanks to this product.If I go without the strips, I start to feel pain again within several days, so I make sure to keep the strips on all the time. They last up to six weeks (use acrylic nail glue instead of the adhesive that comes with the strips).DO NOT GET SURGERY --- TRY THIS FIRST-- I've done both, and this product is the way to go!ORIGINAL REVIEW April 2014: This has really helped with my pain. Have used product for about four weeks now, and left toe is 100% better, right toe is 85% better. I had toenail surgery on right toe about 15 years ago, so that's the nail that gives me more trouble. It's narrower and more curved than left toenail. (Don't have surgery! It works for awhile but makes the problem worse in the long run.).My ingrown nails were very painful but not infected. It's nice to wear socks again this winter, plus have a blanket on my feet without pain! Also my nails are fairly thick but the braces are working great. My nail technician did have trouble applying the braces but is getting better at it now; I doubt I could do it myself. Also we found that nail glue (used for acrylic nails) seems to work better than the glue that came in the kit. The first braces lasted 10 days before one came off. One end has come off a couple times but was easy for my daughter to re-glue with her nail glue. The adhesion problems are all on my right toe with more curved toenail.Overall I highly recommend this product. Yes, it's expensive, but worth it to me to end the pain. Plus I don't mind paying innovators -- without this innovation, I would still be in pain and wasting my time soaking etc.

The only reason I am not giving this product 5 stars is because I am still in the middle of the process of growing out my toenail, and not sure it if is going to work long term. I will reassess my review once my nail has completely grown out. I might still not give the product 5 stars due to the difficulty of attaching the brace to your toenail, even when following directions to the letter. But ultimately, with patience - the brace sticks!! And once the brace is in place, oh my, what relief! Now, after 2 months, this product is working well and my nail looks much better.Yes - sometimes the brace can fall off, but the kit comes with multiples and enough glue that you can put on another one and keep going. It takes a long time for a toenail to grow out - so I am still in the "wait and see" mode. So far, so good.Prior to buying this treatment, I bought other, less costly products, but frankly, all they did was put pressure on what was already in pain. They didn't help change the shape of the toenail, they didn't relieve the pain so I figured their "solution" was only short term, if they worked at all.Rather than continue to spend more money on cheap products, I read the reviews and tried this treatment because the concept made sense and so many people were so pleased. When my toenail finally grows out completely, then I will know for sure if this was the fix I hoped for. It seems to be working.In my opinion, after 2 months, it IS worth the money. Expensive yes, but a lot less costly than an operation. It seems to work and it doesn't look all that bad on your nail. I have not tried nail polish yet and not sure I will... but it really blends into your natural color nail.All in all - this is a good product and worth the money.