## 3 Results  
### Clinical Assessment of Nails before Therapy  
The majority of patients suffered from ingrown nails for longer than 1 year (61.5%). One in five had had ingrown nails for 1 year (20.5%) and one in ten--from 1 to 2 months (10.3%). The predominant location of ingrown nails was both big toes (69.2% for each foot). Additionally, three patients had ingrown nails located on other toes. More than half of cases were two-sided ingrown nails on the big toe (61.5%). The group with a one-sided ingrown nail on the big toe was smaller (38.5%). Two people confirmed the presence of ingrown nails other than on the big toe, with both being nails ingrown on one side. One in five patients tried therapies other than VHO-Osthold(r) Perfect treatment (20.5%); the most popular alternative therapies were: complete nail removal (five patients) and metal buckle and marginal nail removal (three patients each). Almost three in four people confirmed regular physical activity (74.4%). No one declared that their problem was eliminated completely by the time of participation in the study. No one confirmed an allergy to nickel (Table 2). \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c} \hline \hline
**Variable** & **Number of Observations/Mean \(\pm\) SD** & **\% of Group/Median (IQR)** \\ \hline \hline Ingrown nails—duration & & \\ \hline
1–2 months & 4 & 10.3 \\ \hline
3–5 months & 1 & 2.6 \\ \hline
6 months & 2 & 5.1 \\ \hline
1 year & 8 & 20.5 \\ \hline \textgreater{}1 year & 24 & 61.5 \\ \hline Ingrown nails: \textgreater{}1 year & \(4.17\pm 2.69\) & 3.50 (2.00; 5.00) \\ \hline Ingrown nails—location & & \\ \hline Right foot & & \\ \hline Big toe & 27 & 69.2 \\ \hline II toe & 1 & 2.6 \\ \hline III toe & 1 & 2.6 \\ \hline IV toe & 0 & 0.0 \\ \hline V toe & 0 & 0.0 \\ \hline Ingrown nails—side(s) & & \\ \hline Big toe—one sided & 15 & 38.5 \\ \hline Big toe—two sided & 24 & 61.5 \\ \hline Other toes * & 2 & 5.1 \\ \hline Other treatments & 8 & 20.5 \\ \hline Tamponade & 2 & 5.1 \\ \hline Protective pipe & 0 & 0.0 \\ \hline Metal buckle & 3 & 7.7 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 2: Clinical assessment of nails before therapy. The youth type of ingrown nails dominated in the analyzed group (64.1%). The patients were also characterized with the Scholz stage of ingrown nails. None of the patients had a stage lower than three. Purulent inflammation (stage 3) was the case for 40.0% of all patients, of which 32.0% of the total group had a one-sided condition (eight patients) and two patients had a two-sided condition. Additional tissue hypergranulation (caro luxvirains)--stage 4--was the case for 52.0% of the group, and 24.0% (six patients) had one-sided and 28% (seven patients) had two-sided ingrown nails in that stage. Stage 5, which meant post-operational relapse of symptoms, was the case for two patients. [PERSON]'s classification of reasons for ingrown nails was used to characterize the analyzed group. The most common group of reasons was outer pressure--all patients experienced at least one issue with frequent mechanical injuries being the most common (59.0%), followed by wearing too-small shoes (46.2%). Orthopaedic deformation was the second most common group of reasons (79.5%), and the other types of reasons had the third most common frequency (76.9%). Pressure from the inside was the case for 61.5% of patients, and systemic illness happened in the case of one patient. Details of the reasons for ingrown nails according to [PERSON] and [PERSON] are presented in Table 3 and Figure 3.