This Reviewer-Beloved Toenail Brace Changed My Life
Discomfort from ingrowns can permeate even banal aspects of everyday life, and as a result, many folks with ingrown toenails learn to simply live with this inflammation and pain. I spent years hoping-slash-deluding myself into believing that my own ingrown big toenails, caused by years of too-tight cleats and heels, were not that disruptive to my life and would eventually improve on their own. Yet one day last year, I brushed one of my ingrowns against my carpeted floor and found myself doubled over in pain. I was forced to acknowledge that my ingrowns were not sustainable, and they were not going to get better by themselves.
I combed the internet for the best home treatment for ingrowns, and found the CurveCorrect ingrown toenail treatment kit on Amazon. I'm protective over my money and was wary of spending $45 for the kit, but after reading through testimonials from reviewers who, too, were initially skeptical but were ultimately 'gobsmacked' and 'delighted' at its results, deeming it 'worthy every penny,' I decided to take the plunge — and I'm so happy that I did.
The kit is designed to treat and correct the root of the problem: a nail that is literally growing and curving incorrectly. It works by using thin tension braces, which act like springs, to slowly and gently straighten the nail. The brace also relieves pressure from the ingrown, helping ease discomfort within days, according to CurveCorrect and the experience of myself and many reviewers. The brace attaches to the affected nail using a high-bond adhesive.
'For a simple, non-infected toenail that tends to become ingrown near where the nail grows out beyond the nail bed, this type of product could be helpful,' Dr. Howard E. Friedman, a podiatrist at Suffern Podiatry in New York State, told HuffPost.
For my purposes, I found the CurveCorrect brace to be a game-changer. Within a week of applying the brace, my ingrowns had noticeably improved and flattened. A year later, after having worn the braces for several months, I still can't quite believe how much better my nails feel and look. Both my big toes are now even and flat, and they don't hurt anymore, which feels like something of a miracle.
Before applying the brace, I — and many reviewers — recommend that you read and re-read the instructions. The home treatment is simple enough, but should be done carefully.
As for preventing future ingrowns? 'The best prevention is to allow the corners of the nails to extend beyond the nail fold and cut the nail straight across. Most ingrown nails that I see are due to people who cut the nail too short,' said Friedman over email. 'Only ballerinas and sprinters need short toe nails.'
Check out what reviewers have to say about the CurveCorrect kit, or grab your CurveCorrect kit now from Amazon.
Get it from Amazon for $44.99.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
"It's Basically Scientific Racism": Medical Experts Seriously Hate RFK Jr.'s Shocking Claim About Black People And Vaccines
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Health and Human Services secretary, is making changes that threaten the public health system, from telling lies about the childhood vaccine schedule to replacing credible members of a vaccine advisory panel with people known to spread misinformation. Groups like the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics have spoken out against these changes, and some major medical associations are even suing Kennedy in response to his changes to the COVID-19 vaccine schedule. Kennedy's attack on vaccines isn't exactly a surprise — he has a history of anti-vaccine remarks, which was a major talking point throughout his Senate confirmation hearings earlier this year. Specifically, his beliefs were front and center during a heated exchange in which Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) brought up a comment that Kennedy once made about vaccinations and the Black community. In 2021, Kennedy had said, 'We should not be giving Black people the same vaccine schedule that's given to whites, because their immune system is better than ours.' Related: Alsobrooks asked Kennedy to explain what he meant by that remark, and he went on to reference a 'series of studies' while saying research shows that 'Blacks need fewer antigens.' (For the record, experts say that this is not true.) 'Right now, how vaccine schedules are tailored is based on things like your age, your exposure risk, if you have other chronic underlying health conditions ― but race isn't one of them, and there isn't research that suggests that it should be,' Joel Bervell, a recent medical graduate and medical myth-buster on social media, told HuffPost. What especially bothered Bervell about Kennedy's exchange with Alsobrooks was the fact that he doubled down on his comment from 2021. Kennedy could have used this as an opportunity to admit that he needs to do more research and understand the vaccine schedule, 'but instead, he defended what he said, which I think, for me, that's where the problem lies in,' Bervell told HuffPost. 'Not necessarily the fact of the misinformation is out there, but the fact that he wasn't willing to at least confront it or admit that onstage.' Below, experts like Bervell share their concerns about Kennedy's statement and how it reflects a larger problematic picture: Kennedy's comment can be considered 'scientific racism,' experts say. Related: 'In medicine, in science, we know that race is a social construct, meaning that you can't look at someone's genes and identify what race they are,' Bervell said. That means differences in vaccine timelines just don't make scientific sense. 'The comment that [Kennedy] made about the vaccine schedule, it's basically scientific racism, which has been debunked,' Dr. Oni Blackstock, a primary care and HIV physician who is the founder and executive director of Health Justice, a racial and health equity consulting company, told HuffPost. 'He's really perpetuating this false belief that Black people are somehow biologically different from white people and, in that way, justifying differential and ultimately unequal treatment for Black people versus white people,' Blackstock added. 'By saying that, he was putting on one of the larger stages in health care this notion that race-based medicine should still exist, when that's actually what many scientists recently have been trying to root out,' Bervell said. Race-based medicine and scientific racism has led to undertreatment of Black patients, dismissal of pain and even death, Blackstock stressed. Both experts pointed to real-life examples of this, like the false belief that Black people have better-functioning kidneys than white people. This made it harder for Black people to get the treatment they needed, like kidney transplants, according to Bervell. And this thought pattern isn't from some faraway time ― a medical equation that reinforced this bias wasn't changed until 2021, Bervell said. What's more, during the 1793 yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia, Black people were believed to be resistant to yellow fever, which was not true and led to high mortality rates among Black people, Blackstock explained. 'The importance of understanding the problem with the myths is that they can literally lead to regulations being written into medicine that treat populations differently just based on race,' Bervell said. 'It can actually change the care that people receive.' While it's easy to look at a particular viewpoint as a one-off, medical racism has real-world consequences that irresponsible comments can make worse. Promoting debunked beliefs 'distracts us from really doing the work that we need to do, which is dismantling systemic racism in health care and ensuring that everyone has equitable access to preventive care and treatments that they need,' Blackstock added. Related: Such stances may lead to more mistrust in the health care system. 'One thing that is also kind of strange about him [Kennedy] is he's someone who for a long time has said that he doesn't support vaccines,' Bervell said. 'Apparently, now he's changed his mind, but for a long time he said he hasn't supported vaccines, and then he's also saying that Black people should get a different vaccine schedule. So you have to wonder, what is your goal in saying that if you don't even believe in vaccines?' Bervell said comments like those from Kennedy can sow vaccine hesitancy in the Black population, which is dangerous and can erode trust in evidence-based medicine. It's not the first time that this has happened, either, Blackstock added. In 2021, Kennedy produced a documentary called 'Medical Racism: The New Apartheid,' which Blackstock said promoted misinformation about health and vaccines to the Black community, along with other marginalized groups. 'It's interesting how some of his efforts have been focused on taking advantage of [and] exploiting the mistrust that some in the Black community have around vaccines and the health care system because of structural racism and medical racism,' Blackstock said. With misinformation and scare tactics rampant on social media, misinformation from government leaders will only make it harder to tell what's real and what's fake in medicine. Trust needs to be paramount for health care as an institution, Bervell said. 'The trust is already eroded in health care,' Bervell explained. 'We need to have someone that is going to work with scientists, researchers, doctors that are on the ground seeing these problems every day, not someone that's in an ivory tower watching from above without understanding of what's actually happening on the ground.' Related: Experts say this rhetoric aligns with messaging from Donald Trump. Blackstock stressed that while such false beliefs are very problematic, they track with much of the messaging from Donald Trump and his presidential administration. 'It echoes some of the rhetoric that [Trump] has shared around eugenics and immigrants,' Blackstock said. 'He's talked about immigrants having 'bad genes' or 'poisoning the blood of our country.' It just speaks to this idea of racial purity or genetic purity, and this false idea that certain groups of people are inherently inferior or predisposed to certain behaviors because of their genetics.' And, again, race is a social construct and does not equal genetic differences. 'It's just really shocking that in the year 2025 we are still dealing with these beliefs being propagated that have been around for several centuries that have been used to justify slavery, used to justify inequitable treatment, used to justify forced sterilization,' Blackstock said. Blackstock added that she thinks individuals get away with this kind of rhetoric because people become accustomed to outlandish comments and bad behavior. 'But we need to really flag this and say this is really dangerous and really concerning rhetoric that can have real health implications,' Blackstock said. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Also in In the News: Also in In the News: Also in In the News: Solve the daily Crossword
Buzz Feed
7 hours ago
- Buzz Feed
Two Simple Habits That May Delay Alzheimer's Disease
Can delaying a disease as monstrous as Alzheimer's be as simple as walking and eating nutritious foods? To some degree, yes. A June 2025 study in Molecular Neurodegeneration assessed this topic and concluded that 'up to 45% of dementia risk can be attributed to modifiable risk factors,' namely exercise and diet. What happens, the study explained, is that those two habits boost BDNF, or brain-derived neurotrophic factor. BDNF is a protein that aids neuroplasticity, or the brain's ability to adapt, learn and remember. HuffPost spoke to a doctor about the study's findings, and he said they make sense. 'Walking and diet are two of the simplest ways we know to boost BDNF, a key protein that helps brain cells grow, repair and communicate,' said Dr. Alexander Zubkov, a neurologist and board advisory member of 1MD Nutrition who specializes in neurodegenerative disorders and functional medicine. 'Higher BDNF levels are strongly linked to better memory and slower cognitive decline.' The opposite holds, too: A decrease in BDNF is often seen in people who have neurological conditions such as Alzheimer's, according to a 2015 study in Archives of Medical Science. But what does 'delaying Alzheimer's' even mean in this case? And how much walking and which foods are most helpful? Ahead, we'll answer those questions and more with insights from the study and Zubkov. What does 'delaying Alzheimer's' even mean? Is 'delaying Alzheimer's' the same as preventing dementia diseases completely, or can it only be applied to people who are currently or about to develop the condition? 'When we talk about 'delaying Alzheimer's,' we're not talking about preventing the disease entirely,' Zubkov said. 'We're talking about slowing how quickly the symptoms appear or progress.' For someone who's starting to experience early changes in their brain, he continued, that could mean a few extra years of clear thinking and independence. That's significant. As mentioned, walking is a crucial way to increase BDNF expression. A 2025 study in Brain Sciences reported that walking, particularly at moderate to high intensities, increases BDNF levels, especially right after the exercise. It also found that walking increased BDNF by 11%. But how does that happen? 'Something as basic as a brisk daily walk increases blood flow and oxygen to the brain, which naturally stimulates BDNF release,' Zubkov explained. How much should you walk a day to delay Alzheimer's? Zubkov said there's no 'one magic number' of steps, but he's seen research consistently assert a certain range. 'Most data points to about 7,000 to 8,000 steps a day as a realistic sweet spot for brain and heart health,' he said. That's roughly three to four miles, or an hour to a little over an hour, of walking. The pace matters, too. He encouraged aiming for a brisk pace — aka, fast enough that you can talk, but not sing — for maximum benefits. Additionally, the study found positive results with both acute and long-term exercise. So, try to keep your exercise consistent, but don't give up if you skip a few days. Every walking session counts. What foods can help delay Alzheimer's disease? Nutrition is another key piece, though perhaps not as key as walking. According to the original study mentioned, researchers need more and consistent information on the most beneficial dietary factors and how different foods affect different biomarkers (the latter includes certain proteins, blood pressure and tumors, for example). Additionally, it's important to note that most current research looks at a combination of factors, not diet alone. 'Pairing [walking] with nutrient-rich foods … gives the brain the building blocks it needs to stay resilient,' Zubkov said. With that said, knowledge about brain-healthy foods does exist. The study found positive results with the MIND-diet, or the Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay. It's a hybrid of the Mediterranean diet and the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) antihypertensive diet. The MIND-diet includes whole grains; dark, leafy, green vegetables; nuts; olive oil; berries; and even red wine, among other foods and beverages. Zubkov recommended a few key nutrients: omega-3s, antioxidants and polyphenols. More specifically, he encouraged people to eat fatty fish, walnuts, leafy greens and berries, and to drink green tea. The other tips Zubkov shared are the typical self-care recommendations you've heard from your doctor: aerobic exercise, resistance training, quality sleep, and stress reduction. Here's a glimpse into what each of those can look like: Aerobic exercise: dancing, swimming, the elliptical, cycling, running Resistance training: push-ups, squats, lunges, planks, using free weights Quality sleep: around six to eight hours, and not ' junk sleep,' aka too little or not solid sleep Stress reduction: deep breathing, talking to friends, meditation, listening to music He added that some early research is looking at peptides, or building blocks of proteins, such as Semax, Selank, and Dihexa, when it comes to influencing BDNF. But beware: 'These are still experimental and should only be used under medical supervision,' Zubkov clarified. Let's keep it simple: If you want to delay Alzheimer's onset, focus on walking and adding nutritious foods, such as walnuts, whole grains and dark green vegetables, into your diet. As both studies and doctors will tell you, these daily habits have a significant impact on your health. HuffPost.
Buzz Feed
17 hours ago
- Buzz Feed
37 Products To Quietly Solve Annoying Body Things
A delightfully affordable instant foot-peeling spray for anyone ready to go full YEEHAW!! on that at-home pedicure. This not only helps gently remove dead skin, but moisturizes dry and cracked heels, so you'll really get some refreshing bang for your buck. A two-in-one nausea relief inhaler designed to work FAST on spontaneous nausea, motion sickness, morning sickness, and general queasiness (having a human body is hard). Summer road trips and cruises just got a HECK of a lot more bearable. Lumify Eye Drops, a product so beloved by TikTok that despite being more $$ than other brands, it's the number one selling brand on Amazon right now. Reviewers swear by this for instant reduction in redness in their eyes, with visible differences within a minute of use. A painless, mint-flavored teeth-whitening pen reviewers swear by as an alternative to pricey professional treatments and strips. This will show results from the very first use, lightening up years' worth of stains from coffee, tea, wine, or just, you know, existing as a human with teeth. A handy as heck Burt's Bees sunburn soother you'll want to stock up on if you're a "just in case" kinda human — it's made with aloe and coconut oil to hydrate skin and gently relieve pain from the sun's unforgiving rays within just a few hours. Good Molecules Yerba Mate Wake Up Eye Gel, a cult-fave product for your beauty arsenal that will quickly help minimize eye puffiness and swelling thanks to its winning combo of caffeine and hyaluronic acid. It's basically an alarm clock for your eyeballs, because boy howdy are they awake now!! La Roche-Posay Effaclar Salicylic Acid Acne Treatment that will go above and beyond in treating blackheads, whiteheads, and stubborn acne with a non-greasy, mattifying gel formula that helps reduce redness and draw out impurities for visible results in as few as eight hours. A nail renewal formula that so effectively restores discolored, damaged nails that reviewers started seeing results in as little as *two days*. This not only helps tackle symptoms of fungal damage but also helps reduce the thickness and correct the ridges, so your toenails can get the sweet relief they deserve. A bottle of sulfate-free biotin shampoo that thousands of reviewers swear by for helping restore their hair and promote healthy hair growth over time. It also includes nourishing ingredients like rosemary oil, zinc, and coconut oil to help moisturize locks and give them a fuller, more volumized look. A pack of super thin hydrocolloid cold sore healing patches to help speed up healing and relieve some of the itch and "ouch!" of a breakout as fast as possible. A pack of unscented SweatBlock wipes that work for up to *seven days* after application — perfect for those of us whose underarms are a little, uh, enthusiastic, to say the least. Reviewers especially swear by this for events that might bring on nervous sweating! A piercing bump solution made with jojoba, grape seed, and rose that'll help speed over the healing process over the course of a few weeks, so your new piercings can ~dazzle~ everyone in their full glory. A set of disposable Plackers "Grind No More" Night Guards for anyone who sleeps like this 😬😬😬 and wakes up like this. 😫 Each one of these grind-absorbing bite plates can be used up to 30 times to help reduce the tension from grinding your teeth in the middle of the night. Psst — this is also a MUCH cheaper alternative to costly bite guards that go for hundreds of dollars! A Benzene-free, travel-friendly applicator of I Dew Care's dry shampoo powder so easy to use that you can just dab it on your hairline and rub it in for an instant, oil-absorbing refresh. Now your "no wash" days are a secret that you and your roots will never tell 👀. A roll-on migraine stick made with peppermint, spearmint, and lavender oils to help you soothe away headaches, which frankly have a lot of audacity interrupting your day. A belted portable cordless vibrating heating pad to ease your cramps and pains (*glares pointedly at my uterus*) and/or keep you nice and cozy on chillier days. The fact that it looks vaguely like a piece of superhero armor is just an added perk. A dark spot-removing soap bar you might want to try if you're someone with sensitive skin or hyperpigmentation — this is formulated not only with hyaluronic acid to protect your skin's moisture barrier but a blend of vitamin C, retinol, collagen, and turmeric to help brighten and soothe skin. An oral rinse made with a mild mint flavor that packs a powerful punch — this formula fights bad breath for a full 24 hours and can combat those sour, bitter, and metallic tastes you can sometimes get in your mouth. Olay Super Serum Body Wash that will make anyone with dry summer skin REJOICE — this is packed with niacinamide, shea butter, and collagen peptides for 24-hour hydration that will make you feel as ~luminous~ as the sunshine. (Psst — this is the body wash version of their TikTok-famous, super effective facial Super Serum, so you KNOW they mean business.) First Aid Beauty's KP Bump Eraser Body Scrub Exfoliant to help exfoliate and smooth skin by dealing with rough patches or dry bumps — a lot of reviewers with keratosis pilaris and similar skin textures swear by this for relief, with many noticing a difference after the very first use. A set of super affordable hydrocolloid nose pore patches that will make you go "boy HOWDY" when you see how much gunk collects on them overnight. Reviewers swear by these for gently lifting out sebum from pores and pimples and minimizing their appearance! Elephant Ear Washer Bottle System for anyone whose ear wax situation has their primary care doctor going, "Yiiiiikes." Now you can take care of it at home easily, gently, and a little too effectively — the bits of wax this dislodges out of reviewers' ears are truly leaving them in shock! A waterproof, oh-so-gentle 3-in-1 electric bikini trimmer designed to easily remove pubic hair with a close shave that will leave you bump-free and smooth. Reviewers swear by the many blades included in this set to safely and effectively shave their pubic area, legs, and underarms, and love that you can use it in the shower. Compound W Wart Removal Pads infused with concentrated wart removal medication to reduce the size and eliminate warts in a matter of days. A lot of reviewers turned to these after professional wart removals didn't work for them and saw much better results! Joesoef's pharmaceutical-grade anti-acne sulfur soap that people with acne, rosacea, dermatitis, and clogged pores swear by for helping clear their skin and relieve the tenderness. A lot of reviewers noted that they found this specific product after their dermatologists recommended it to them! Boldify Hairline Powder for anyone who's like, "Hmmm. Wasn't there ... a lot more hair there before??" when they're styling their roots. This "makeup for hair" helps effortlessly fill in the gaps in your hairline so you don't have to style around it. Reviewers also swear by this for touching up their roots between appointments! A pack of drug-free Breathe Right nasal strips reviewers quite literally claim "saved their marriage" — these provide instant snoring *and* congestion relief by increasing nasal airflow. Bonus: there's an optional "scratch and sniff" lavender scent if you want an extra dose of calm. A tea tree oil butt acne-clearing lotion working overtime to help clear and prevent further buttne. (Is that already a word, or am I getting ... ~cheeky~?) A quick-dry anti-chafing "Fresh Breasts" lotion that will absorb wetness like *snaps fingers* THAT, helping prevent chafing, aching, rashes, and soreness in your poor, unsuspecting underboob region. A deliciously soothing, bacteria-targeting Briotech spray (which compares to the pricier Tower 28 SOS Spray!) reviewers love for helping with skin irritation caused by heat or sweat in warmer seasons. Reviewers also swear by this handy little spray for acne, rosacea, eczema, dryness, dermatitis (scalp included!), and even toenail fungus! Biofreeze's new Dry Stick for "portable pain relief" — this mess-free, cooling solution for aches and pains all over your human body, whether it's your neck, shoulders, knees, hands, or many numerous joints. Its targeted menthol relief also works *fast* and is delightfully travel-friendly, unlike competing menthol creams. A reviewer-beloved anti-dandruff shampoo to relieve flaking and itching and help prevent outbreaks by getting directly to the root. A lot of reviewers mention that it not only started working from the first use, but it *also* helped with shedding and hair loss caused by dandruff in the first place. A blister-preventing balm that will basically magic an extra layer between your skin and your shoe, so you can get your steps in without worrying about getting big ole blisters on your feet without a bandage in sight. And a pack of Dr. Frederick's Original Better Blister Bandages, aka the blister whisperers — if you're someone who tends to get blisters when your feet sweat, you'll want to invest in these. These waterproof bandages don't just protect blisters, but are designed to actively help heal them (and significantly reduce the pain from friction!). First Aid Beauty Ingrown Hair Pads to use after you shave to help prevent the infection of ingrown hairs, so you don't have to spend hours psyching yourself up to shave, knowing that you're gonna be dodging a bazillion sensitive spots on your skin. A shampoo scalp massager you can use in the shower not just to massage and exfoliate your scalp, but help with psoriasis, dandruff, and scalp tenderness! A pair of lightweight, entirely waterproof cloud pillow sandals for anyone whose feet are pretty little princesses who need to be pampered at all times. These are near weightless, but have a cushioned, thick sole that absorbs impact on hard floors and surfaces. Reviewers with arthritis and plantar fasciitis also swear by these for alleviating foot pain!
