Cansu Altınöz Güney, Huriye Aybüke Koç, Güneş Gür Aksoy
Turkish Journal of Dermatology - 2025;19(4):202-208
Aim: Ingrown toenails affect quality of life, leading patients to seek information online, often on YouTube. This study aims to analyze narrator types, viewer engagement, content distribution, and video quality of YouTube videos on ingrown toenails. Materials and Methods: On May 14, 2024, the first 100 YouTube videos related to "ingrown nail" and "onychocryptosis" were collected, excluding duplicates, non-English, irrelevant, or ads. The number of views, likes, comments, and narrators for non-informative videos (group A) were recorded. Informative videos (group B) were additionally coded across seven categories (symptoms, causes, prevention, foot soaks, podological, conservative, and surgical treatments), and evaluated for quality using DISCERN and global quality score. Results: Non-informative videos attracted more views and engagement than educational ones. Most informative videos were created by podiatrists, doctors of podiatric medicine and surgery who specialize in the care of feet and ankles, and physicians, mainly focusing on surgical treatment, while nail technicians, professionals trained in cosmetic nail care and pedicure services, emphasized cosmetic and conservative approaches. Health websites more often covered symptoms, causes, and prevention than other topics. Videos from podiatrists achieved the highest quality scores, while dermatologists were notably absent. Conclusion: Despite YouTube's lack of regulation, it is encouraging that ingrown nail videos are primarily created by doctors, providing information from symptoms to treatment options. However, content varies by narrator. Notably, less informative nail extraction and pedicure videos achieve higher viewer engagement. Podiatrist videos are of higher quality than those by nail technicians and physicians. Dermatologists can contribute by creating accurate, up-to-date videos to enhance public knowledge.
