Prevention advice for ingrown toenails fits in one sentence, and the exact wording matters more than the length. Here is that sentence, read the way you would read a clause in an agreement.
The answer, as written
The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons states: "Unless the problem is congenital (you are born with it), the best way to prevent ingrown toenails is to: Protect the feet from trauma." In plain terms, the answer is to protect your feet from trauma.
The condition inside the sentence
The sentence opens with "Unless the problem is congenital." That is an exclusion. If you were born with the problem, the advice that follows is not offered as the best way to prevent it.
"Protect the feet from trauma" is the single action the sentence names. Treat any longer checklist you meet with suspicion and ask where each added rule is written down.
What to confirm, and with whom
If an ingrown nail already bothers you, prevention advice is not treatment. Ask a podiatrist near Itasca whether your nail problem is congenital, because the sentence above handles that case separately.
For reading you can check against the wording here, MedlinePlus keeps a page of discharge instructions for ingrown toenail removal and a separate encyclopedia entry on the ingrown toenail. The Cleveland Clinic publishes a page on ingrown toenail signs, causes, treatment and prevention, and the NHS ingrown toenail page gives a third account to compare.
The clause readers skip
Most people stop at "protect the feet from trauma" and skip the opening "unless." Read that first. It tells you whether the advice applies to you at all.