JustCare

Tag: Fungus

  • Watch your feet!

    Watch your feet!

    Do your feet hurt? For eight in ten Americans, the answer is yes. Don’t let foot aches stop you from your daily activities. Check your feet every day.

    Jancee Dunn reports for the New York Times that your feet can alert you to issues with your overall health. For example, if your feet are swollen, it could mean you have high blood pressure, gout or kidney problems. If your feet are tingling, you might have diabetes.

    Foot pain is especially common for older adults because your skin becomes thinner and less elastic as you age.  There are a wide array of  treatments targeting different types of foot pain, depending when you feel pain and its location. No matter what’s wrong, you can ease foot pain and feel better.

    Treating foot issues is particularly important because it can decrease your risk of falling. As it is, one in three older adults fall each year. And, more than 1.5 million older adults are hospitalized each year as a result of a fall.

    What to do? Study both the tips and bottoms of your feet as well as the space between your toes. If your skin is cracked, red or you have sores that won’t heal, talk to your doctor.

    Where’s the pain? And, when do you feel it?

    • Fungal infections between the toes causing redness, blisters or itching: This is typically called athlete’s foot because the infection develops from sweat and moisture build-up in your feet as a result of exercise. Make sure you wash your feet, including the area between the toes, after exercise and then dry then to prevent infections. Use an over-the- counter fungal spray or cream to treat the infection. And, talk to your doctor.
    • Toenail fungus is very common among older adults. It results from brittle and dry nails and reduced circulation to the feet as you age. Your toenail becomes discolored and thick. If it doesn’t hurt, you don’t really have to worry about it. But, it could spread to other toes.
    • Ingrown toenails: To prevent them, cut toenails straight across. Do not round them at the edges.
    • Blisters: You can pop a blister with a clean tool. But don’t take the top off. Simply put an antiseptic cream on with a bandaid until it heals.
    • Bunions, hammertoes, corns or calluses. More than one in three older adults have bunions. They appear on the inside of your feet at the base of the big toe. Hammertoes are protrusions on the top of your toe that keep your toe from sitting straight and flat. With calluses and corns, there’s a thickening of your skin. Corns might also have some fluid.
    • Plantar fasciitis: One in ten adults over 50 suffer from plantar fasciitis. It causes a pain on the bottom of your feet, which can be debilitating. It is an inflammation of the tissue on the bottom of your feet and across its full length. It might not be possible to prevent plantar fasciitis. It often results from exercise, when the muscles in your legs and feet are tight. And, you don’t want to stop exercising!!!!! But, you should be sure to take time to stretch your muscles, particularly your calves, before and after exercising.

    Good foot hygiene:

    • Do not wear shoes that are tight. But, avoid wearing flip flops, which can aggravate foot issues, including arch pain and plantar fasciitis.
    • Do not polish your toenails if they are discolored. Do not get callus shavers or foot peels. Avoid high heels!!!
    • Do exercise your feet. You can roll a tennis ball underneath them. Get a foot massage and do legs up the wall exercises. Soak your feet in water with vinegar. Wash and moisturize your feet every day.
    • Do use suntan lotion on your feet to avoid sunburn and skin cancer on the tops and soles of your feet.

    Warding off bunions, hammertoes, corns and calluses and easing pain:

    • Keep your toenails clipped.
    • Wear shoes that support your feet and do not pinch your feet
    • Do foot exercises to develop the muscles in your feet.
    • Wear padded bandaids or moleskins over the affected areas of your feet
    • Soak your feet regularly and then moisturize them with a lotion containing urea.
    • If the pain is preventing you from doing what you want to do, talk to a doctor about the costs and benefits of surgery. Use a pumice stone on calluses.

    Treating plantar fasciitis and osteoarthritis:

    • Ice your foot where it hurts early and often!
    • Wear shoes that do not bend.
    • Walk a little, even if it hurts.
    • Stick to bicycling, swimming and other exercises that are not high-impact; take a break from activity that’s hard on your feet.
    • See a physical therapist.
    • Get a shoe insert tailored to your feet

    Here’s more from Just Care:

    • Five ways to ease your fear of falling
    • Five exercises to improve balance for safety and health
    • Caregiving: Keeping Parents Healthy – Water, Walking, Watch out for Delirium
    • Aerobic exercise may be best medicine for your brain and body
    • New study finds no benefits to Vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acid supplements
  • What can you do about toenail fungus?

    What can you do about toenail fungus?

    Toenail fungus is quite common, particularly among older people. Unfortunately, it is a type of infection that can be hard to treat. What can you do about toenail fungus?

    Toenail fungus usually is harmless if you are otherwise healthy. So, you do not have to treat it. You can let it be. But, it likely won’t go away on its own.

    That said, toenail fungus could spread. And, it could infect the skin around it, especially if you have diabetes or a weakened immune system. Your nail might also become thicker, which could make it painful to walk.

    Before deciding whether or how to treat your toenail, talk to your doctor. Your doctor can confirm whether you do indeed have toenail fungus. You could have psoriasis, which can look like a toenail fungus.

    Treating a toenail infection: If you decide to treat toenail fungus, be patient. According to the National Institutes of Health, it usually takes several months for the treatment to work. Here are three treatment options from the NIH. Talk to your doctor before starting a treatment.

    • Try an over-the-counter colorless medicated nail polish with amorolfine or ciclopirox. First cut and file down your nail as much as possible. Then apply amorolfine once or twice a week over the course of a year. Or, apply ciclopirox every other day for the first month, twice a week in the second month and once a week beginning the third month. Before applying the new layer of polish, clean off the old layer with alcohol.  They can keep the fungus from growing or kill it. But, evidence that these treatments work is limited.
    • There is also a topical treatment that removes the part of the toenail that is infected. You first soak the nail in warm water for ten minutes. You then soften the toenail with a medicated urea-based cream and then scrape off the fungus. Discuss this option with your doctor. There is no good evidence that this treatment works over the long-term.
    • There are oral medications designed to treat toenail fungus. They have been shown to be much more effective than nail polish or urea-based cream. But, they have side effects, including stomach and bowel problems and a small risk of liver damage.

    Preventing nail fungus:

    • Dry your feet carefully after showering.
    • Wear shoes that are comfortable and fit well; if they are too tight, your feet can’t breathe.
    • Whenever possible, don’t wear shoes.
    • Wear flip flops in communal locker rooms.

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