Nail Polish

As winter approaches, it’s almost time for vacation. Maybe not for you, or even the kids in school, but for those toenails you’ve been overworking all summer. Guys, you can skip out and read up on past blogs because the women are guiltier of this one. With women in Texas wearing nail polish on those open toes almost year-round, their toenails take quite a bit of abuse. Nail polish has a chemical called formaldehyde in it. This is the stuff they use in new car glues and cadaver preservative. It dries and damages your toenails. Nail polish remover has acetone in it, which is a chemical that also damages toenails. And this damage isn’t microscopic either. You can see it in the form of white spots on the nail’s surface. These are points of weakness that make them more susceptible to infection.

The point of all this nail weakness talk is to help prevent against fungal infections from forming. So as it gets a little cooler, your podiatrist recommends giving your nails a breather when you’re covering them up with closed toe shoes anyway. No one will see them, I promise. This gives your toenails a bit of a recovery period. That means no base layer either. The clear layer is just as bad as the hot pink one.

There is such a thing as good polish however. They are made from natural elements and lack the threatening chemicals. Some women have said they aren’t as effective as the real deal but it beats fungus infecting your toe nails. If you suspect that your polish is causing problems, come by and see Dr.Grimm or Dr.Pattison for your footcare needs.

Athlete's Foot Awareness

Whether you’ve added swimming to your winter cross-training routine, made a New Year resolution to start going to the gym or simply have been wearing socks more often due to the cooler weather, it is important to take measures to keep your feet from picking up this uncomfortable fungal infection.

Athlete’s foot, otherwise know as tinea pedis, is a superficial fungal infection of the skin. It most occurs more frequently in adults, targeting the web spaces between the toes and soles of the feet. The fungi thrive in warm, moist environments that may be present in socks, old running shoes, around indoor pools and in fitness center showers. Symptoms of tinea pedis include itching, redness, scaling and occasionally blisters. There are many different types of fungi that cause athlete’s foot, and superficial bacterial infections of the skin can present with identical symptoms. Therefore, it’s important to distinguish a bacterial from a fungal organism causing the skin infection prior to commencement of treatment. Below are some tips provided by the American Podiatric Medical Association for avoiding superficial skin infections of the feet.

Avoid walking barefoot; use shower shoes.
Reduce perspiration by using talcum powder.
Wear light and airy shoes.
Wear socks that keep your feet dry, and change them frequently if you perspire heavily.

Whether you describe yourself as an athlete or not, we’re all susceptible to an attack of athlete’s foot if we don’t take proper measures to keep our feet dry. If the above tips fail to prevent this fungal infection from attacking your feet, don’t hesitate to schedule an appointment with your podiatrist. They have the training to differentiate between bacterial and fungal infections with noninvasive tests and will get you on the road to recovery in no time.