NATURALLY COLORED NAILS PERHAPS...?!!

Nails are not something that come in different shapes, forms, color etc. Perhaps that has to be a constant in the differences present in each human being. However, since most people have wondered at least once in their life as to the existence of finger nails, more people on a regular basis ignore anything funny going on with them. People in general are more prone to pay better attention to their finger nails than toe nails and that is simply because one remains hidden as opposed to the other which are almost always seen. This being said, people will generally tend to ignore changes taking place in their toe nails, whether this maybe the increase in length, shape including the thickness of the nail, smell, lines in the nails, decrease in thickness or increased brittleness to name some. However, most of the time people do take the time to come in the clinic when nail growth in the corners starts causing pain.

Normal, healthy individuals do not endure such changes of the nails on a normal basis as my patients who have multiple health risks such as Diabetes, alcohol addictions, smoking, unhealthy lifestyles and at times all these together. Nails changes are quite common in those who have serious health risks and thus these nail changes cannot be ignored. Proper care by a podiatrist is important because nails can be little portals for infections to start, and if there is a cut around the area, can cause the infection to spread inside of the body and this can lead to not so comforting outcomes, including but not limited to thorough exams, more frequent clinic visits and lastly amputation of the toe if the infection gets worst and if it gets into bone. If the infection gets in the bone, it has a tendency to disrupt the normal functioning of the bone and start to spread up the bone, destroying the bone in the process. This can further lead to more bone having to be taken out à more amputation.

This might sound scary, and extreme, but the key to this is if you have serious health risks/disease, nail care is just as important as checking your blood sugar or your blood pressure. It cannot be ignored just because there is no pain and podiatry visits are a must.