
We provide nursing foot care service at our clinic or at your home, nursing home, retirement home, hospital or any other care facility. Our professional and qualified advanced foot care nurses will assess and treat you for your foot problems such as corns, calluses, ingrown toenails, thick, or fungal nails.
Geriatric Foot Care
Ingrown Toenails & Fungus
Warts
Diabetic Footcare
Calluses
Corns
When to see a Foot Nurse?
You should see a foot nurse if any of the following applies to you.
- Swelling of the feet and legs
- Diabetic
- On blood thinner medications
- Poor circulation
- Arthritis
- Neuropathy of the feet/legs
- Back pain
- Pregnant
- Immunocompromised (due to cancer, or rheumatoid arthritis or other conditions)
- Weakness in hands (you can’t grasp nail clippers anymore)
- Glaucoma, cataract, or poor vision
- You have very thick nails that you can’t cut any more
- Or you simply can’t reach your toes anymore.
Geriatric Foot Care
- As seniors, it is important to practice responsible foot care in order to maintain a healthy and active, active lifestyle. You should practice proper hygiene, make sure your feet stay clean and dry, inspect your feet daily, trim toenails straight across to avoid ingrown toenails, and wear appropriate shoes to support your feet.
- It is important as you grow older, you don’t put off foot pain to just ‘getting old’. Luckily, many foot problems can be treated successfully through treatment at Pinkal Medical and Aesthetic Clinic.
Treatment For Ingrown Toenails
- Ingrown toenails can be caused by abnormally curved, damaged, fungal or thickened toenails that grow into the adjacent skin.
- Shoe wear can also cause ingrown or painful nails. They are often easily treated conservatively by a Foot Nurse in the clinic rooms by gently cutting away the offending nail spicule and then educating the patient on appropriate shoe wear and nail cutting techniques to prevent problems in the future
Treatment For Nail Fungus
- Fungal infection of nails (tinea unguium) is common, particularly in toenails in the elderly and diabetic patients. The infection causes thickened and unsightly nails which sometimes become painful.
- We will debride your fungal infected toenail as much as possible and provide you with a prescription for a topical anti-fungal medication which may take several months to treat the nail fungus. .
Treatment For Warts
Warts are viral infections on the skin that commonly present on our feet. Warts are most common in children but can present at any age, especially for people with finer skin that is more easily damaged. Some warts go away on their own without treatment but quite often, without medical treatment, they can increase in size and depth and can multiply and spread. They can also become painful if left untreated. The longer warts are left untreated the more stubborn they can be to remove.
Plantar warts are commonly found on the soles of your feet. They are usually small hard bumps that often have black dots in them. Warts on your feet can also present as hard, raised lumps with rough surfaces anywhere on the body. Commonly warts are misdiagnosed as corns and therefore should be properly diagnosed by a medical professional. Some simple differences between warts and corns include:
Warts are painful to squeeze and corns are painful to apply direct pressure to
Warts often have small black dots in the center of them
A wart can be found anywhere on the foot and corns occur only in areas of pressure
Warts can also lay dormant yet infectious in our bodies and for infection to occur there must be a break in the skin for the virus to be spread. Warts are commonly spread in public areas such as swimming pools, change rooms and public bathrooms. They are commonly spread by scratching them or being in direct contact with other people who have warts. People with poor immune systems are more prone to getting them but injuries to the skin; sweaty feet, constantly getting your hands wet and/or biting your nails can also predispose you to warts.
At Pinkal Foot Care and NP Clinic, our nurses have several different treatment options that they can discuss with you to remove warts, many of which do not cause any discomfort. These treatment options may include natural therapies, cryotherapy or freezing, and chemical or acid-based treatments. Consultation with a nurse will enable you to decide whether the wart requires treatment and what the most appropriate option is for you.
Treatment For Diabetic Foot Care
- People who have long-standing or poorly controlled diabetes are also at risk for having damage to the nerves in their feet, which is known in the medical community as peripheral neuropathy. If you have nerve damage, you may not be able to feel your feet normally and you may also be unable to sense the position of your feet and toes while walking and balancing, which can cause even more harm to your feet.
- Diabetes can be extremely dangerous to your feet, so take precautions now. You can avoid serious problems such as losing a toe, foot, or leg by following proper prevention techniques offered by your foot nurse. Remember, prevention is the key to saving your feet and eliminating pain.
Treatment For CALLUSES
- Our feet play an important role in getting us around. When we walk or stand, our feet carry the burden of our body weight, as well as bearing the various pressures of movement and the constraints of footwear.
- Sometimes, pressure placed on the foot becomes out of balance and extra friction falls on particular areas of the foot. When this happens, the body may respond to the pressure by producing thickenings in the surface layer of the skin. These hard patches of skin are called calluses and are part of the body’s defense system to protect the underlying tissues. If the cause of pressure is not relieved, calluses become painful.
Treatment For
Corns
If the pressure becomes concentrated in a small area, a ‘hard’ corn may develop. Sometimes the pressure of the corn or callus may produce inflammation which can result in acute pain, swelling and redness.
Sometimes ‘soft’ corns may form between the toes where the skin is moist from sweat or inadequate drying. These appear white and rubbery and are also caused by excessive friction.
Corns and calluses are most often found on the balls of the feet or the tops of toes. They can also be found on heels and even along the sides of toenails.
What causes calluses and corns?
Calluses and corns are generally symptoms of underlying problems and in some cases, early warning signals of more complex foot disorders. Because they are caused by continuous pressure in one particular area, they may indicate abnormalities or deformity in bone structure or in the way a person walks. Often calluses and corns are caused by ill-fitting or inappropriate footwear.
Who gets calluses and corns?
Almost everyone!
In fact, calluses and corns affect more people than any other kind of foot problem.
Some people have a natural tendency to develop calluses because of their skin type. For instance, elderly people have less fatty tissue and elasticity in their feet and because of a lack of padding, calluses may form on the bottom of the foot.
Also, people who work in occupations that require them to spend a lot of time on their feet are prone to developing calluses.
How to treat calluses and corns
The most important thing to remember about treating calluses and corns is never doing it yourself without seeing a professional first. Because calluses are generally symptoms of other problems, it is important to have a nurse examine your feet to work out what could be causing the pressure.
Over-the-counter remedies such as corn paint or plasters generally only treat the symptoms – not the problem. Also, they can easily damage the healthy skin surrounding the corn if not used properly. Commercial preparations should only be used following professional advice.
Warning!
It is important that you never cut corns or calluses yourself. In the warm, moist confines of enclosed shoes, an infection can easily develop and small cuts can quickly become serious wounds.
Seeing your Foot nurse
Your nurse will not only recommend ways to relieve pain and get rid of the corn or callus, but can also help with isolating the cause and preventing the problem from recurring. To treat painful corns, your foot nurse will gently remove some of the hard skin of the callus so that the centre of the corn can be removed.
To allow the callus to heal and prevent future cases, your foot nurse may redistribute pressure on the foot with soft padding and strapping or deflective appliances that fit easily into your shoes. For corns on the toes, small foam wedges are useful for relieving pressure on affected parts. For older patients suffering from calluses on the soles of the feet, extra shock absorption for the ball of the foot can help to compensate for a loss of natural padding.
Your foot nurse may also discuss the type of footwear most likely to cause corns and calluses. In some cases, special shoe inserts (orthoses) may be prescribed to reduce excessive weight-bearing forces on the foot and provide long-term relief.
Preventing corns and calluses and caring for your feet
The best way to prevent the development of calluses and corns is to pay attention to your feet when you feel there is extra pressure on specific areas.
Properly fitting shoes are essential, especially if you spend long periods of time on your feet and it is important that you never wear others’ shoes.
A moisturizer used daily, will help to keep your skin supple. But don’t forget that these problems are caused by pressure.
If you feel you may be developing a callus or corn, or you already have one, the best thing to do is seek professional advice and treatment from your local podiatrist.