Basic guidelines to follow when dressing your foot ulcer STEP 1: Wash your hands thoroughly before you apply the dressing. STEP 2: Cleanse the ulcer with saline (salt water). Once the dressing has been removed, wash the ulcer with normal saline which is available from the chemist. It is important that the foot is not “bathed” as this can increase the risk of infection. You can make a salt solution at home by dissolving a teaspoon of table salt in hot water in a mug and diluti

How to cut your nails the safe way On a regular basis, podiatrists see and treat toenails that have been trimmed incorrectly and have resulted in inflamed, swollen painful toes. So how should we cut our nails the safe way? As a thumb of rule: Always use a good quality sharp, clean clippers with a straight cutting edge. Always cut the nail straight across following the natural curve of the toe, allowing a small amount of the free edge to remain as shown below. Leave a millimet

Understanding callouses and corns Our feet play an important role in getting us around. There are times when the pressure placed on the foot becomes out of balance, resulting in extra friction formation on some 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 callouses and are actually part of the body’s defense system to protect the underlyin

Warts are one of several non cancerous, soft tissue conditions of the foot that can be quite painful. Wart lesions can develop anywhere on the body, but typically they appear on the bottom of the foot, hence the term plantar warts. They can occur at any age but children, especially teenagers, tend to be more susceptible to warts than adults, due to their less mature immune system. What are the signs and symptoms of plantar warts? Warts may present in single or multiple lesion

Understanding Fungal infection (Athlete’s Foot, tinea pedis) Fungal infection of feet is very common skin conditions seen by podiatrists. The fungus most commonly attacks the feet, especially in between the toes or on the soles of the feet because shoes create a warm, dark and humid environment that encourages fungus growth. It occurs more among teenage and adult males and more in diabetics and people that work or exercise in warm, wet conditions. The warmth and dampness of

Understanding Fungal Toenails And How To Treat Them Effectively. Fungal toenail or onychomycosis is an infection affecting the nail plate and surrounding tissue, most commonly caused by fungi (dermatophytes), yeasts or moulds. This type of infection can affect both the fingernails and toenails, though it is more commonly seen in toes due to dark, humid environment (eg. enclosed footwear). Such infection is often ignored as the infection can be present for years without causin