Skin & Nail Conditions
Good skin and nail health is about more than aesthetics—especially when your feet are involved.
We put our feet through plenty of paces every day, often with them confined within damp shoes or walking through not the cleanest of environments. Our skin and toenails are the first lines of defense our feet have against damage and infection.
Keeping your skin and nails healthy can not only help them look better, but can increase your protection against challenging conditions and problems. So it’s important to get proper treatment for problems, whether they have suddenly cropped up or have been with you for a while.
Skin & Nail Conditions We Treat
Our doctors treat a wide variety of skin and nail conditions on the feet. A few of the more common examples include:
- Plantar Warts. The result of a viral infection in the upper layers of skin, plantar warts can be unsightly, uncomfortable, and sometimes painful. They usually appear as a circular area or clusters of thick, fleshy, grainy raised tissue, often with tiny black dots (dried blood). There may be pain when you step on them or squeeze them. Warts can go away on their own, but it can take years. Professional intervention can help safely remove warts much faster (and keep them from spreading).
- Toenail Fungus. A fungal infection of the toenails that can leave them thick, brittle, discolored, and misshapen. Successful treatment means eradicating the fungus and allowing clear new nail to grow out. This is most easily accomplished when the infection is spotted, diagnosed, and treated in its earliest stages.
- Athlete’s Foot. This is a skin infection that can be caused by the same organisms that cause fungal toenails. In fact, the two conditions can spread between each other! Athlete’s foot often takes the form of a red, scaly, itchy rash between the toes or along the sides of the feet. While mild cases can be treatable at home, do not hesitate to contact us should you have an especially painful or persistent case.
- Ingrown Toenails. Often affecting the big toe, but not impossible to see in others, an ingrown toenail sees the edge of a toenail curving down into nearby skin, causing pain and inflammation. Some mild cases can be treated effectively at home, but any case that is causing severe pain, may be infected, or continually recurs should be seen by us.
- Corns and Calluses. When the skin comes against a source of steady friction (like rubbing along the inside of your shoe), it can develop corns or calluses as a means of trying to protect itself. Both are thickened patches of skin, with corns tending to be smaller and more raised, and calluses flatter and wider. Treating these conditions means addressing the cause of friction.
- Blisters. A blister is the accumulation of fluid between layers of skin. This can be in response to friction, but also burns, freezing, or chemical irritation. Like corns and calluses, we must ensure the cause is being addressed in addition to treating the blisters themselves.
- Dry Skin and Cracks. Skin that is constantly dry is more prone to cracking. Not only can this be painful, but it can also lead to higher rates of infection. We can help you determine what is causing your dry skin and compose a treatment plan to keep your feet healthily moisturized.
- Hyperhidrosis. While dryness can be a problem, so can excessive moisture. Hyperhidrosis, or excessive sweating, can increase the risk of foot odor, as well as fungal or bacterial infections. We have been able to medically help many cases of excessive sweating.
Find the Help You Need for
Healthier Skin & Toenails
While having better-looking feet is certainly a valid goal, so is protecting yourself against pain, infection, and other problems that can impede your mobility or enjoyment of life.
If you are facing any current problems, do not hesitate to contact any of our area clinics. Call us at (612) 788-8778 or fill out our online contact form to get in touch and schedule an appointment.