My 88 year old father was recently in the ER and I saw that his toenails looked horrible, thick and yellow. But even worse was when I took my 93 year old mother to see her doctor and her toenails were really long, the large nails were also thick and discolored and the skin around her toes looked very flaky. Frankly, it was gross and I was shocked. The doctor said he sees this all the time. I know my dad was taking my mom to see a podiatrist, but he's had shingles for several months and I'm just now finding out a lot of things they've kept pretty well hidden.
Besides the fact that I want to take care of my parents (they are going into a wonderful assisted living facility this weekend), I'm wondering if horrible looking feet is an inevitable part of aging. My husband and I don't have children and we are seeing how important it is to take care of ourselves! We're trying to learn from my parents and take care of ourselves.
cared for. Some places won't let the direct care staff cut nails due to chances of injury.
Now I take her regularly every other month or so, for a pedicure. I always look at her toes now.
I know the hammer toe is from wearing shoes that are too small. As we get older and our muscles weaken our feet get flatter making them longer and wider. My Mom wore an 8 narrow all her life and she was going to cram her feet into those 8 narrows no matter what. After much pain and many arguments she's now wearing a 9 medium, but the damage is already done.
I'm sure there are exceptions, but I'll bet this is more common than not.