Regular foot health assessment helps to detect issues early before they become bigger problems.

We do a focused lower leg/foot assessment that includes assessing color, temperature, pulses, sensation, nail thickness & length, corns & calluses, skin health, and shoe fit.

We alert you to any issues identified so you can follow up with your primary care provider or specialists as needed.

Toenails can become thicker, brittle, and prone to splitting with age, making them difficult or impossible to trim yourself. Long nails can catch on socks and clothing, and can cause scratching of fragile skin on the opposite leg in bed. Long nails also affect balance, increasing the risk of falls.

Regular foot care visits include trimmming and filing of toenails, and thinning of thick nails to improve your mobility & independence, decrease fall risk, and provide foot and shoe comfort.

Skin becomes thinner and drier as we age and we lose the fat pads on the bottoms of our feet. Corns and calluses develop on parts of the feet where pressure, rubbing and frictionn occur, which can make walking painful. Foot conditions such as bunions and hammer toes, as well as poorly fitting shoes further contribute to the formation of corns and calluses. Corns and calluses also adds to the risk of falling because they can cause you to shift your weight inappropriately when walking to reduce pain.

Dry, cracked skin doesn’t just make you itch, it can lead to scratching, tears, and sores that can lead to infection. Dry skin has many causes including irritation from hash soaps and other skin products, routine foot soaking and pedicure foot soaks, lack of daily moisturizing, and some skin conditions such as dermatitis or eczema.

 We can assess your dry skin, file dry, cracked heels, provide skin care education and recommendations to help restore and maintain healthy skin, and alert you to issues should be followed up with your primary care provider, dermatologist, or podiatrist.

An ingrown toenail occurs when the edge of a nail pierces the skin and continues to irritate that skin as the nail grows, causing tenderness, redness, and pain that can result in infection. Ingrown toenails most often occur in the big toe and are frequently caused by improper cutting of the nail, cutting the nail too short, or from shoes that are too tight or too narrow. Sometimes what seems to be an ingrown toenail is actually an impacted toenail, a toenail that is causing pressure and pain against the skin but has not pierced the skin.

 We can carefully clean and file the area around an impacted toenail to give it more space and relieve pressure and pain or trim the spike of an ingrown toenail if it’s not infected. If infection is suspected, you will be referred to your primary care provider or podiatrist for appropriate medical intervention.

Preventing complications is the key to foot care for persons with diabetes.

Diabetes makes you more susceptible to foot problems because it can damage nerves and reduce blood flow to the foot. Many people with diabetes eventually lose sensation in their feet, a condition called diabetic neuropathy. A loss of protective sense in the foot leaves you vulnerable to developing other foot complications that can lead to infection and even amputation.

 Regular foot care and foot health assessments can literally save your feet and your life. It’s that important. Foot care nurses are trained to assess and care for persons with diabetes and other chronic conditions such as poor circulation and those on blood thinners. We can help you to keep your feet healthy, provide education on proper foot care and identify issues early that should be seen by a podiatrist or other specialist.