Your Feet Can Tell You Some Things About Your Health

SeaBreeze

SeaBreeze

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Feet, toenails even the hair on your toes can tell you some things about your overall health. Full article here. http://energytimes.com/pages/departments/0717/malady0717.html
When was the last time you really looked at your feet? Examined them top to bottom, heel to toe?


“You should inspect your feet every day because their condition can provide clues to other health issues,” says Leslie Campbell, DPM, a podiatrist in Allen, Texas, and a representative of the American Podiatric Medical Association.

Symptoms like pain in your heel or big toe, swelling or redness, brittle or pitted toenails, and numbness or cramping should never be ignored. They could signal a systemic disease that requires evaluation—and cause plenty of misery if left untreated.


Nail Woes



Podiatrists often see dry, brittle toenails. While they could be related to environmental factors or a vitamin A deficiency, brittle toenails are often linked to thyroid disease. If moisturizing doesn’t help, Campbell recommends seeing a practitioner.


“The nail plate is just keratin,” notes Gregory Catalano, DPM, podiatrist in Concord, Massachusetts, “so not all vitamin deficiencies will be evident in the structure of the nail.”


Pitted or pockmarked toenails, or nails with white patches, may be signs of psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis; Campbell says consulting a dermatologist would be wise. She also cautions that a dark, vertical line on the nail could be an indication of a hidden melanoma. While only 5% of melanomas affect nails, if left untreated, this skin cancer could spread.


A condition referred to a “spoon nail,” in which there’s a depression in the nail large enough to hold liquid, could signal iron-deficiency anemia or lupus, an autoimmune disease.
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I don't know about your overall health being affected, but that foot looks very painful. Ditto on Rose's question, how did you do that? :eewwk:
 
SeaBreeze said:
I don't know about your overall health being affected, but that foot looks very painful. Ditto on Rose's question, how did you do that? :eewwk:
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The VA, in their infinite wisdom did that to remove some very painful lumps that continued to grow back. After the 3rd operation, the doctor said "you have something different than we thought, and none of those should have been done..... I now walk very little, it put me on full disability 10 years ago and I need a cane to keep the pressure off along with special frankenstein shoes.... Those are pics of the 3rd operation when they also broke my toe.
 
So sad to think that surgery was unnecessary. :( I wonder if the painful lumps were any more painful than the situation you're in now...and they also broke your toe? Amazing! I can understand why you walk very little, sorry to hear that.
 
hauntedtexan said:
The VA, in their infinite wisdom did that to remove some very painful lumps that continued to grow back. After the 3rd operation, the doctor said "you have something different than we thought, and none of those should have been done..... I now walk very little, it put me on full disability 10 years ago and I need a cane to keep the pressure off along with special frankenstein shoes.... Those are pics of the 3rd operation when they also broke my toe.
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I've read a lot of horror stories about the VA through the years and screw ups like yours is exactly why I don't go there for health care......really sorry they messed you up HT.
 
IKE said:
I've read a lot of horror stories about the VA through the years and screw ups like yours is exactly why I don't go there for health care......really sorry they messed you up HT.
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The big problem is there is no recourse against the VA if they screw up an operation.... Thank you...
 
Did they ever get back to normal Ruthanne? Here's some causes of black toenails. http://www.runnersworld.com/black-t...w-to-id-the-harmless-from-the-harmful/slide/4 I was never one to get pedicures, rarely wore nail polish and always did my nails myself at home. Maybe once a year in summer I'd put on some polish, but that was about it.

Well, this year I made the mistake of going for a pedicure a couple of times in a row. I always wondered about the sanitation of their instruments they use, and never liked the idea of using an opened bottle of polish that numerous other women used on their toes. But my husband liked the change, and I went a second time.

Sure enough when the polish started chipping off and I removed it at home, my nails on the big toes were oddly white instead of the usual healthy pink. In a day or so without the polish, I noticed it looked a little yellowish, and what I had was fungus. I started using an over the counter fungus liquid on them, one was worse than the other, and slowly they're getting back to normal. It's a slow process though, have to apply the stuff twice a day, and the nail pretty much has to grow back to the point the affected area is no longer there. Gonna stick to doing my own nails, with just a rare application of polish at home.
 

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