April 10, 2024 • 15 mins
Ever found yourself doing the itchy foot shuffle and wondered if something more sinister than your socks is to blame? You're in luck because on the latest LMD Podiatry Podcast, we're getting to the bottom of foot fungus, and trust me – it's a toe-tally explosive topic! Dr. Lauren Dabakaroff, alongside your favorite sidekick Jeremy Wolf, is here to unravel the mysteries of those uninvited guests lurking between your toes. We're not just scratching the surface; we're cracking open the playbook on how to spot, stop, and sidestep the fungal fiesta that's throwing a party on your plates (and by plates, we mean toenails).
Get ready to be equipped with the knowledge to keep your feet in tiptop shape. We'll share some eyebrow-raising truths about where these spores love to spawn and why that post-gym shower might be a highway to the danger zone for your digits. Your gym bag's about to get a new best friend, and spoiler alert: it's not another pair of sneakers. With a healthy dose of wit and wisdom (and maybe a few too many foot puns for your taste), the LMD Podiatry Podcast is about to become your sole-mate in the journey to foot freedom. Tune in, learn something new, and walk away with the confidence that your footsie woes are a thing of the past!
To learn more, visit: LMDpodiatry.com or contact (954) 680-7133
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Welcome to the LMD Podiatry Podcast.
Trust us to get back on yourfeet.
Here's your host, Dr LaurenDeBakeroff.
Jeremy Wolf (00:15):
Hello, hello everyone, and welcome back to
another episode of the LMDPodiatry Podcast.
I'm your co-host, jeremy Wolf,joined by your host, dr Lauren
DeBakeroff.
Dr Lauren, always a pleasure,seeing you.
Always a pleasure.
Podcast.
I'm your co-host, jeremy wolf,joined by your host, dr lauren
de beckroft.
Dr lauren, always a pleasure,seeing you always a pleasure.
So there's a fungus among us,as I like to say, topic of the
discussion today is foot fungus.
(00:36):
So what is foot fungus and howdoes it affect the feet?
Dr. Lauren Dabakaroff (00:42):
Okay.
So a lot of people they seefoot fungus.
They see things you knowdiscoloration and flaking and
weird stuff growing on theirfeet and their toenails and they
have no idea what it is.
Fungus in general, it's amicroorganism.
(01:02):
Just like you can get pus andan infection from a bacteria, so
fungus can also infect yourbody, but it's just a different
species completely.
There's yeast mold fungus.
You know that's the type ofthings you know, just like when
your bread goes moldy, you knowthat that's a mold.
(01:25):
It's a.
You know, yeast and mold.
Those are, you know, all in thefamily of fungus, right?
So unfortunately, sometimesthese things can land in your
foot, your toenails and yourfoot.
Could also be in your hands andother places in your body, but
it's actually very common tohave it appear on your feet.
Jeremy Wolf (01:45):
Interesting.
So I don't think I'veencountered that, not yet anyway
, but if I notice some strangemushrooms growing on my feet,
I'm going to have to.
That will be cause for concern.
Go ahead.
I was going to say how does ittypically spread and what
ultimately causes it, and whatare some preventative measures
(02:07):
that people can take to ensurethey don't get fungus on their
feet.
Dr. Lauren Dabakaroff (02:10):
So typically it happens from all.
Fungus starts with moisture.
Okay, that makes sense so whenyou have a moist environment,
that actually starts giving achance for fungus to grow.
Okay, and then the reason whyit's so typical in the foot is
(02:30):
because feet are trapped insideshoes or someone has sweaty feet
or you're wearing shoes withoutsocks and anytime you have a
situation where you trap themoisture inside your shoe.
You have a situation where youtrap the moisture inside your
shoe, then that becomes abreeding ground for the fungus
to grow and spread.
(02:51):
Now you could also get infectedfrom other places.
It's very common for women toget a fungal toenail infection
from the nail salon because youshare nail polish with thousands
of people and nobody sterilizesthe nail polish brush.
You know different things likethat.
You could also get it from.
(03:12):
You know if you wear someoneelse's shoes that has fungus, so
it does spread.
But you know you can catch itfrom anywhere.
Catch it from walking barefoot,you know, on a mat and a gym
mat and because you know nobodycleans that, like if you go, if
you go to, like, go to karate,or you know you're doing yoga,
(03:34):
you know and you're usingsomeone else's mat, you know
it's an infection.
You can get infected from almostany surface.
But then some people you know,have good hygiene, they don't
get that.
But you know, let's say I go doyoga, use the.
You know the mat that someoneelse used that had fungus, that,
(03:55):
and they didn't clean it.
And then all of a sudden I goto yoga and then I trap my foot
inside a shoe.
You know that littlemicroorganism gets a chance to
spread and that's how I getinfected.
Just like different scenarios,a lot of people wonder where is
it coming from?
Why did I get it?
You could literally contract itfrom any surface, from the
(04:16):
floor, walking barefoot, youknow, walking on a mat, yoga mat
, gym mat, sharing a shower withother people that do have it
from somewhere else.
Walking barefoot, you know, uh,even patient, I have people who
like, uh, they like, go hikingbarefoot or like they walk
through water and mud, and again, that's when the moisture gets
(04:38):
trapped and that's the breedingground for the, for the fungus
to grow.
Jeremy Wolf (04:44):
So I've heard the term athlete's foot before and.
I know that that's a type offungus.
What's the primary differencebetween something like athlete's
foot and then something likeyou mentioned earlier toenail
fungus?
Is it just a different strainof the virus?
Dr. Lauren Dabakaroff (04:58):
Yes, so they present.
No, it's the same.
It's the same, you know, fungus.
It just presents differently onskin than it would on the
toenails.
So athlete's foot is whenfungus appears on the bottom of
your foot.
Why is it called athlete's foot?
Because a lot of athletes theythey sweat in their foot,
they're, you know, and they'relike it's hot outside, they're
(05:19):
playing basketball, whatever,and then the moisture gets
trapped in their shoe and thenthat's how they get the
athlete's foot, which is funguson the bottom of the skin, on
the bottom of their foot.
And then toenail fungus is whenyou get fungus on the actual
toenail.
So they present differently.
Fungus on the skin presents, yousee this, like flaky type of
(05:40):
skin with circular patterns, andthat's athlete's foot.
And then when it's on thetoenail, it's usually dark,
thick, yellow, black nail.
You know, sometimes it could bewhite, sometimes it could be,
and there's a lot of times it's100% fungus.
When patients have like this,like crust appearance underneath
(06:05):
their nail, and that's clinical, clinical, uh diagnosis of a
fungus in your toenails.
It just presents differently onthe nail versus the skin sounds
lovely, yeah so.
Jeremy Wolf (06:22):
So treatment options right.
So somebody obviously, asidefrom like preventative, aside
from making sure you air yourfeet out, like not sitting
around in wet socks, that kindof thing, and you know, if you
do develop athlete's foot orsome kind of foot fungus, what
are some common treatmentoptions, I guess, both over the
counter and prescription, andwhen should somebody actually
(06:42):
come to see you over this?
Dr. Lauren Dabakaroff (06:44):
So a lot of.
For athlete's foot, whichpresents on the skin, a lot of
the over the counter-counterstuff does help, but most people
just they don't use itconsistently.
And you should come and see meif you know.
You've tried a bunch ofdifferent antifungals
over-the-counter and it's notworking.
(07:06):
Sometimes you need like ascraping of the skin.
Maybe you have a specificfungus that the typical
over-the-counter medication isnot treating.
So that's when you andsometimes an antifungal on its
own is not enough for the skinbecause it you know it can be
very itchy.
So sometimes so I do acombination of steroid cream
(07:28):
with an antifungal cream to helpthe itch and kind of calm down
the itching and help the funguskind of get killed faster.
Whereas toenail fungus in myexperience nothing over the
counter seems to work.
I see a ton of patients everyday with toenail fungus and the
(07:49):
problem with the over thecounter meds is that they cannot
penetrate the nail because thetoenail is 10 times harder and
thicker than the skin.
So you know your averageover-the-counter cream cannot
penetrate the thick layers ofthe nail.
So that's why you know thereare medications that I can
prescribe orally that will helpkill the fungus from the inside,
(08:11):
that are safe as long as youdon't have any other medical
issues.
And I also have, you know,prescription and
non-prescription.
You know top of the linetopical products that do help
debride and kind of thin out thenail to help the medicine
penetrate deeper to have a moreeffective way of killing the
(08:32):
toenail fungus.
Jeremy Wolf (08:34):
Are there any natural home remedies?
Like I'm sitting around with myfoot covered in fungus, I could
stick my foot in a tub ofvinegar or something like that.
What works good around thehouse?
What are some things peoplecould do around the home if
they're just trying to find anew remedy?
Dr. Lauren Dabakaroff (08:50):
So a good natural homeopath, like home
remedies, are vinegar soaks forboth the toenails and the
athlete's foot.
Um, you basically do one partvinegar, three parts water.
It doesn't matter which vinegaryou use, you just want to
dilute it so you don't burn yourskin and you soak your feet in
that for about 20 minutes a dayand it does help kill a lot of
(09:11):
the fungus in your toenails, onyour skin.
Another home remedy for thetoenails I do like tea tree oil.
Like, if you want to use theessential oil, tea tree oil, you
could just put a couple dropson each toenail every day and it
does help kill a lot of thefungus.
But again, with these thingsyou just have to be very, very
(09:31):
consistent with it.
But again, with these thingsyou just have to be very, very
consistent with it and apply itdaily.
Another home remedy for toenailfungus is, believe it or not,
vicks Vaporub.
Really yeah, because thementhol and the camphor in it.
You know it actually helps killa lot of the fungus and some
(09:57):
people like to use like it.
Actually, I actually tried itmyself.
If you mix like Listerine ormouthwash with the vinegar and
make a soak, it actually helpspeel off all the skin that looks
like athlete's foot.
Jeremy Wolf (10:11):
Much better than just vinegar on the phone Mixing
up medicinal potions in DrLauren's lab at home.
Dr. Lauren Dabakaroff (10:17):
Dr Tim Jackson.
I was reading up about it andit does work.
The other thing is people don'thave the patience to do that,
so they come to me for morequicker, effective medical
treatment, fast ways to do it.
And there's, you know there'spills, there's topicals, there's
lasers.
You know I also have funguslaser, you know, to help debulk
(10:40):
the nail a little bit, helppenetration of the medicines,
help everything work moreefficiently.
You know, and then, even afterwe kill all the fungus
completely, it can always comeback.
So I'm always very strict withpreventative measures.
Jeremy Wolf (10:58):
Yeah, prevention is key.
So long-term complicationsright?
Let's just say hypothetically Igot some foot fungus and I'm
not very proactive and I justsit around and it festers and it
festers.
Is there a point where I all ofa sudden now I have gangrene
and my foot has to be amputated?
What are the long termcomplications of not doing?
Dr. Lauren Dabakaroff (11:15):
anything.
So there aren't any long termcomplications.
The only thing, like the mostsevere things I've ever seen
happen with untreated athlete'sfoot, is it can get very
inflamed and then it can getinfected, like I've seen
athletes foot, you know, getvery inflamed because they itch
it and scratch it.
Foot, you know, get veryinflamed because they itch it
(11:36):
and scratch it and then theycause, you know, patients get a
skin infection and then you have, like this, combined like
fungus, with you know,cellulitis or, you know,
infected skin and that's when itgets really bad.
I mean, it doesn't it just it'sannoying to the patient.
But you know, you just need,you know, more medications to
kind of calm that down.
But you really should notneglect it.
(11:57):
You should definitely.
You know, if you want to getrid of it, I would say you have
to kill the fungus.
They you need, you know itneeds to die.
Jeremy Wolf (12:09):
You hear that everyone out there.
If you're listening to this andyou've been looking at that
foot and it's like black andpurple and green and funky, go
see your podiatrist.
Go see Dr Lauren.
Let her come check you out.
Get a handle on this before youhave to get your foot amputated
.
No, I'm just joking.
Dr. Lauren Dabakaroff (12:24):
No no, no amputation.
Well, there is one complicationwith toenail fungus.
Sometimes it can make the nailso thick with toenail fungus.
Sometimes it can make the nailso thick Like I've seen patients
with, like their toenail is sothick with the fungus it's
probably maybe three or fourmillimeters thick like this.
Jeremy Wolf (12:45):
And you need a bone saw to cut the toenail off.
Dr. Lauren Dabakaroff (12:48):
No.
So yes and no, but you know thebiggest issue with that it
actually, when it's so thick itcauses a lot of pain and then
it's very uncomfortable in ashoe and it presses like on your
toe and causes a lot of pain.
So it can cause a lot ofdiscomfort if you don't treat it
(13:08):
or at least keep your nailsfiled and trimmed.
But yeah, it can cause otherthings and other issues.
I've seen patients with likereally bad fungal nails that
they're so thick and theyneglected it.
It actually caused an ulcer intheir toe Like it grew like
(13:32):
thick and curly and then it grewlike back into the skin.
I had some older gentlemen andit actually dug into the side of
the toe, the nail, because itwas so thick.
Jeremy Wolf (13:42):
You get that ingrown toenail that goes into
the toe and it's veryuncomfortable.
Dr. Lauren Dabakaroff (13:46):
Yeah, it was probably great for the nail,
but basically it was like thickand then it curled like back in
on itself and sort of diggingup the toe.
Poor guy, little ulcer.
But you know we fixed it.
Jeremy Wolf (14:02):
That's what you do, right, that's what you do, yeah
.
Dr. Lauren Dabakaroff (14:03):
Yeah, no, I'm saying like you shouldn't,
you definitely shouldn't ignoreit, because it can spread, and
it can.
I mean, it's not something,it's not cancerous or anything
like that, but it is somethingthat can cause a lot of
discomfort, itching, you know,pain in shoes and things like
that.
So you definitely want to treatit before it gets severe.
Jeremy Wolf (14:26):
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of
cure, that's the old idea right.
We'll leave it at that.
Dr Loren, always a pleasureseeing you have a great day.
All right To our listeners.
Thanks for tuning in and wewill catch everyone next time on
the next episode of the LMDpodiatry podcast.
Everyone, take care, have awonderful day.
(14:56):
Thank you for listening to the LMD Podiatry Podcast.
For more information, visitLMDPodiatrycom.
That's L-M-D-P-O-D-I-A-T-R-Ydot com, or call 954-680-7133.
Welcome to the LMD Podiatry Podcast.
Trust us to get back on yourfeet.
Here's your host, Dr LaurenDeBakeroff.
Jeremy Wolf (00:15):
Hello, hello everyone, and welcome back to
another episode of the LMDPodiatry Podcast.
I'm your co-host, jeremy Wolf,joined by your host, dr Lauren
DeBakeroff.
Dr Lauren, always a pleasure,seeing you.
Always a pleasure.
Podcast.
I'm your co-host, jeremy wolf,joined by your host, dr lauren
de beckroft.
Dr lauren, always a pleasure,seeing you always a pleasure.
So there's a fungus among us,as I like to say, topic of the
discussion today is foot fungus.
(00:36):
So what is foot fungus and howdoes it affect the feet?
Dr. Lauren Dabakaroff (00:42):
Okay.
So a lot of people they seefoot fungus.
They see things you knowdiscoloration and flaking and
weird stuff growing on theirfeet and their toenails and they
have no idea what it is.
Fungus in general, it's amicroorganism.
(01:02):
Just like you can get pus andan infection from a bacteria, so
fungus can also infect yourbody, but it's just a different
species completely.
There's yeast mold fungus.
You know that's the type ofthings you know, just like when
your bread goes moldy, you knowthat that's a mold.
(01:25):
It's a.
You know, yeast and mold.
Those are, you know, all in thefamily of fungus, right?
So unfortunately, sometimesthese things can land in your
foot, your toenails and yourfoot.
Could also be in your hands andother places in your body, but
it's actually very common tohave it appear on your feet.
Jeremy Wolf (01:45):
Interesting.
So I don't think I'veencountered that, not yet anyway
, but if I notice some strangemushrooms growing on my feet,
I'm going to have to.
That will be cause for concern.
Go ahead.
I was going to say how does ittypically spread and what
ultimately causes it, and whatare some preventative measures
(02:07):
that people can take to ensurethey don't get fungus on their
feet.
Dr. Lauren Dabakaroff (02:10):
So typically it happens from all.
Fungus starts with moisture.
Okay, that makes sense so whenyou have a moist environment,
that actually starts giving achance for fungus to grow.
Okay, and then the reason whyit's so typical in the foot is
(02:30):
because feet are trapped insideshoes or someone has sweaty feet
or you're wearing shoes withoutsocks and anytime you have a
situation where you trap themoisture inside your shoe.
You have a situation where youtrap the moisture inside your
shoe, then that becomes abreeding ground for the fungus
to grow and spread.
(02:51):
Now you could also get infectedfrom other places.
It's very common for women toget a fungal toenail infection
from the nail salon because youshare nail polish with thousands
of people and nobody sterilizesthe nail polish brush.
You know different things likethat.
You could also get it from.
(03:12):
You know if you wear someoneelse's shoes that has fungus, so
it does spread.
But you know you can catch itfrom anywhere.
Catch it from walking barefoot,you know, on a mat and a gym
mat and because you know nobodycleans that, like if you go, if
you go to, like, go to karate,or you know you're doing yoga,
(03:34):
you know and you're usingsomeone else's mat, you know
it's an infection.
You can get infected from almostany surface.
But then some people you know,have good hygiene, they don't
get that.
But you know, let's say I go doyoga, use the.
You know the mat that someoneelse used that had fungus, that,
(03:55):
and they didn't clean it.
And then all of a sudden I goto yoga and then I trap my foot
inside a shoe.
You know that littlemicroorganism gets a chance to
spread and that's how I getinfected.
Just like different scenarios,a lot of people wonder where is
it coming from?
Why did I get it?
You could literally contract itfrom any surface, from the
(04:16):
floor, walking barefoot, youknow, walking on a mat, yoga mat
, gym mat, sharing a shower withother people that do have it
from somewhere else.
Walking barefoot, you know, uh,even patient, I have people who
like, uh, they like, go hikingbarefoot or like they walk
through water and mud, and again, that's when the moisture gets
(04:38):
trapped and that's the breedingground for the, for the fungus
to grow.
Jeremy Wolf (04:44):
So I've heard the term athlete's foot before and.
I know that that's a type offungus.
What's the primary differencebetween something like athlete's
foot and then something likeyou mentioned earlier toenail
fungus?
Is it just a different strainof the virus?
Dr. Lauren Dabakaroff (04:58):
Yes, so they present.
No, it's the same.
It's the same, you know, fungus.
It just presents differently onskin than it would on the
toenails.
So athlete's foot is whenfungus appears on the bottom of
your foot.
Why is it called athlete's foot?
Because a lot of athletes theythey sweat in their foot,
they're, you know, and they'relike it's hot outside, they're
(05:19):
playing basketball, whatever,and then the moisture gets
trapped in their shoe and thenthat's how they get the
athlete's foot, which is funguson the bottom of the skin, on
the bottom of their foot.
And then toenail fungus is whenyou get fungus on the actual
toenail.
So they present differently.
Fungus on the skin presents, yousee this, like flaky type of
(05:40):
skin with circular patterns, andthat's athlete's foot.
And then when it's on thetoenail, it's usually dark,
thick, yellow, black nail.
You know, sometimes it could bewhite, sometimes it could be,
and there's a lot of times it's100% fungus.
When patients have like this,like crust appearance underneath
(06:05):
their nail, and that's clinical, clinical, uh diagnosis of a
fungus in your toenails.
It just presents differently onthe nail versus the skin sounds
lovely, yeah so.
Jeremy Wolf (06:22):
So treatment options right.
So somebody obviously, asidefrom like preventative, aside
from making sure you air yourfeet out, like not sitting
around in wet socks, that kindof thing, and you know, if you
do develop athlete's foot orsome kind of foot fungus, what
are some common treatmentoptions, I guess, both over the
counter and prescription, andwhen should somebody actually
(06:42):
come to see you over this?
Dr. Lauren Dabakaroff (06:44):
So a lot of.
For athlete's foot, whichpresents on the skin, a lot of
the over the counter-counterstuff does help, but most people
just they don't use itconsistently.
And you should come and see meif you know.
You've tried a bunch ofdifferent antifungals
over-the-counter and it's notworking.
(07:06):
Sometimes you need like ascraping of the skin.
Maybe you have a specificfungus that the typical
over-the-counter medication isnot treating.
So that's when you andsometimes an antifungal on its
own is not enough for the skinbecause it you know it can be
very itchy.
So sometimes so I do acombination of steroid cream
(07:28):
with an antifungal cream to helpthe itch and kind of calm down
the itching and help the funguskind of get killed faster.
Whereas toenail fungus in myexperience nothing over the
counter seems to work.
I see a ton of patients everyday with toenail fungus and the
(07:49):
problem with the over thecounter meds is that they cannot
penetrate the nail because thetoenail is 10 times harder and
thicker than the skin.
So you know your averageover-the-counter cream cannot
penetrate the thick layers ofthe nail.
So that's why you know thereare medications that I can
prescribe orally that will helpkill the fungus from the inside,
(08:11):
that are safe as long as youdon't have any other medical
issues.
And I also have, you know,prescription and
non-prescription.
You know top of the linetopical products that do help
debride and kind of thin out thenail to help the medicine
penetrate deeper to have a moreeffective way of killing the
(08:32):
toenail fungus.
Jeremy Wolf (08:34):
Are there any natural home remedies?
Like I'm sitting around with myfoot covered in fungus, I could
stick my foot in a tub ofvinegar or something like that.
What works good around thehouse?
What are some things peoplecould do around the home if
they're just trying to find anew remedy?
Dr. Lauren Dabakaroff (08:50):
So a good natural homeopath, like home
remedies, are vinegar soaks forboth the toenails and the
athlete's foot.
Um, you basically do one partvinegar, three parts water.
It doesn't matter which vinegaryou use, you just want to
dilute it so you don't burn yourskin and you soak your feet in
that for about 20 minutes a dayand it does help kill a lot of
(09:11):
the fungus in your toenails, onyour skin.
Another home remedy for thetoenails I do like tea tree oil.
Like, if you want to use theessential oil, tea tree oil, you
could just put a couple dropson each toenail every day and it
does help kill a lot of thefungus.
But again, with these thingsyou just have to be very, very
(09:31):
consistent with it.
But again, with these thingsyou just have to be very, very
consistent with it and apply itdaily.
Another home remedy for toenailfungus is, believe it or not,
vicks Vaporub.
Really yeah, because thementhol and the camphor in it.
You know it actually helps killa lot of the fungus and some
(09:57):
people like to use like it.
Actually, I actually tried itmyself.
If you mix like Listerine ormouthwash with the vinegar and
make a soak, it actually helpspeel off all the skin that looks
like athlete's foot.
Jeremy Wolf (10:11):
Much better than just vinegar on the phone Mixing
up medicinal potions in DrLauren's lab at home.
Dr. Lauren Dabakaroff (10:17):
Dr Tim Jackson.
I was reading up about it andit does work.
The other thing is people don'thave the patience to do that,
so they come to me for morequicker, effective medical
treatment, fast ways to do it.
And there's, you know there'spills, there's topicals, there's
lasers.
You know I also have funguslaser, you know, to help debulk
(10:40):
the nail a little bit, helppenetration of the medicines,
help everything work moreefficiently.
You know, and then, even afterwe kill all the fungus
completely, it can always comeback.
So I'm always very strict withpreventative measures.
Jeremy Wolf (10:58):
Yeah, prevention is key.
So long-term complicationsright?
Let's just say hypothetically Igot some foot fungus and I'm
not very proactive and I justsit around and it festers and it
festers.
Is there a point where I all ofa sudden now I have gangrene
and my foot has to be amputated?
What are the long termcomplications of not doing?
Dr. Lauren Dabakaroff (11:15):
anything.
So there aren't any long termcomplications.
The only thing, like the mostsevere things I've ever seen
happen with untreated athlete'sfoot, is it can get very
inflamed and then it can getinfected, like I've seen
athletes foot, you know, getvery inflamed because they itch
it and scratch it.
Foot, you know, get veryinflamed because they itch it
(11:36):
and scratch it and then theycause, you know, patients get a
skin infection and then you have, like this, combined like
fungus, with you know,cellulitis or, you know,
infected skin and that's when itgets really bad.
I mean, it doesn't it just it'sannoying to the patient.
But you know, you just need,you know, more medications to
kind of calm that down.
But you really should notneglect it.
(11:57):
You should definitely.
You know, if you want to getrid of it, I would say you have
to kill the fungus.
They you need, you know itneeds to die.
Jeremy Wolf (12:09):
You hear that everyone out there.
If you're listening to this andyou've been looking at that
foot and it's like black andpurple and green and funky, go
see your podiatrist.
Go see Dr Lauren.
Let her come check you out.
Get a handle on this before youhave to get your foot amputated
.
No, I'm just joking.
Dr. Lauren Dabakaroff (12:24):
No no, no amputation.
Well, there is one complicationwith toenail fungus.
Sometimes it can make the nailso thick with toenail fungus.
Sometimes it can make the nailso thick Like I've seen patients
with, like their toenail is sothick with the fungus it's
probably maybe three or fourmillimeters thick like this.
Jeremy Wolf (12:45):
And you need a bone saw to cut the toenail off.
Dr. Lauren Dabakaroff (12:48):
No.
So yes and no, but you know thebiggest issue with that it
actually, when it's so thick itcauses a lot of pain and then
it's very uncomfortable in ashoe and it presses like on your
toe and causes a lot of pain.
So it can cause a lot ofdiscomfort if you don't treat it
(13:08):
or at least keep your nailsfiled and trimmed.
But yeah, it can cause otherthings and other issues.
I've seen patients with likereally bad fungal nails that
they're so thick and theyneglected it.
It actually caused an ulcer intheir toe Like it grew like
(13:32):
thick and curly and then it grewlike back into the skin.
I had some older gentlemen andit actually dug into the side of
the toe, the nail, because itwas so thick.
Jeremy Wolf (13:42):
You get that ingrown toenail that goes into
the toe and it's veryuncomfortable.
Dr. Lauren Dabakaroff (13:46):
Yeah, it was probably great for the nail,
but basically it was like thickand then it curled like back in
on itself and sort of diggingup the toe.
Poor guy, little ulcer.
But you know we fixed it.
Jeremy Wolf (14:02):
That's what you do, right, that's what you do, yeah
.
Dr. Lauren Dabakaroff (14:03):
Yeah, no, I'm saying like you shouldn't,
you definitely shouldn't ignoreit, because it can spread, and
it can.
I mean, it's not something,it's not cancerous or anything
like that, but it is somethingthat can cause a lot of
discomfort, itching, you know,pain in shoes and things like
that.
So you definitely want to treatit before it gets severe.
Jeremy Wolf (14:26):
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of
cure, that's the old idea right.
We'll leave it at that.
Dr Loren, always a pleasureseeing you have a great day.
All right To our listeners.
Thanks for tuning in and wewill catch everyone next time on
the next episode of the LMDpodiatry podcast.
Everyone, take care, have awonderful day.
(14:56):
Thank you for listening to the LMD Podiatry Podcast.
For more information, visitLMDPodiatrycom.
That's L-M-D-P-O-D-I-A-T-R-Ydot com, or call 954-680-7133.
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