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I have been clipping my parents toe nails for years. I collect the toe nail clippers, scissor clippers, and emery board to use on their feet. No diabetes or health issues. Just wondering if there is anything on the market to clear up the toe nail thickness and brittleness on some of their toes? Thank you

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That would be caused by toenail fungus, and I personally believe tea tree oil helps. Of course even if you get the fungus under control it can take years before the thickened nails  grow out normally.
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There are podiatrists that make house calls. Toe nail trimming I used to just hate! I think Medicare will pay for this once a month.
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It can be fungus or calcium deposits that make the big thick nails. Podiatrist can get you the right cream for it. Then get those toenail clippers that are heavy duty. Like horse hoof snippets. Calcium deposits and nail fungus take forever to clear up if ever. Good luck!
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I couldn't bring myself to do this for my father, and eventually found an excellent podiatrist who not only addresses the toenails, but the skin integrity up through ankle and leg as well. And she always checks for pedal pulse.
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At their age you should use a foot doctor. My Mom had problems with ingrown nails. Medicare pays for ever 10 weeks. I took her until she got into an AL and NH and then the Dr. went to her. There r fungle OC treatments that work very well. Ask the pharmacist.
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Used to work for a Podiatrist, but it was a while ago. Toenail fungus is not pretty, but it is not life threatening. The ointment treatment is not very effective, nor is the oral medication, both are expensive. The oral one can interact with other medications.

Soaking the feet, or a bath prior to trimming can help make it easier. Podiatrists use a Dremel to grind down thick nails, but I would not recommend a family member doing that. You have to have an autoclave to sterilize the bits. And it is too easy to go too far.

I hired a foot care nurse for Dad. He was insistent that he could cut his own nails, but one look at his bare feet revealed that more care was needed. He still balked, so I prepared for his visit. He raved about how wonderful the treatment was and how great his feet felt afterwards.

Both my baby toe nails are like little horns. I have to file them down before I can trim them,
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Our local nail salon does a wonderful job on a nail trim ($10) and uses a dremel-type tool, except that it's scaled down and specifically for toe nails. I'd love to find one of these .
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My mom nails are thick and ugly (yellow). The Dr. told me it's called yellow nails (old age) It's not a fungus. Really not much you could do, but have a Pediatrist cut the nails.
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The Family Physicians of Canada publication offers a wonderfully comprehensive guide: Can Fam Physicianv.57(2); 2011 FebPMC3038811 - about halfway down, there's a link to a table summary.

Don't read it too soon after breakfast or shortly before lunch.
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I am very satisfied with toenail scissors for tough toenails. I found them on an internet search. I read that scissors work better than clippers on tough nails. I found that is true.
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If there are no health issues, first soak the feet in warm water with epsom salts. Then use a toenail clipper or strong scissors.
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They have a nail polish now that you can get from the foot doctor that helps-ciclopirix-works we’ll just takes time. Was also told Vick salve works to if applied nightly. Just be cautious-some podiatrist will do minimal work at each clipping which is counterproductive. Choose wisely.
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The Podiatristis the only safe solution. It is very easy to damage tender toes especially with sharp nail clippers. NYS only allows Podiatrists to clip toenails, nurses are not allowed to do it
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Medicare used to pay for my mother in law to go to the podiatrist every 6 weeks to get them clipped professionally. They have some strong nail clippers and I also understand if they are not properly clipped they can become ingrown and get infected. She was a professional dancer all her life and so she stood on those toes for years. Anyway, you might see if medicare will cover that work and you can just 'file' between visits.
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Cut them after a long bath; or let them soak in warm water for about 30 Min.
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My mother-in-law's (92 years old) toe nails look almost prehistoric. I've been trimming them for years. She was very embarrassed when I first started taking care of them. We use to take her to a podiatrist, but the wait time in his office was awful, so I thought I could start trimming them. About a year ago it occurred to me to use my drimel tool that I use on dogs (I'm a groomer). It worked beautifully and that is all I use now. I dremel down the top of the nail (they're very thick) and then drimel them back. They still look awful, but at least they are under control. Word to the wise! wear a face mask when you do this. The dust isn't not good for you to breath in.
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My aunt's podiatrist did a good job, and tried treating the fungus-thickened yellow nails, but nothing worked. Plus, it was a long drive. New podiatrist close by, same results. I finally brought her to a local pedicure, and it is working. Same ugly nails which might clear up, but the soaking made the nails workable. Nails clipped, feet massaged, oiled, etc. For $30 a month she is delighted.
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Hubby is currently soaking in the tub for an hour or so. I will cut his nails when he gets out. He has nor developed the super thick nails--so (sigh of relief) it isn't too bad.

Youtube has some toenail cutting videos (I don't know if they are there for the "yuck factor" or educational, but one dr does a really good job with the thick nails. I cut hubby's every month and file them afterwards. He is only 65, but can't bend down at all--so he was letting them get really bad.

DO cover the nail with your hand to keep the clippings from flying around. I have been hit in the face with hubby's and they are brutally sharp and thick. I also massage his feet and check for sores, etc, as he is diabetic and cannot see the bottoms of his feet.

And, absolutely DO NOT haul the Dremel in from the garage. I am tempted, but I know that isn't sterile and I wouldn't go there--when/if hubby's nails get that bad, he will see a podiatrist.
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countrymouse - might you please clarify the name of article or link that you cite? thanx
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Oo - hang on, I'll look it up...

"Common nail changes and disorders in older people
Diagnosis and management"

in Canadian Family Physician of 2011 Feb; 57(2): 173–181.

and the link *should* be

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3038811/
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The nail clinics are not authorized to do anything more than cut toenails no other treatments are authorized under their licence, Nail trimming paid by Medicare is every three months.
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I trim my elderly wife's nails and mine almost exclusively using sanding files. the type that are maybe 7 inches long, an inch wide, and 1/8 inch thick. They come in a variety of grits. I favor the two sided ones that have 100 grit on one side and 180 on the other. They are normally pretty sturdy, and washable, and can be used to sand down thick nails too.
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Filing and using a hand held drill as a long term maintenance is a waste of time and agitates the elderly. No ointment will work unless the medicines can reach the flesh underneath the nail. Even that might not work if the body has some kind of overgrowth of bacteria or fungus and yeasts or other things that can't get knocked out. The nail fungus needs to be addressed internally and not just topically. The body has a growth of some kind or circulation is bad... You can drill off the thick nail but the fibers will pull up actual nail bed flesh and the nail bed will bleed so this is risky because the germs will get into the nail bed all over again.
Another thing you can do is to soak the nails to soften them. The underneath part of the nail gets soft and then you have to scrape it out from underneath the nail. What ever is NOT nail fiber will actually become soft and mushy and can be scraped out. THen you have the nail on top which you can snip off. NOW you can add the ointment.
Another remedy that has worked the best is a product called KERA Nail Gel ™Urea 47%... this stuff is a clear liquid that i dabbed onto each nail. It does nothing. But you keep doing it every single day and even twice a day. Eventually in a few weeks, you can actually pull the WHOLE NAIL RIGHT OUT of the toe. I am serious. It is amazing because now you have a raw nail bed. There is no blood or anything because this Nail Gel seeps into the nail and makes it get destroyed til you can crumble it and break it apart into pieces and there is no blood. JUST DO NOT FORCE THE PIECES OFF. Just have patience and wait. You take off what ever you can and when there are pieces still attached to the nail, you leave them there and keep adding the Kera Nail liquid and in a few more days that too will crumble and you can pull it off. Be careful with this process because you don't want to pull off the nail if it is NOT YET crumbled and disintegrated. THe more damage you do by pulling off pieces of skin, the more you disrupt healthy skin tissue and create open pathways for germs to get into the toe nail bed again. My moms toenails are growing back free of the thick fiber... At some point i will post a video of this because i have taken videos of this process and it does work. Just awfully time consuming to remember to dab the nails AM and PM.
The other thing i did was to put my mom on a few weeks of Terbinafine but because it is bitter, we only used it a few weeks on and off. I think these few things must have worked because half the nails are growing back without the thickness. I am unable to get a small pinky nail off. THe foot dr will need to probably get that last nail off. I am just afraid they are not as gentle as i am. My mom has the worse time at the foot doctor. But he is the one that sold me the Kera Gel... It is made of urine believe it or not. Who knew.
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Some podiatrists accept Medicare. Mine does. If you want to attempt the trimming yourself, there does exist a hinged toenail clipper that is super strong. You close its strong hinge when done.
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I'm guessing you're referring to toe nail fungus. The preferred way to treat toe nail fungus is to remove the nail completely and let it grow again. It costs about $500/- with a podiatrist (without insurance). If looks don't matter, as someone suggested, try Australian tree oil. It's quite effective, but stinky. Other natural products are turmeric paste, sandalwood paste, and/ or bee hive propolis.
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Been through my share of these issues. First my husband cured his toe fungus spraying his toe with peroxide twice a days for several months. It worked when other attwmpts failed. Next some people kust have thicker nails and some it is due to medical issues. Some podiatrists I like and do a good job and some just saw the nails down, but dont smooth them out. Then I took my father in law to the Queen of Podiatrists in a small office in Long Island New York. She used a tool she bought at Home Depot. It had a strong small spinning head. Did such a great job on dads thick nails and dried crusty heels. I loved the results so much I got one myself. Cost me $30 and my heels have never felt better. We moved to another state and new podiatrist, but not the same attention to detail so I get out my little tool with a tiny sander on the end and good as going to new york. If u choose to do this method u must go slow on your self first. Take a little at a time until u find the right thickness for u. It is basicly a file, but instead of filing endlessly with a heel file u just lightly use this 1/2 size sander to remove the excess skin and nail. Also never put lotion beyween toes. It can grow into something very unwanted. I cant express enough to practice if u choose a tool, but since I have made this a part of my personal grooming my 26 and 32 year old daughters say I have the softest healthiest looking feet. Thanks to God. And dads feet would make a lot of ladies wish they had his feet. So I hope this helps. Oh and soak first to soften the nails. Always remove less (less is best) and work ur way up to more removal until u are satisfied. Best wishes to all u caregivers out there.
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Best bet is to find a Podiatrist to trim their nails otherwise you might
cause some type of injury.
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You want to cut the toenail off fairly straight across. I use a standard medium clipper instead of a large one because works better. My father had a history of ingrown toenails but hasn't had a problem since I've been doing it. He used to go to a pedicurist but she cut them too short. Didn't like the job the podiatrist did either and she charged a hefty price to Medicare for it. The gunk under the nail may or may be foot fungus. I thought I had foot fungus once and went to an urgent clinic, but the nurse told me it was beyond her expertise (?) and I went to a doctor who was also unsure but told me she would never give out a prescription for that stuff as the side effects weren't worth it. Told me instead to use apple cider vinegar on a regular basis. It eventually went away. None of the topicals did anything.
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My dad’s are simply awful. It was a relief when he consented to start having them trimmed for him. He goes to a typical nail salon just for trimming and the ladies are very kind to him. Somehow they easily manage what neither of us can.
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Removal of the nail is unsuccessful--my daughter's MIL had that done and the toenail fungus grew right back. Some people have used the original golden Listerine to soak off the fungus. My late mother had a very dirty clothed podiatrist. Oh, but she loved him because he would socialize with her while he came in with no lab coat and used a very dirty whirlpool tub! I was appalled!
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