Later this month I will be celebrating my 30 year anniversary of living with type 1 diabetes. As that number gets bigger, the more important it is for me to pay attention to the little things. As that number gets bigger, the more important it is for me to be careful about routine personal hygiene things, like trimming my toenails.In almost 30 years, I’ve heard a lot of general talk about how to trim my toenails, but because I’m young, and in pretty good health, the subject was always sort of skimmed over. They always say “trim straight across”, and that’s about it!
Maybe I’m over-complicating things, but a toe’s end is roundish. If I trim my nails straight across, won’t that leave sharp edgy corners on them? Besides, how do you trim straight across when all of the nail clippers I’ve every used are curved? There are probably some special, straight across, toenail clippers that I’ve never known existed.
Have you ever been taught how to safely trim your toenails? If so, who taught you? Your endo? A toenail trimming specialist? Am I the only one who missed the lesson?
It would be a real bummer to get a threatening infection by some stupid self-inflicted toenail trimming accident. Or by doing something that is a “no-no” without knowing it is a “no-no”.
Hi, As most Dx in UK I get the call every few weeks to attend the podiatry clinic at the hospital where they cut my toe nails and my feet are comfortable again for a few weeks. They NEVER cut them straight always curved and that is from the top Podiatrist there. They also never cut them very short. If my appointment is late or I am away then they tell me to run a file back to front over the nail and that also reduces the length and always run a little olive oil on to the nail just… Read more »
I have the added problem of having a very thick toenail on one foot. This made it extremely hard to cut. Now I cut what I can with the large toenail clippers and I use the Pedi-Paws to smooth it out and round the edges. I originally bought it to use on my dogs because that’s what it’s designed for, but as soon as I turned it on, they panicked and ran out of the room. So there I’m sitting thinking that I just wasted my money and it dawned on me to try it on myself. It worked like… Read more »
I try to get them as straight as possible. Lately I’ve been letting them go a little longer. One of my friends suggested filing with a nail file. It does help. I use to cut mine way too short, I know that is bad because of ingrown toe nails.
Straight across is what I’ve been taught, too. But I still try to round them out by trimming that little bit of on the edges. These days, however, I just let my manicurist do the trimming and cleaning for me teehee. With all the demands I’m juggling right now, my toenails are the last things I want to worry aobut.
The best thing to do would be to have your nails trimmed by the Podiatrist every 6-8 weeks. Diabetics must pay particular attention to their foot health for a number of reasons: – Diabetes can lead to a loss of sensation in the feet (distal polyneuropathy), meaning that damage is more likely to go unnoticed. – There can be changes to the muscle power in the leg, leading to changes in foot shape and high pressure areas. – The skin can become dry (anhidrotic) due to autonomic nerve neuropathy. Dry skin is more likely to crack and create a portal… Read more »