Toenail care

Last Updated on Wednesday, 03 November 2010 21:48 Saturday, 30 October 2010 18:22

You've stripped off and flexed some muscles for her. She nicely asks you to remove the knee-height white socks.  After duly obliging, she screams some obscenities at you, flings back your clothes and tells you get the hell  out of dodge. What went wrong?

Toenails. Not the most sexy part of your sculpted physique, unless you positively get off on the whole foot fetish thing. But for most men, sawing through them every eight weeks constitutes their toenail grooming regime.

Toenail care is important both for hygiene and presentation. With your feet stuck in hot, humid shoes for most of their life, it's the perfect place for fungal problems to start. End result - knarly, yellow nails that scare the bejaysus out of any bed prospect. Oh, and the smell.

With a simple routine, it's easy have close-to-perfect toenails. Every week, cut the nails, leaving about an eight of an inch of nail. Use a nail-file to straighten and trim the edges. It's important to cut toenails straight as 'curving' them like that of a fingernail could result in ingrown toenails. Use an actual toenail clipper! Fingernail clippers are designed for smaller nails and will only take 'bites' out of your toenails.

Cuticles are the soft layer of skin at the base of the nail. If you haven't been looking after your nails, it's probably grown somewhat to extend upwards along the nail. Use a cotton bud in olive oil and dab the cuticle to soften it, then push it back into place. Warm water also helps soften the cuticle. When pushing back the cuticle, some of it may crumble away - that's fine, as the cuticle itself is composed of dead cells. But do not attempt to 'cut' back into the cuticle to remove it close to the base. That's the eponychium and it's formed of living cells.

If your nails are discolored, twisted, smelly or crumbly, don't ignore it! Most are signs of a fungal infection that will only get worse if left untreated. Best action to take is to see a doctor, but in the meantime, pay particular attention to feet hygiene and bathe your feet in warm salty water to help kill off bacteria. You can also dab them with a mild antiseptic. If you sweat a lot at work, consider using foot powder to keep the feet dry and inhospitable to bacteria. Preventive care would dictate you should wash your feet in the shower - as in physically rub soap and water to them, not just leave the water run on them. But you already knew that, didn't you?