Pedicures For The Elderly

If you’re a new family caregiver, some tasks are just better left to the professionals

I’m referring to if you have no experience giving pedicures to your elderly loved one.

You might think you can tackle this task.  You’d even go so far as predicting that you’re gonna succeed 100%.  Yes, that’s highly possible.  But, I want to point out that as a new family caregiver, without pedicure experience you have so many new things on your plate.  These include:

• Time management
• Managing your energy
• Learning your elderly loved one’s daily needs and when and how they need your help
• Arranging your personal/family/professional schedule so that you can provide caregiving
• Managing your emotions when you’re overwhelmed

Hiring out this task makes better sense.                   

What could go wrong?

Hey, it looks so easy, what could go wrong?  Plenty.  Read on.

If your elderly loved does their pedicure problems could occur 

The elderly need to follow a regular toenail clipping schedule. Toenail clipping scheduling will depend on its growth rate.  They could forget to maintain a regular schedule toenail clipping schedule.   This may lead to other concerns. 

Ungroomed toenails over time could develop irregular shapes and sharp edges.  The sharp edges could affect the surrounding toes.  It could create cuts.  This presents a risk.  That’s because when the elderly get cut it generally takes longer to heal. 

Any cut presents infection risks.  Earlier I wrote about you learning your elder’s daily needs and routines.  If you had to have your elder check their cut to see how it’s healing it’s an extra ongoing scheduled task. 

Visibility concerns

Diminished visibility is common among the elderly.  Clipping toenails requires precision. If cut too short or sharp edges are left behind, it may cause ingrown toenails. 

Flexibility and strength concerns

To correctly cut their toenails their body needs to be flexible.  Looking at their foot requires full body repositioning.  These positions are uncommon in their everyday activities. This could strain their legs, back, and neck.  Dizziness could occur. 

Their fine motor skills may be impaired. 

Clipping toenails requires strength which the elder may not have.  

They may use the wrong angle for toenail grooming tools. 

They might be unaware of what’s a safe toenail length

This one could throw anyone new to pedicures for a loop.  If left too long, the toenail could catch and splinter.  Ingrown toenails could be the result of clipping too short.

They might not be accustomed to looking for foot or toenail problems

These include noticing:

Blisters that could signal improper footwear fit

Broken toes

Toenail fungus

If having your elderly loved one cut their toenails is not advisable, what should you do?

DIY (Do It Yourself) is in your DNA, right?  You could do it.

Money can be saved through DIY.  But it comes with a downside, too.   One slip-up can cost you greatly in time and money.  That’s why there could be hovering anxiety if you slip-up because schedules need to be rearranged due to cuts taking time to heal.  It may hit your pocketbook because it may require medical attention. 

You may experience the same challenges of clipping and grooming your elder’s toenails as they experience:

Flexibility – the positions required could strain your body or make you dizzy.

Vision – the clarity needed for the task could be more than you’re capable of.

Fine motor skills - millimeters matter.  One ill-placed clip could result in a cut.

Challenging angles of holding grooming tools

Strength needed

Know-how is key.  You might lack it.  For example, you may clip the toenails in a rounded fashion.   Without knowing, you might be making them prone to ingrown toenails.  You might not know that dead skin needs to be removed from the feet.  Otherwise, there’s a tendency of cracked skin.  In turn, the possibility of infection increases.  Your elder’s toenails are different than yours.  Theirs might be thicker. 

If you lack the tools, the task becomes more challenging.

Do you have these:

Soaking basins

Solutions to soak and soften nails

Nail clippers

Nail scissors

Files

Emory board

Stool

Lotion

Extra towels

If either your elder or you botch the clipping or grooming of their toenails you’ll both suffer in these two areas: peace of mind and time

As a new family caregiver, one of your top goals is to put your elderly loved one at ease.  Cuts or improper grooming could cause pain and inconvenience.  Their plans may need to change.  This might keep them off their feet for a long time.

You’d swap out time enjoying relaxing activities time for less of it

Please leave it to the professionals

Consider nail salons

Why?

The person performing your pedicure there has completed a minimum of a 400-hour training program according to the California State Board of Barbering and Cosmetology for manicuring and pedicuring.   They receive technical and practical instruction on the technique, length, shape, and best practices of toenail care.  Also, they receive instruction on the care of areas surrounding the toenails.

The nominal cost is worth knowing that professionals will do the task to the highest standards. 

Podiatrists

Podiatrists can certainly do pedicures.  You have to find out which ones do them. 

They have a lot of technical and practical training.  A US News & World Report online article entitled How to Go to Podiatry School, Become a Podiatrist states that "Graduate school and residency training for this health care specialty typically takes seven years."¹ 

When it comes to experts, they have the capability!

Okay, you’ve decided to go with the pros, that’s all there is to it, right? 

Not quite. 

What to check:

Licenses posted

Business license, individual manicurist license posted

Sanitary conditions

Do they follow a set of sanitary procedures?

Ask them how they avoid the spread of toenail fungus

An autoclave is used to sterilize tools.   It uses high-pressure and hot steam to kill microorganisms and spores. 

After sterilization, each tool is cleaned, sealed in a bag

In an online article² author Colleen Moriarty points out that one Yale Medicine dermatologist Amanda Zubek, MD, PhD recommends bringing your pedicure tools to prevent nail fungal infections.   

Call your local nail spas.  Whether they are open to using your pedicure tools may vary from establishment to establishment.  It’s worth a consideration.

How our agency can help

We will alert your family when your elderly’s toenail length interferes with the smooth putting on of socks and footwear.  Your family will be alerted when your elderly reports foot pain.

We transport the elderly to the nail salon or podiatrist's office.  Lastly, we can keep track of the regular schedule of toenail grooming for health.  Call us for more information: 805-238-3500.

Conclusion

You could succeed at giving a pedicure to your elderly loved one for the first time.  But, you could experience a glitch and that could turn out to be a big problem.  Some things are better left to professionals.  Peace of mind is worth the cost of a professional pedicure.  It could save you time if things went wrong.  Why not schedule your elderly loved one for a pedicure at the local nail salon or podiatrist's office?

Resources list:

Staff writers.  Cleveland Clinic.  (Last reviewed 8-7-23) Ingrown Toenails. (Retrieved 7-5-24) from: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/17664-ingrown-toenails

Footnotes:

¹Kowarski, Ilana.  (10-18-19) US News & World Report.  How to Go to Podiatry School, Become a Podiatrist. (Retrieved 7-19-24) from: https://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/articles/2019-10-18/how-to-apply-to-podiatry-school-and-become-a-podiatrist#:~:text=How%20Long%20It%20Takes%20to,degree%20typically%20takes%20four%20years.

²Moriarty, Colleen.  Yale Medicine.  Doctors and Advice.  (8-8-17) Q & A: What to Know Before Heading to a Nail Salon. (Retrieved 7-18-24) from: https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/what-to-know-before-heading-to-a-nail-salon