Any advice on cutting toenails of person with dementia that is extremely jumpy?

We found a podiatrist who came to the house to cut my mom's toenails and work on her calluses. I'm getting an appt. for my dad now. He mainly works with elderly patients, and he's also a great guy that brightens their day.

Chandra: I hope this doctor is clean and going to put in place an hygienic area to do this process in a home.

The Podiatrist that comes to the house is very professional and brings with him everything he needs to create a hygenic environment.

This situation just reminded me of when my foster dad was hospitalized. We all found out that he secretly had severely overgrown toenails, and I think I was probably just as shocked as anyone else would be. I don't know how the hospital was able to do it, but they were able to get his toenails cut! 😂 He also had overgrown eyebrows, and again, I don't know how they did it, but they were also able to cut his eyebrows down to proper size 😂 I don't know what kind of trick they may have used to get this done, for all I know they could've possibly sedated him, I don't know because I wasn't there when everything happened

Chandra: That's great to know!

Rarefind: No doubt mild sedation was used.

I never heard of any podiatrist whatsoever ever using sedatives on any of their patients unless the patient was having surgery at the hospital and went under anesthesia. I had 2 foot surgeries many years ago at our local hospital's surgical department, and I had to be hospitalized overnight after the first one because I had an unexpected seizure.

However, these days things may have changed for all I know. Even our local hospital is under new ownership and, only one example of how quick things can change when one hospital that's been there for decades can suddenly change ownership! There was a period of years when I didn't even need a doctor but now I do. I'm pretty sure there are probably some things in the medical field that have also changed. However, I may be a bit surprised if podiatrists started using sedatives on their patients, because as far as I know this is very unheard of (unless they just started doing it). The most likely way to use a mild sedative though is if the patient or their family has some on hand by prescription to the patient from the patient's doctor. This is the only way I can see a sedative be in use for a podiatry visit (unless the patient is undergoing surgery and needs anesthetic). My foster sister is in the medical field, I'm going to ask her if she ever heard of a podiatrist using sedatives because maybe she has whereas I have not.

Rarefind, if you're referring to my post suggesting the use of a short-term tranquilizer, you've misread or misunderstood it. I never suggested use by a podiatrist of a sedative or anesthetic.

1RareFind
yea ," trust " is what i didnt verbalize but should have . it isnt implied , its earned . ill never live long enough to forget aunt edna slamming her eyes shut and leaning forward for a hair trim from me at the NH . we were defying everyone around us and we likes it that way dammit . of course we were busted . thats what defiance is all about . the first time i fixed her ingrown nails she gifted me the toenail clippers that she'd cut my nails with 50 yrs ago . im not a collector so she gave them instead to my son who DOES treasure such things and wont part with them . it still makes me misty eyed to this day . 50 yrs ago my aunt was trying to induce comfort into my life . my mother was brilliant and an awesome teacher but a piss poor mother in ways . edna was nurturing , to say the least . im so glad i got to baby her when she became baby - like again .

GardenArtist, I was actually trying to respond to someone who mentioned it but I don't recall who did. I was actually a bit surprised by the mention of it, which is why I replied to whoever it was

captain, yes, it does seem like so many of our elders do become kind of like children again, doesn't it? This is what can be hard because the "child" is in an adult body, and some famous can actually be far worse to deal with than things you would normally deal with in children. The journey can be a hard one for sure, whether your full-time or just part of a team effort doing your part, it can still be hard. In the case of facilities containing abusive staff, this can cause trust issues as well as abuse outside of a facility. Even if you hear of someone having been abused regardless of where it happened, it can cause serious trust issues. I'm a survivor myself, I know what I'm talking about because I also lost my only full blooded sister to the same abuse I barely survived. Sometimes I don't know why I survived, but sometimes I'm glad I did. The life of a survivor can definitely be hard, and in my case, i'm particularly protective of my home which is my safe haven, my money, and my bank account. There are also other precautions I take because I believe in "just in case", and "just in case" has already paid off when some things occurred close to home and I was already prepared. It pays to be prepared even if it turns out to be no more than "just in case", because "just in case" can one day save your life.

OK gardenartist, it was llamalover who mentioned sedative, I was responding to that

I was doing the same thing....I wasn't saying the podiatrist does sedation, unless of course it's surgery whereby you're put under anesthesia.

I was responding to 1Rarefind, where the gentleman was hospitalized and the person said "they didn't know how the hospital was able to do the nail cutting." Thus, MAYBE they used an EXTREMELY low dose anti-anxiety med? IDK.