I'm terrified of toenails, but they need care.

Medicare/Insurance does cover podiatrist’s. Nail salons should be avoided at all costs, especially if your father has diabetes like mine. One wrong clip could lead to all sorts of issues and the possibility of him getting a fungus far outweighs taking that risk. I actually had no idea that podiatrists were covered until I mentioned taking my dad to a nail salon and my aunt had a fit!!!! She told me about the podiatrist visits being covered. I had to go through his PCP but it was as worth it. Not only does the podiatrist clip his toenails every two-three months, but he can tell a lot about his overall health by looking at the feet. He also referred my dad to an orthopedic for special diabetic shoes which are also covered. One new pair each year. Hope this helps!

I hated to trim my Mom's fingernails and toenails. For any personal jobs that disgusted me, I learned to not think, just do.

Beforehand I didn't think or imagine doing them. I blanked my mind, gathered the tools, and just did it...without looking too close. Then I learned to do them more often so they weren't so awful. Then I got used to it. Then I noticed that Mom had really beautiful, young-looking hands and her feet weren't that bad either. Then I took pride in knowing she couldn't horribly scratch herself in her sleep with her shorter fingernails and her toes lay where they should and Mom was more comfortable.

I can't do nails either.  Cut one of my own toes.  My aunt went podiatry first, but now I take her in wheelchair to where she gets her hair cut.  Same lady does the pedicure.  Soaking feet first helps immensely with cutting the nails, and she loves the foot massage.  Besides, it helps with circulation.

Podiatrist fees are covered by Medicare. Make an appointment, or if in the hospital ask the doctor to call a Podiatrist in for treatment.

Phone call to a podiatrist. Easy peasy. They can check for any problems and help clear them up. The aged foot might be more than a manacurist can handle. Very thick nails, and very frail thin skin. They can also - (as they should) refuse to work on toes that have a fungus. It is quite common. It can get passed to the person's other healthy toenails, and be spread to other people. Manicurists are taught to recognize nail issues, but not trained to diagnose and treat them. Good luck.

Check with your local seniors centre - our has once a month specialists come in - they probably will advice you

If your dad's toes are really bad try finding a chiropodist [sp?] - mine also does orthotics, removes corns etc too

Mom didn't have any health issues that would prevent her from going to a salon, so once she was unable to take care of her own feet, she and my daughter had a standing date at the salon for a pedicure. I made sure that the technician was conservative in her approach and that the chair sink set-up was accessible for her. Some salons require you to be a bit of a mountain goat to climb up and into the chair others are more friendly to the disabled. I also made sure that the salon used sterile technique such as lined sinks and sterilized equipment and mom bypassed the nail polish part. Mom enjoyed some of the extras too like a paraffin treatment or warm oil treatment. For Christmas, Santa brought her a cute pair of wool fleece boots that she would slip on after the salon treat. Mom looked forward to a pedicure and lunch with her granddaughter; we only wished we had started this lovely tradition sooner! I guess your dad might not feel humiliated or mind, if the pampering feels good. Paraffin treatments are fabulous for those who suffer arthritis. The salon technicians who mom and daughter went to were very sweet and respectful to my mother who was in her late 80s. Whether you choose the salon route or a podiatrist, you or his CNA or nurse can help him "maintain" with a little emory board filing and foot washes in a basin in between appointments.

Foot care is important and a podiatrist is the place you need to take him. It's what they do and they can catch any problems early to prevent amputations and infections. If you were here in Salt Lake City I'd recommend our favorite Dr Scott Clarke at the Advanced Foot and Ankle clinic. He was a miracle worker for my husband with a stubbed toe that became life threatening. Lost all of his toes, but saved his foot when other doctors were saying they would amputate below the knee.

My husband goes to a podiatrist. Medicare will pay for toe nail trim every 61 or more days. Works great for him.

Take him to a podiatrist. His dr should be able to refer him to one. I take my FIL to the local hospital about once every 4-6 weeks. His insurance covers the visits. It’s important to have feet and nails looked at by a professional vs a salon visit. Many medical issues can be caught

Podiatrist will be able to cut the nails.
As I understand the visit is covered although I do not know how many or how often.
Another option would be get him to a person that would do a pedicure. A place that does Mani-Pedi's might not be good but if you get your nails done ask if they would make a visit to do one.

My husband became paralyzed and obviously cannot reach his toes. Toenails are hard to deal with. I brought him to a very nice Asian salon where they said he could sit in his wheelchair and would cut his nails for $15.00. It would not be a pedicure just a toe clipping. In the past I paid $75.00 for a podiatrist to come to the home. It's not worth that amount of money.

Podiatrist, YES! I’ve been caring for my 95 year old mom for years, and just recently took her to a podiatrist. SO worth it. I wish I had done it years earlier!

My mom has a fungus, so her toes look rotten, they are to thick to clip, so I use a "Pedi perfect" it won't cut the skin, I use it like a sander, its battery operated, make sure you put a towel or newspaper under the foot, works great you don't have to worry about cutting too short or cutting the skin. their about $12-$14 at Walmart, Target, online.....

In my town the Caring Nurses Association (formerly Visiting Nurses Association) offers foot care by specially trained nurses. I can take my mom to their office ($35) or I can arrange for someone to come to my mom's apartment ($45) to do foot care every other month. It's wonderful service - takes about 45 minutes - and relatively affordable for the benefit and relief it gives my mom. Her feet are in very bad shape due to hammer toes, bunions, missing toenails, terrible calluses, etc. She always says "I feel like I'm walking on cloud 9" when they get done. And the nurse (she's had the same person for 10+ years) is like a friend now.

Go to a Podiatrist. It's covered by Medicare for something like every two months.

Hi. I have the same problem in reverse with my son. He won't cut my toenails and I have bad arthritis and can no longer cut my own. To me, saloons are not so much humiliating as they are not always careful and I don't really need my toes polished and they charge the same whether I get them polished or not. So what I do is visit my podiatrist whenever they get bad. I also have an ingrown toenail so this way I get rid of two birds with one stone. Good luck.

podiatrist. It doesn't bother me, but I had a hard time with granddad's toenails because the toes had grown out with the nails, esp on the big one. And with all the flaky skin and mangled, fungus-y nails, I didn't think a salon would accept him.

My mom's medicare coverage pays for her to have her toenails trimmed every 9 weeks, and he can assess for ankle swelling, corns, calluses, ingrown toenails, etc while she is there. Very helpful!

Hello there bokbokbok,
It's not an overkill to make an appointment to a podiatrist. My mother's toenails aren't bad except for two nails that are a bit elevated and hard to cut. Mama doesn't have diabetes, however, I've been needing insight on care for her toes that are a bit arthritic. The Podiatrist has skills and good insight about foot care. My mother's Podiatrist is visited between 9 to 13 weeks to receive her foot care, and it's been a blessing for me. I suggest if you have the funds, please do get that help for your Dad. Glad that he has you. 😉

I don't know what state you're in, but in California it is NOT illegal for nurses or home health care workers, or anyone else for that matter, to trim the toe or fingernails of their elderly patients. Rather, some facilities have a policy against their staff doing so because they fear lawsuits in the event that the skin is cut, an infection sets in, usually due to diabetes. Having said that, caregivers and home healthcare workers may use emery boards or nail files to control nail growth. In the case of my mom, she has a toe nail fungus which she's had for 60 or more years. She used to care for her own toe nails. Now a podiatrist comes to the house about every 8 to 12 weeks.

You're not alone! Mom had diabetes so her toe nails looked like something out of a horror story. I was shocked when I saw them. She still expected me to cut them (her nails were way beyond a salon). After she asked, I quickly called a podiatrist who gave me the number of an RN who actually specialized in this. Better still, she traveled to people's homes. We paid $60 per visit (plus tip), but it was worth every penny! Mom got on the nurse's schedule, and she wound up coming every 3 months. Saved us so many trips to the podiatrist!

I can do most things in the care of formerly both of my parents and now for my mom as my father has recently died but I am not comfortable cutting toenails. I take them (now just my mom) to a podiatrist every 2-3 months for nail trim. It is worth it. You can probably find someone who will come to the house. I have not had to do that yet. Medicare will pay for this service but you have to wait so many weeks in between.

A podiatrist. Yes. and Medicare pay for it. Since my 95 year old father came home from an assisted living facility, the podiatrist comes every 9 weeks and cuts his toenails, and my 95 year old mom's and mine. We're all on Medicare.

I purchased a foot spa for my dad. Who at 88 yrs old enjoyed it! He would not go
to a "nail" place. So I did his feet twice a month at his home. I used a good clipper and filing board. Also used a pumas board for the rest of his feet..not just toenails.
It worked out great and he had the best toenails and softest feet! Also would lotion and semi gently massage from feet to knee.

Here in BC Canada anybody can see a podiatrist with out a referral. We also have Foot Care Nurses who have taken additional training. They can trim nails and look over the feet. If they see something that looks like it may need further attention, they would refer the patient on.

Here Foot Care Nurses are more likely to do home visits than podiatrists. But podiatrists may visit nursing homes or other facilities. One I worked with saw the Elders at the local Tribes office every 2 months.

Dad is not diabetic, but cannot manage to trim his nails. He refuses to let me do it, but after I paid for him to see a local Foot Care Nurse, he is willing to continue to see her a couple times a year (not frequent enough, but better than nothing). Before he saw the nurse his toenails were curling over the ends of his toes.

Google stylists and manicurists/pedicurists who specialize in working in-home or even in assisted living facilities.

These people to exist. Most of them do this service because they have had family members who have been in facilities that have not kept the hygiene aspect done as it should have been.

If your Father HAS diabetes is it extremely important that his nails and toe nails are kept clean and trimmed. If he should hurt himself by scratching with dirty nails, he may not realize he has done this and then you're going to have a really bad issue happening.

Our daughter when she was still living back in our home State, would go by Mom's and take care of her nails and toe nails. Our daughter is an RN. She would also check Mom's feet/legs for signs of any diabetes issues. She would stress very sternly about Mom not wearing some type of shoe or slipper to protect her feet. She would tell Mom that if she doesn't heed what our daughter was telling her, Mom would be looking at having surgery that will be taking all her limbs one at a time.

I don't have to worry about this issue any longer as the Assisted Living Group Home Mom is now living has a stylist/manicurist/pedicurist who comes to the home once a month or as needed to take care of these areas of hygiene.

Make an appointment for an eval at a podiatrist. You are concerned about toes that are not healthy. Your loved one's nails will get clipped and treatment plan outlined. It is covered under medicare.

I took my mother to a Podiatrist because I didn't know how to deal with her toenails.

They trimmed them and said to just bring her back every 3 months or so. I would have soaked her feet and didn't know that soaking is a "no-no" for diabetics. A lot of folks bring their parents to a podiatrist. I brought my DH but he didn't like it.

Just call your dad's physician and ask to be referred to a podiatrist ASAP - we got my mother in pretty quickly. I hadn't seen her toenails - my father told me they needed cutting and he wouldn't do them. She had toenail fungus. I felt so bad - her toenails had curled right around her toes. That had to hurt.

BTW, took my DH to the VA (he too had toenail fungus) and his Nurse Practitioner took out her mini-dremel and proceeded to sand them down. That I could do - so I bought a mini-dremel and started doing them myself.

P.S. Soaking my DH's feet in Cider Vinegar 15 minutes a day helped a lot! Just remember to warm it first, lol. I learned the hard way to warm the cider vinegar, heheh.

Podiatrist do this all of the time. believe me, I think most of us here do get it. Dremel will do the trick if you know what you are doing. and that is exactly what the podiatrist will use. Plus they can spot any problems and usually Medicare will cover about every 2 and a half to 3 month visit