DEAR DR. GOTT: I recall my mother in her later years requesting I trim her toenails, as she wasn't agile enough to perform the task herself. Her nails were so thick and yellow that I had to go for the wire cutters, as clippers would not suffice. Now I am getting in that same situation. Are you aware of a treatment or cure?
DEAR READER: As we age, our toenails grow more slowly and thicken, making them susceptible to infection and causing difficulties in cutting. Regular trimming can be made easier if you soak your feet in warm, soapy water to soften the nails first. Then, with the use of toenail clippers, which are more heavy-duty than regular nail clippers, trimming is easier. Be sure to clip the nails straight across. If this process doesn't work because you are not agile enough to bend that far, a trip to a podiatrist might be in order.
If the nails are yellow, a sign of infection, I recommend the use of Miranel, a topical antifungal that is safe, effective and available without prescription.
To give you related information, I am sending you a copy of my Health Report "Dr. Gott's Compelling Home Remedies." Other readers who would like a copy should send a self-addressed, stamped No. 10 envelope and $2 to Newsletter, PO Box 167, Wickliffe, OH 44092. Be sure to mention the title.
DEAR DR. GOTT: Let me start by saying I am a registered nurse.
I read the letter from the insane woman who wants to murder her husband because he urinates and ejaculates in the shower, plus he doesn't use a washcloth — horror of horrors. You showed considerable restraint in not sending the nice white padded wagon over to this woman's house and having her hauled off to the happy farm.
This woman and all of the other women who write to you and are so disgusted about this behavior in the shower must not know that urine and semen are sterile substances when they leave the body. Unless this guy is leaving a pile of defecation in the shower, then it's really not a big deal.
As for using a washcloth versus ones hands — the washcloth is much nastier. The sweat and bacteria on the skin are much more disgusting than sterile bodily fluids and don't rinse out of the washcloth unless it is laundered daily. Soap and running water will clean the hands that have scrubbed body crevices. There is also hand sanitizer for the obsessed. Heck, my husband uses the shower to wash out his sinuses! Now that is gross, but I have no homicidal tendencies toward him.
Lighten up, ladies.
DEAR READER: Thank you! I have received several letters similar to yours from other health professionals. Many were written by women. Yours put a humorous spin on the whole situation as well as pointing out what I was hesitating to say.
DEAR READER: As we age, our toenails grow more slowly and thicken, making them susceptible to infection and causing difficulties in cutting. Regular trimming can be made easier if you soak your feet in warm, soapy water to soften the nails first. Then, with the use of toenail clippers, which are more heavy-duty than regular nail clippers, trimming is easier. Be sure to clip the nails straight across. If this process doesn't work because you are not agile enough to bend that far, a trip to a podiatrist might be in order.
If the nails are yellow, a sign of infection, I recommend the use of Miranel, a topical antifungal that is safe, effective and available without prescription.
To give you related information, I am sending you a copy of my Health Report "Dr. Gott's Compelling Home Remedies." Other readers who would like a copy should send a self-addressed, stamped No. 10 envelope and $2 to Newsletter, PO Box 167, Wickliffe, OH 44092. Be sure to mention the title.
DEAR DR. GOTT: Let me start by saying I am a registered nurse.
I read the letter from the insane woman who wants to murder her husband because he urinates and ejaculates in the shower, plus he doesn't use a washcloth — horror of horrors. You showed considerable restraint in not sending the nice white padded wagon over to this woman's house and having her hauled off to the happy farm.
This woman and all of the other women who write to you and are so disgusted about this behavior in the shower must not know that urine and semen are sterile substances when they leave the body. Unless this guy is leaving a pile of defecation in the shower, then it's really not a big deal.
As for using a washcloth versus ones hands — the washcloth is much nastier. The sweat and bacteria on the skin are much more disgusting than sterile bodily fluids and don't rinse out of the washcloth unless it is laundered daily. Soap and running water will clean the hands that have scrubbed body crevices. There is also hand sanitizer for the obsessed. Heck, my husband uses the shower to wash out his sinuses! Now that is gross, but I have no homicidal tendencies toward him.
Lighten up, ladies.
DEAR READER: Thank you! I have received several letters similar to yours from other health professionals. Many were written by women. Yours put a humorous spin on the whole situation as well as pointing out what I was hesitating to say.