EP #6: Unraveling the Mysteries of Foot Skin Ailments with Dr. Lauren Dabakaroff

Looking for sensible advice to safeguard your foot's skin health? Wondering how to deal with common foot problems such as plantar warts, athlete's foot, or dermatitis? Join us as we unravel the mysteries of foot skin ailments with esteemed Dr. Lauren Dabakaroff. We discuss the most common skin issues she encounters in her practice, offering insights into their causes, identification, and remedies. Talk about taking a step in the right direction!

Additionally, Dr. Dabakaroff guides us through the ins and outs of going barefoot in nature. Dive into the fascinating world of foot care as we explore the potential benefits and drawbacks of this practice. And, if you're troubled by dry, cracked heels or bothersome blisters, you won't want to miss our segment on at-home remedies and preventative measures. Get ready to kick off your shoes, tune in, and embrace a new perspective on foot health. Trust us, this episode has got you covered, heel to toe!

To learn more, visit: LMDpodiatry.com or contact (954) 680-7133

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

Welcome to the LMD Pediatry podcast. Trust us to get back on your feet. Here's your host, Dr Lauren Devakarov.

Jeremy: 0:14

Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of the LMD Pediatry podcast. I'm your co-host, Jeremy Wolf, and I am joined by none other than your host, dr Lauren Devakarov. Dr Devakarov, how are you doing today?

Dr. Dabakaroff: 0:30

I'm doing great. A little rainy.

Jeremy: 0:32

Yeah, well kids are off from school, so got that exciting thing going on. Why don't we this episode? I thought we would talk a little bit about common issues with the skin. That's a great topic.

Dr. Dabakaroff: 0:52

That is a great topic because it's probably one of the most common things I see in the office, aside for sports injuries and foot pain and things like that.

Jeremy: 1:04

So what are some common types of ailments that folks suffer with the skin on their feet? I know there's athletes, but planters, warts, there's quite a few of them. Why don't you go in and explain some of these different issues?

Dr. Dabakaroff: 1:19

So one of the most common things I see. So there's the skin of the feet and then there's the toenails, so there's a lot of things that happen to both. So as far as the skin goes, one of the most common things I see is a planter's wart. I see that a lot. It's something contagious. The patients usually picked it up from somewhere, walking barefoot around the pool, going to someone else's shower. Little kids get it a lot and what a planter's wart is? It's a virus of the skin and the wart, the virus of the skin, it's feeding off of your blood supply to live on you. So I see that a lot. One of the other things I see a lot is athlete's foot and athlete any type of fungus. It's because, just like a bread goes moldy and you leave it when you put it in a bag, it's the same thing with foot. Wear a shoe without a sock, for example, your foot gets sweaty and then over time you can get a fungus. That's what athlete's foot is. It's a fungus.

Dr. Dabakaroff: 2:29

Other things I see skin wise on the foot. I'd say I think we'll get a lot of dermatitis from their shoes, like inflammation if they're wearing like skin irritation. It kind of looks like eggs them up, but it's not. It's just, you know, they're sensitive to whatever material is in their shoe or the glue, things like that. So that's definitely some stuff I see. I also see smelly feet. You know people come for that. I see stinky feet, smelly feet. There is treatment for it and there is a cause to all of it Sweaty feet. Those are just my top four, top three or four things that I see as far as the skin part of the foot. And then you also have the rare things. You know, a little mole that you've never seen before. You know that's definitely something that I buy up, see and go further. It could be they're done by me or dermatologist, but my specialty is the foot. So within the foot, I already know, you know more or less, what's the next step.

Jeremy: 3:38

Are there any benefits to? I've heard people talk about walking around at least in nature. Not outside on the concrete, but walking around in the grass barefoot and exposing your feet to the elements that way. Is there any benefit to doing that, or is that just?

Dr. Dabakaroff: 3:53

I mean your feet just get really dirty, like I think I think walking barefoot on sand on the beach is actually really healthy for your foot and, you know, and it's like a little exfoliation and also helps strengthen some of the, you know, deeper muscles of the foot. But as far as foot skin health, you know your foot's going to get dirty. You can pick up, you know, some type of infection from the dirt and your skin. You don't want to do that.

Jeremy: 4:28

So what are some remedies? Let's say you just have just dry, crack heels, maybe some blisters. What are some home remedies or things that you can do at home to well a prevent it in the first place but be treated so that folks maybe don't have to actually go in to see up at my address for these issues?

Dr. Dabakaroff: 4:50

So for dry crack heels is also something, calluses is also a big thing, dry crack, cracked heels. But for dry cracked heels one of the you know the best thing for that is not walking barefoot, that's it.

Dr. Dabakaroff: 5:07

That's the best way, because you know your foot gets dry and it doesn't get. You're not retaining the moisture of your own skin and the foot, and so Florida is like top for dry, cracked heels, because everybody's wearing sandals the red walking barefoot at home. But to treat it, if you want to avoid coming to see me, you know the best thing to do. My recommendation is always cream under occlusion, which means you take any cream that you have at home, you know, your Eustrin or your Vino or whatever body lotion you have, and then you slap it on the back of your heel, on the bottom of your heel, and then you put a piece of saran wrap over your heel at night and then you put on a sock. So what the body? So what happens is you don't let the cream dry to air and it fully gets absorbed.

Dr. Dabakaroff: 6:02

So that's that's one of my top tricks, you know I also. You know there's different soaks that I sell in the office that help, you know, use different medicines to debrief the skin for people who can't reach their feet. There's so many different treatment options and if you really can't get to it, once you know I can in my office I scrape it down and help you prevent it from coming back. So that's, that's a great remedy. It's pretty basic, you just have to do it.

Jeremy: 6:38

Ingrown toenails you mentioned earlier. So if you have, if you're suffering from an ingrown toenail, what's what? Are some ways to treat that at home.

Dr. Dabakaroff: 6:46

So we we talked about the skin, and the next part I was going to talk about was toenails. So for toenails, ingrown toenails, if they start to hurt eventually you need to come in and see me, because when the nail is ingrown, it's ingrown at the root and then if you, you know, if it's starting to hurt, you know the best thing to do is soak in Epsom salt soaks to decrease the inflammation and put a little like Neosporin in the corner just to prevent it from getting worse. You really just need to let your nails grow and cut them straight across. That's the best thing to do for ingrown toenails. Now, if you let it go too far, it becomes more and more ingrown and it becomes more and more painful and it can get infected, and that's when you really need to see me.

Jeremy: 7:38

I'm curious why are the nails so so sensitive? Obviously there's nerve clusters there. I get. I get why it's so painful when you have an ingrown toenail. But for, like an evolutionary standpoint, what's the reason why those the nails? What do they do for the body that I speak, speaking of the toenails specifically that would cause them to evolve in such a way that it's that painful and there are nerve clusters there.

Dr. Dabakaroff: 8:03

So the okay. So the nail bed, which is the skin underneath the toenail or your fingernails, it's highly innervated, like there are a lot of Innervated. Yeah, so there are a lot of nerves underneath, oh, the innervated. But even if you rip off your fingernails, it's very painful because underneath, underneath the fingernail or the toenail, there's actually a lot of nerves and that's why it's so painful and that's why you always need a little local anesthesia before I do anything to fix the ingrown toenail.

Jeremy: 8:39

Yeah, I, I Okay, definitely a lot of nerves under those. I was more curious and maybe you don't know the answer to that as to evolutionary, why it hurts so much or no, not why it hurts. Why the body evolved to have these nerve clusters specifically under the nails. Like what function? What function do nails serve in the body?

Dr. Dabakaroff: 8:59

evolution. From an evolutionary standpoint, the nails are for digging digging interesting, like you know. You see a monkey, you know monkey gorilla. You know what did they use their claws for? It's for digging, and that's kind of, from an evolutionary standpoint, why we even have fingernails and toenails like they don't really have. The toenails don't really have much of a function in our, in our era, right now. I could live without you don't need them, but yeah, that's why that's what we have them.

Jeremy: 9:41

Anything else you wanted to touch upon before we wrap up?

Dr. Dabakaroff: 9:43

you know, in grown toenails is something I see on a daily basis. You know you could use those remedies, you know if they hurt, if it hurts just to like avoid it from getting worse. But if you truly have ingrown toenail, you have to come in and and get evaluated. There's so many different treatment options. There's you know the basic procedures, and then there's even I have an system called onyfix. Onyfix is a great non-invasive way to treat an ingrown toenail. It's actually a brace for the toenail, so and it helps it grow out straight. You know, over time, as your toenail goes out, it's great. And then there's obviously needles and the sort for really bad toenails that are infected and we can't wait for onyfix to do its trick. But yeah, you can't let it go too far. I've seen them get really bad when patients don't come to the doctor. I've seen that ingrown toenail become a bone infection. So it's it's pertinent not to let it wait yeah, common theme, right preventative care.

Jeremy: 10:54

Make sure you get all the. Don't wait until it's too late. You know, get, get checked out, get your annual checkups and if you have an issue don't wait to address it, because then it becomes a problem. For sure, dr D, always a pleasure pleasure is mine all right. Thanks everyone for tuning in. We will catch you on the next episode.

Speaker 1: 11:15

Everyone, take care thank you for listening to the LMD podiatry podcast. For more information, visit LMD podiatrycom that's LMD podiatrycom or call 954-680-7133.