The LMD Podiatry Podcast
Board certified in Podiatric Medicine and Surgery, Dr. Dabakaroff completed her training in Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. Dr. Dabakaroff has been published in textbooks and has done research for various foot conditions. Dr. Dabakaroff brings with her new methods, both surgical and non-surgical, for treating multiple foot and ankle ailments.
Dr. Dabakaroff launched a podcast to educate and keep her community informed about various aspects of podiatry. Her goal is to offer a valuable resource to people while establishing new connections both within and outside her community.
To learn more, visit: LMDpodiatry.com or contact (954) 680-7133
The LMD Podiatry Podcast
EP #17: Decoding Foot Health: Defeating Fungus, Warts, and Common Conditions
What if your feet could tell you the secrets of maintaining their health and avoiding common skin conditions? On the LMD Podiatry Podcast, Dr. Lauren DaBakaroff and Jeremy Wolf, promise to enlighten you on this important topic. Join us as we unravel the mysteries of toenail fungus, warts, and dry skin, with a spotlight on why toenail fungus is the most prevalent. Discover why wearing shoes without socks or using public showers could invite unwanted fungal guests and learn to differentiate between fungal and bacterial infections. With insights on recognizing athlete's foot and simple home remedies like vinegar soaks, you'll be armed with the knowledge to keep your feet happy and healthy.
Our journey then takes us through the world of foot warts, focusing on those pesky plantar warts that can cause so much discomfort. We discuss how these viral invaders are often picked up in public areas and offer both over-the-counter and professional treatment options to address them. From salicylic acid patches to cryogenic freezing, you'll gain an understanding of how to effectively treat warts by first tackling the calluses that protect them. Armed with this information, you'll be equipped to fight back against these stubborn foot foes.
Lastly, we emphasize the importance of preventative care, especially as we age. Simple changes like avoiding barefoot walking in high-risk areas, maintaining proper foot hygiene, and opting for moisture-wicking socks can make a significant difference. We also cover how certain footwear choices can lead to issues like dermatitis. We invite you to share your foot health experiences in our community, with reassurance that experts like Dr. Tabakarov and Dr. Lauren are here to help. Cherish life by taking care of your health, and stay tuned for more insights on the LMD Podiatry Podcast.
To learn more, visit: LMDpodiatry.com or contact (954) 680-7133
Welcome to the LMD Podiatry Podcast. Trust us to get back on your feet. Here's your host, Dr Lauren DeBakeroff.
Speaker 2:Well, hello, hello everyone, and welcome back to another episode of the LMD Podiatry Podcast. Your co-host here, jeremy Wolf, as always, joined by your host, dr Lauren.
Speaker 1:DeBaccarat Dr.
Speaker 2:Lauren. It's always a pleasure. Truly, truly is All right. So well guys, thanks everyone for tuning in. We got a fun one today. We're going to talk a little bit about skin conditions. I'm going to demystify skin conditions, so why don't we start with some basics here, From your lens as a podiatrist, what are some of the most common skin conditions that you see? Walk on into your office, See the little arcades there.
Speaker 3:Number one Pun intended. Yeah so number one skin condition, toenail fungus. Toenail fungus. There's a fungus among intended.
Speaker 2:Yeah so number one skin condition toenail fungus. Toenail fungus there's a fungus among us.
Speaker 3:Yes, Toenail fungus number one. The next most popular one is probably warts. That's a big one. And probably number three would be dry skin and calluses of all sorts.
Speaker 2:So fungus warts, okay, why are conditions like fungus and warts so prevalent when it comes to the feet?
Speaker 3:So when it comes to fungus, first of all, it's easily contagious, so you can just like bread gets moldy when you see it in a bag, because fungus grows from moisture.
Speaker 3:So, too, the same thing happens if you wear shoes without socks. You can actually develop fungus on your skin, on the skin of the foot leading to athlete's foot or on your toenails, just by having too much moisture in your foot. Just by having too much moisture in your foot, if you perspire a lot, if you sweat a lot in your feet and you're not using things to dry up your feet, for example, and that moisture can help you lead into a fungus in your skin or on your toenails, for example. Another reason why toenail fungus is very common is because when people share showers with other people and they don't know where they went, if you use public showers and in south florida, the number one is the nail flaws because, even though they have the sterile packs, it's the, it's the what's it called brush, the nail polish brush.
Speaker 3:That's what everybody gets it from, because it's the only thing that doesn't get sterilized. And even though people think that the nail polish is so strong and it has a lot of chemicals in it, those chemicals are not strong enough to kill the actual fungal spores that are on the brush. So, even though they give you a pedicure and everything's great, the second, they use the same polish that they use on thousands of other people. You're going to get tons of fungus Sounds lovely, that's always great.
Speaker 2:If you go to get a pedicure, you spend a hundred by whatever it costs to get a pedicure, and then you end up getting some kind of fungal infection. That's lovely, oh boy. So talking about fungal infections, what exactly is a fungal infection?
Speaker 3:Elaborate, okay, infections. What exactly is a fungal infection like? What's what we're elaborate? Okay, so there are different types of microorganisms, right? So you can get a bacterial infection, like if someone has pus in their foot, that's bacteria husk pus pus.
Speaker 2:Oh, pus, pus. Okay, I think you said a husk. No, no, I said what is an elephant husk? Oh, that's a tusk. I'm sorry, what is that doing in the feet, jesus, I digress.
Speaker 3:Continue. There's different types, so you know you have different. You have viruses, bacteria and fungi, right? So there's different types of fungi, all Fungi all over the world. They grow in different places. Your average mushroom that you eat, that's a fungus. But there are types of fungi that they grow on bread, so there's yeast mold. Those are all types of different funguses and there's different species and things like that. And the same thing is bacteria. You can have like a staph infection, you can have a strep infection.
Speaker 2:You can have pseudomonas infection. So fungus itself. It's a type of microorganism. It just acts differently than bacteria and a virus. So here's a term that many people have probably heard before Athlete's foot. That is a form of fungus, correct? Yeah?
Speaker 3:it's fungus of the skin.
Speaker 2:Fungus of the skin, of the skin of the foot. So for somebody that is having some issues with the feet, what are some typical signs somebody should look for and how can they treat that? When would it require you actually going to see a doctor like yourself, or a home remedy? What should people look out for? Some signs?
Speaker 3:and so for a fractured foot or fungus of the skin of your foot. The most common sign is itching. If your feet start itching. The other thing is you get like this scaly, flaky skin on the bottom of your foot.
Speaker 2:Should I be getting my foot out now to do an inspection?
Speaker 1:No, no, no. We don't want to scare everybody away.
Speaker 2:My face is scary enough looking A lot of people confuse dry skin with athlete's foot.
Speaker 3:Okay, so dry skin your skin is just kind of like ashy and then athlete's foot. You can actually see it's a moccasin type, moccasin-like distribution. Basically it's a moccasin-type, moccasin-like distribution. Basically it's like these little circular scales on your foot and they flake off and in some cases they can be red and sometimes they can cause some itching in your foot and that's how you know it's athlete's foot. Home remedies vinegar soaks like half vinegar, half water. That'll help kill the fungus. You can try over-the-counter creams, but if that doesn't resolve on its own, then you probably need a stronger prescription that you can get either from me or a primary doctor why are fungal infections so dang stubborn to get rid of?
Speaker 2:like what? What is it that that they just kind of it seems that when you get something cooking on your foot it just kind of takes hold and never goes away, like I have certain I'm not, maybe not fungal infections, but I have certain things on my feet that just they don't go away, like alices that develop and and scars from things, and they just stick there forever well, calluses and fungus is two different things, totally different stuff out from this, from pressure, from the shape of your foot related to the shoe.
Speaker 3:But fuck, yes, the reason why it's so stubborn is because it kind of they breed in the moisture. So if your feet are sweaty without socks, you're walking around all day well and it's hot as all hell down here and you're walking outside it hangs out. Your feet are moist and it hangs out there and continues to grow and you have to kill it. It's not going to go away unless you kill the fungus. You got to kill it.
Speaker 2:Be nice doctor. We don't want to kill things on the show here, Come on.
Speaker 1:No.
Speaker 2:Okay, so warts another fun one, I think people, people have heard of planter warts and those can be really painful. What, what's? Talk a little bit about planter warts. What are they, what causes them and why can they be so tricky to throw? It's a virus of the skin okay, virus of the skin, I'm right that we have bacteria, fungus and virus.
Speaker 3:So let's say COVID was a virus, it was a respiratory virus. So you can have a virus of the skin. Viruses act differently. They live off the host cells. So if you don't get rid of the warts or do things to burn the warts I'll talk about that in a second. So what's going to happen is that virus, or the it's called Verruca plantaris. That's like Verruca, that's that's what the proper name for it. When you have that in your foot or really anywhere in your body, people get them in their hands, People I've seen them in people's legs and and they're very painful in the foot and I'll tell you in a second why. But what happens is the viruses live off the host cells and then if you don't do anything to get rid of the virus, and it's going to continue living and thriving on your skin and lives during the way a long time it doesn't do anything.
Speaker 2:So the reason why the ones on the bottom of your foot are very, very painful skin and lives there.
Speaker 3:It's tearing away, it doesn't do anything. So the reason why the ones on the bottom of your foot are very, very painful is because it lives on your skin and then, as you walk, you develop a callus over the wart and that makes the callus more and more painful and you're walking on the virus and you're walking on the wart and you're walking on it. Walking on it develops the callus and that's why it becomes so painful.
Speaker 3:Where do you get them? It's a virus. It was contagious. You know a lot of kids get them because they walk barefoot in public pools, public showers, public pools. Anytime you walk barefoot anywhere you can contract like you could get a skin virus.
Speaker 2:So effective methods of treatment. You alluded to this earlier. You talked about burning off warts. When is it appropriate to do that? Is that something that sounds like it could be pretty aggressive and maybe not the best way to get started, like if you have one developing? Maybe not the the the best way to get started, like if you have one developing. Maybe there's some other treatments you'd go to first, or you consider burning off. What are your thoughts on that?
Speaker 3:So me and the, either a podiatrist or a dermatologist, can do this. But basically to get the virus to die I know you don't like the word killing and death but I'm joking to your country to get the, you know, to kill off the, the wart, you have to kill the virus and a couple of very simple ways to do. That is to use over the carbon acid. Me or the dermatologist can freeze it. You know, like the, the freeze cans uh, to to freeze, burn. That's another way to kill it, to make it die.
Speaker 2:I think I've used that before. It seems familiar Like an over-the-counter. Is that over-the-counter or prescription?
Speaker 3:There are like over-the-counter acids like salicylic acid is very common for people to buy. You get the four patches which have acid on them that help kill the wart and burn it. But in office I'd go a little bit more aggressive. Spray on there. You can freeze, burn it. You could burn it with a chemical. There's also like other things that makes the wart blister off. Uh, very strong pink chemicals that do that. Chemical burns, things like that. Those help kill the wart or destroy it. Chemical it's a, it's a type of destruction. So we want to destroy. Like the freeze burning or cryogenic freezing, cauterization they all kind of cauterize the wart. Now the reason why I recommend seeing a podiatrist for the warts of your feet, mostly because the callus that you develop over the wart is so thick that it doesn't matter what kind of cautery you use. You really need to trim the callus down really deep enough so that you can expose the wart to the medicine or to the cautery, if that makes sense really get in there, good, and yeah because, the callus blocks the.
Speaker 3:It's going to be a barrier. So I find if you have one on your hand, go to the dermatologist, burn it whatever. But if you have one on the foot, chances are you have a nice thick callus over it and that's preventing the medicine from penetrating If over-the-counter stuff has not worked.
Speaker 2:Let's talk about prevention. I find myself more and more going back to this idea of preventative care and prevention. I think the older I get, the wiser I get and the more I'm talking about taking care of yourself. So a lot of the preventative measures that people could take in most things in life are usually pretty, pretty obvious, but so many of us avoid that for whatever reason. So let's just raise some awareness around prevention. What, what are some things, some go-to things people can do to avoid these issues in the first place? And again, I know some of this is obvious, but it's like wart and fungus. Yeah, let's go.
Speaker 3:I mean for the warts it's really the warts, it's really just don't walk barefoot, don't walk barefoot.
Speaker 2:Isn't it good, though, to go out and walk barefoot, like I heard that it's good to go out and walk on the earth on the sand, on some grass great, not, but not like around a pool. Okay, over pools there's a lot of a lot of how do you not walk with? Oh, you guys can wear the water shoes or whatever.
Speaker 3:You can wear your flip flops and water shoes. Those are fine, Okay, and I mean a lot of kids get it because you know they're changing in the gym and school and things like that, and those locker, those gym gym, the gyms in the school?
Speaker 2:that's where all the viruses live over there, so you just got to keep it clean. Is it good, then, to like I mix between some days I wear socks and sneakers, some days I wear sandals? Is it good to rotate, like? I'd imagine, too much of anything is not good all the time right. What's your thoughts on that? Am I on a good path with rotating my footwear day-to-day or even changing my socks throughout the day? Not good all the time right. What's your thoughts on that is? Am I on a good path with, like, rotating my footwear day to day or even changing?
Speaker 2:my socks throughout the day if if they get a little wet or musky that that's my recommendation, typically okay.
Speaker 3:So for people with sweaty feet or people that tend to have like the athlete's foot, that comes back again and again, again, it's all about maintaining a dry environment in your shoe. So the way, the way, you do that is you have to alternate shoes, like if you wear the same shoe every day.
Speaker 2:Give it a break, wear this shoe today and another shoe tomorrow, and then that'll give it, or maybe one of each one day, if you want to go crazy, right, I mean, if you have enough shoes, go for it.
Speaker 3:another thing you could do is switch your socks. So a lot of people love cotton socks, but they're not great for athletes Because cotton socks, when they get wet, they stay wet.
Speaker 2:What's the alternative? I've never thought about anything but cotton socks. What else do they make socks out?
Speaker 3:of Right. So now I mean we'll talk for the best. But it's florida, it's hot, so you want any type of sock with a wicking technology, so you want something that wicks the moisture. You could buy special socks like that if you do truly have sweaty feet or you're a marathon runner or one of those things. But there's as long as you have some type, some type of like synthetic fiber on your socks, then it should absorb most of the moisture so would that be like?
Speaker 2:I bought some socks for running there was, I think the brand was called sock and sock and knee. Is that the right? Am I saying that right? Oh, those are good. Are those? Yeah, those type of socks that have that lining? Yeah, because I, I use those when I run and they definitely feel more comfortable.
Speaker 3:See, those are wicking socks. I think they have also. What do you keep saying? Wicking, w-i-c-k-i-n-g, it wicks Wicking.
Speaker 2:They were talking about witches here Wicking, wicking, it wicks moisture, it wicks the moisture. It makes sense why somebody recommended to me to get those socks for running. So all the pieces of the puzzle are starting to come together here. You see. Good, I'm glad I could bring it home for you. What are we missing? You talked about fungus, we talked about warts, you were talking about dry skin. What are some of the other common issues that you see?
Speaker 2:Okay, sometimes I see some dermatitis, dermatitis, derma being skin and pitis being I don't know what it is.
Speaker 3:Inflammation.
Speaker 2:Dermatitis is inflammation of the skin.
Speaker 3:Yeah, okay, so a lot of people can get that from. I see it all the time when patients wear Crocs without socks.
Speaker 2:Croc Don't wear Crocs without socks. People Don't wear Crocs. Run a 5K race in Crocs without socks. Croc Don't wear Crocs without socks. People Don't wear Crocs. Run a 5K race in Crocs or a marathon in Crocs. I've seen some videos like that. No good.
Speaker 3:No, you could get it from like the plastic or the rubber shoes, like a lot of times patients get it on the top of their foot. Really, you just have to stop that. And if it's very, very painful or itchy, then any type of cortisone over-the-counter hydrocortisone cream should help. And if it doesn't go away, you see me for a strong cream.
Speaker 3:So that's kind of like another thing I see. So we did athlete's foot plantar's warts. If they're very bad and very painful, I actually cut out plantar's warts. So that's another procedure. Yeah, I just cut it out, cut it out, burn the remnant burn it, burn the wicking, burn it.
Speaker 3:Oh man, I'm too much and then for toenail fungus, I will say this those are stubborn ones. There are pills that just help clear the toenail fungus, but if you're against pills even though the pill that I prescribed is amazing you need a very strong topical antifungal to kill toenail fungus. Why? Because the toenails are about 15 times harder than your skin. So most of the over-the-counter stuff, even though it has the antifungal ingredient in it, it doesn't have the vehicle to penetrate into the nail. So that's why there's like more prescription. And then I also sell some fancy stuff here that helps that barrier.
Speaker 2:Well, what is what is this magic pill that you speak? Turbinophene.
Speaker 3:Turbinophene.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Or Lamisil. That's what everybody knows. That, okay, and what did that? So that's just it.
Speaker 2:Lamisil, that's what everybody knows. That is Okay, and what is that? So that's just. It was like an anise, what's that it?
Speaker 3:kills the fungus from the inside.
Speaker 1:Hmm.
Speaker 3:Okay, yeah, so the new nail will come out fungus-free when you take this pill. It takes a couple months. Toenails take about six to nine months to grow out, if you're young. So you take the pill over the course of three months. I prescribe it, I monitor you, and then we wait for the noun to grow out and everybody's very happy. That doesn't mean the fungus can't come back, because unless you do all those tips and tricks keep your feet dry, keep the environment of your shoes dry, alternate your shoes and do that stuff it can always come back. Right, you can buy like a shoe tree, like a UV shoe tree or shoe zapper. You hang your shoe on it every day. It kills the.
Speaker 2:A UV shoe tree? Yeah, they have them on Amazon. I've not seen that. That's interesting. Just hang the shoes up and hit them with that UV light.
Speaker 3:My tip, my favorite tip, is taking one of those cheap Lipton tea bags, the black tea, the cheapest ones you have. Throw one dry tea bag into each shoe every night. The tea that we drink actually has formalin in it. It actually absorbs the smell and the moisture in your shoe.
Speaker 2:Dry tea bag. In each shoe Black tea. In each shoe Black tea. It has to be black tea, that's going to help freshen up the situation. I like that.
Speaker 3:And then other skin conditions. Those are the most common ones. I do have some random like. There are a lot of times I do a lot of foot biopsies, like lower leg or foot biopsies. I have I've done some biopsies of weird things that people have on their feet, just like the dermatologist, and a few people over the years had some type of skin cancer. So it's always important to get your skin checked and sometimes I coordinate with the dermatologist and it's funny the dermatologist that I refer back. We refer back and forth to each other. She doesn't like to do foot stuff so she sends me all the the stubborn stuff and then I also, when there's something a little bit too complicated like skin cancer, I send back to her. So you know things like that. Ulcers are a big one for the diabetic population. If you want to keep talking about skin conditions, ulcerscers are very, very common.
Speaker 2:Ulcers on skin. I thought ulcers. I think of ulcers as like a stomach condition.
Speaker 3:No, so ulcer just means hole, so you can get a diabetic foot ulcer Shows what I know here.
Speaker 3:I've seen non-diabetics also get foot ulcers, like patients with very bad calluses they don't take care of and then they just keep walking and walking and walking on their calluses and then they develop a little ulcer which is basically a divot in the skin. That doesn't close over time and I have all the tips and tricks to get it to get it to close. But yeah, there are ulcers. Patients have diabetic foot ulcers because diabetics don't have enough sensation in their feet and then they keep walking on pressure points and they have no idea and then they ulcerate. So that's another very common skin condition.
Speaker 2:Fascinating, fascinating. What would be. Before we wrap up here, one piece of advice that you'd like to give to someone dealing with a stubborn foot condition. Maybe it's that, that wart that keeps popping up, or just dry feet. Whatever it is, what's one piece of advice you can leave them with Moisturize, moisturize like moisturizing cream on the feet, just daily.
Speaker 3:You know, if you, yeah, and so the if you live in Florida especially. But we live in Florida. A lot of people here wear sandals and that's too much air to the foot.
Speaker 2:Too much air. I want it. I want my feet to be aired out. Come on.
Speaker 3:But it's too much. And then everybody has these like dried packed heels, and then they come.
Speaker 2:That's why you do one day sandals and one day shoes.
Speaker 3:But everybody's not you, everybody's not you. I'm sorry for them then. No, it's all good, you're the best, but you have to moisturize at least at night before you go to bed. A little cream on your feet at night goes a long way. Monitor your foot. If you have any sore spot of a callus or you think you might possibly have a wart, come in and get checked. If you have dry skin that, no matter what cream you put on it, doesn't go away. It's probably athlete's foot. You should come in for that.
Speaker 3:But really it's very important to wear shoes with socks and if you you're wearing those low profile shoes, you gotta wear the, the what's it called those hidden socks you get out. Friction is what's going to cause pain and blisters and calluses and sores and dermatitis. So just wear. If you're going to wear the shoe, wear it right. And there's also different like pads, paddings and things put inside your shoes. Just like you got those special socks, it's the same thing you got to just protect your feet in every shoe that you wear and that way you'll prevent warts and funguses and calluses and things like that.
Speaker 3:So, those are a couple of tricks, tips that I recommend, love it.
Speaker 2:My wife has been trying to get me to moisturize her on my face, for my skin for a while now. She, you know. Unfortunately, I don't do it regularly. This is why you get what you see here in this, in this still video here.
Speaker 3:You look like you have a beautiful supple face.
Speaker 2:I'm being very self self-deprecating today, but very cool, all right. Well, that was informative. Thanks everyone for tuning in. If you've had your own foot problems, tell us about it in the comments. Tell us what you, the struggles that you've gone through. Go see Dr Tabakarov. Go see Dr Lauren. She promises it will not hurt a bit unless she has to burn it off. Will not hurt a bit unless she has to burn it off. Okay, correct, there you go. All right, cool, we will leave it at that. We will catch everyone next time on the next episode of the LMD podiatry podcast. Everyone, take care, stay happy, stay healthy. Remember we only have this one life to live, so let's take care of ourselves and live it with purpose and love and happiness. Take care, and love and happiness. Take care everyone.
Speaker 1:Stay blessed. Thank you for listening to the LMD Podiatry Podcast. For more information, visit LMDPodiatrycom. That's L-M-D-P-O-D-I-A-T-R-Y dot com or call 954-680-7133.