Mercer-Ocean Podiatry, PC

It may seem basic, but toenail care is an important part of your foot health. Trimming improperly heightens your risk and leads to podiatric conditions. That’s why the staff at Mercer-Ocean Podiatry, PC have put together this helpful guide. Located at two convenient locations in Hamilton Township and Toms River, NJ, Drs. Frank Killian and Sameep Chandrani are feet doctors of the highest tier. This guide helps you through proper feet care. Contact us to learn more.   Proper toenail clipping is necessary to prevent foot issues like ingrown toenails. These nails grow inward, causing pain and possibly infection. Cutting correctly avoids this problem. Before you start, make sure your clippers are the appropriate size. Always clean them before and after with disinfectant.   -First, try to cut your nail straight across. Curved nails are thought to be aesthetically pleasing, but it is not recommended by your NJ podiatrists. -Don’t cut each nail in one swoop. Make a series of smaller cuts to ge...

If you’ve noticed your toenails have turned green, we at Mercer-Ocean Podiatry are ready to help. Bacterial infections are a common cause of discoloration and we can provide treatments for them. But preventing recurrences will likely require a change in the patient’s lifestyle. The bacterium that causes green nails, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, thrives in damp places. It often occurs alongside fungal infections. Toenails and fingernails form a seal that keeps out moisture, but when they are damaged, bacteria are able to enter the body. Infections are most common among people whose work keeps them in contact with water and exposes them to minor nail injuries. Toenail infections are also common when peoples’ sweat pools in shoes they spend hours wearing. When a patient comes in with darkly discolored toenails, we may do tests to determine whether the cause is an infection or something that looks similar, such as melanoma. If the discoloration is clearly caused by bacteria, we can recommend vi...

Discolored toenails aren’t just an aesthetic problem; they could be a sign of a serious illness. We at Mercer-Ocean Podiatry offer a variety of professional treatments for different toe-related problems, but for best results, we depend on our patients coming to us for early interventions. Therefore, we wanted to inform people of just what different types of discoloration could indicate. The most common cause of toenail discoloration is fungal infection. This will cause the toenails to turn a yellow-brownish color or have white spots and make them misshapen and bad-smelling. They may become brittle and pitted. But toenails can also fall prey to bacterial infections, which could cause them to turn green. Dark stains could be the result of an injury. Blood pooling under a nail would look black or purple, and in a person with difficulty feeling their toes, it may be their best indicator that they have a bruise. But cancerous growths can look similar to bruises, so it’s dangerous to take fo...