Cutting toenails and pedicuring feet - advice re bending

[Dusty_in_Hope]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to the forum and new to pn.

Sorry if this is a stupid question...

As understand that I'm liable to make myself worse pn-wise with bending, is bending to tend to my feet out of the question? Is there some safe way of reaching to cut my toenails and/or pedicure my own feet or is it a complete no no and not worth the risk - meaning that I'll have to get someone else to do this for me from now on?

As a newbie to this condition it seems overwhelmingly daunting and difficult to adjust to only sitting when I absolutely have to and alternating between standing and lying down flat for the rest of the time, especially as I have fibromyalgia (widespread muscle pain) which makes standing for any length of time painful and lying down also tends to make my muscles stiff.

Thanks for listening (I'm still reeling with the shock of realising that I have almost certainly got pn) but am very thankful to have found this forum.

Dusty

[Violet M]

Hi Dusty,

The theory behind not bending is if you have a nerve entrapment with the nerve entrapped between 2 ligaments or encased in muscle fascia, etc. so that it won't glide but this is pretty rare. I continued to do what I had to do when I was going through the worst of PN -- including trimming my own toe nails like I always had. If it causes a huge flare-up then obviously you would want to avoid it but if it doesn't seem to make any difference in your pain level I think you have to go on living your life as normally as possible.

Violet

[Dusty_in_Hope]

Hi Violet

Thanks for replying and advising me about the entrapment aspect. Would bending be sometimes liable to 'stretch' the nerve though? I think I read something about that somewhere else on the net, but I think I have probably got the wrong end of the stick (learning about pn and its treatments etc., all feels like a steep learning curve, with an awful lot to comprehend).

How rare are pn and pne? (I guess pn is more common than pne, from what you have already said.)

I will take it steady and continue to trim my own toenails as you advise.

Thanks again and kind regards,

Dusty

[Violet M]

Dusty, an entrapment is pretty rare. I don't think anyone knows for sure how rare it is though. If the nerve is entrapped my understanding is that it could cause a stretch injury if you bend over so I wouldn't do it anymore than necessary but you have to go on living. I think for me, it probably would have been just as difficult to try to go sit for a pedicure but it might be different for you. If it doesn't hurt for you to sit, maybe the pedicure would be the answer for you.

Violet

[Dusty_in_Hope]

Thanks Violet,

Good point about the problem of sitting whilst having a professional pedicure; I was imagining perhaps going to a podiatrist who might have an adjustable chair - like a dentists chair/'bed' - so that I could lie back as flat as possible while they cut and chisel at my feet...but whether podiatrists ever have such chairs is another matter...I have a vivid wishful imagination sometimes!

I think my tactic for pedicuring will be to safely kind of 'dam up' the shower tray with this 'flow plug' device http://www.cosyfeet.com/flow-plug#.VaYhcItCPzI so that my feet can soak while I have a shower and then straight afterward do my own pedicure as quickly as possible. I might do the toenails at one session and the rest of the pedicure - rough skin smoothing - at another session, so that I minimise the amount of sitting that I would be doing at any one time. (Oh, the things that we have to do in life to get by, eh?!)

Dusty

[Amanda]

Dusty it's not easy to have good toes and pn, I use my bidet to soak my feet while sitting on the loo.....clothes on of course!
I also do things gradually clipping nails and filing and creaming afterwards. I do enjoy going to my salon on occasion for a proper pedicure, I take my cushions and lie back and let them sort out the rougher areas of my feet.

[Dusty_in_Hope]

Hi Amanda,

What an excellent idea! Thank you It would be so much more comfortable for me to sit on the loo. I could sit there and soak my feet in a plastic washing-up bowl - used solely (if you pardon the pun) for my feet of course (as, sadly, I don't have a bidet)...Or I could soak my feet in the shower, as described in my previous posting, and cut my toenails etc., whilst sitting on the loo afterwards.

Kind wishes,
Dusty