No, I'm not writing to caution people over gaining weight during the cooler weather! I myself don't discriminate over naughty food in winter, and am happy to eat it all year round. Meanwhile "winter" and "Perth" to me is non-sensical. Here in Perth we have 4 seasons: Summer, Summer, Summer, mild Summer. But I digress. It must be the cake...
With the cooler weather we tend to wear enclosed shoes, socks, put the blankets on the bed etc, which can place more pressure on the toes, essentially pushing the skin into the nail (as opposed to the traditional spikey nail shard growing into the skin). This can lead to an ingrowing toenail, or the skin along the side of the nail can thicken, like a corn or callus.
I see this a lot, and tend to perform more ingrowing nail treatments during this transitional weather period. I do not recommend people attempt self-care by 'chasing the nail': I see that many people trim into the corner steeply, attempting to remove what they assume is a nail shard. When this doesn't work they may try again - chasing the nail. But it's not there, and the result may require more time with me. Hooray! The local anaesthetic injection is *always* optional! Self-care should be centred on reducing direct pressure over the area, and ensuring appropriate skin hydration (dry skin or too-moist skin reduces integrity). So if you do feel an ingrowing toenail coming on, please give us a call.
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