For millions of people all over the world the end of Game of Thrones brings to an end of a decade of our TV lives. No matter what side of the fence you stand on about how disappointing season 8 (and arguably season 7) have been, we can all agree the Mad Queen got what she deserved! She left an entire city covered in ash! Naturally as a podiatrist this immediately makes me think how many patients are out there with skin that is as ashy as Arya’s face at the end of episode 5!
Often times dry “ashy” skin presents to our office as a chronic issue that patients can not seem to overcome. However, it is not the only skin disorder that we commonly see as podiatrist. Everything from dry skin to fungal infections to melanoma are common place. Dry skin which we most commonly see in our diabetic patient population is often times a direct result of neuropathy. Neuropathy is a disorder of the nerves which most commonly presents as numbness, tingling, and burning (like drogon is breathing on your feet), but it can also effect the part of the nervous system responsible for producing oil to the skin. The damage to this branch of the nervous system leads to, dry skin! Typically for severe dry, cracked (ashy) skin we use a cream called Urea which is excellent at actually breaking down the build up of dry skin and producing soft smooth skin.
Fungal infections of the skin can be a more stubborn problem to fix! Fungal infections can often times present in a similar manner are dry skin, looking flaky and sometimes red, fungal infections are treated completely differently. The first order of business is typically an easy, non painful biopsy of the skin to determine what kind of infection you have. Afterwards a combination of topical anti fungal treatments, and preventive measures such as our Shoe Zap device which kills fungus living in your shoes, can be used to cure your skin of the fungus! Typically the fungus that is infecting the skin can also cause havoc in the toenailsl! If this is the case for you, our painless state of the art laser can rid your nails of fungus in 6 simple treatments!
Another more serious skin disorder that we often times see (particularly in Florida) is melanoma. Melanoma is a malignant skin cancer which can present in a variety of places and ways. Do you have a dark spot under your toenail? Or a spot on the bottom of your foot or your shin that has been growing? These are often early signs of melanoma which can be easily diagnosed with an in office biopsy and if proven to be malignant, excised to prevent spread to other parts of the body!
The moral of this story is, if you have a concerning skin problem below your knee, be like the Stark’s and head, far north like Jon to our Brooksville location, north like Sansa to our North Tampa location, south like Bran to our South Tampa location or, travel to pastures new like Arya to our newest location in Wesley Chapel!