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Like most Seattleites you crave your coffee. Particularly during our wet, dreary winters there’s nothing quite like a full bodied Cuppa Joe to get you through the day. Coffee is great for many people and has even been shown to be richer in anti-oxidants than any other beverage. What could be wrong with that? Nothing, unless you happen to be a person who sweats excessively and has a condition called hyperhidrosis which could add to your risk of toenail fungus.
Toenail fungus loves dark, damp environments. In the winter in particular when feet are in boots, get wet, and rarely see the light of day fungus has many of the right conditions to infect your toenails.
A Seattle Times reader recently submitted some advice to people about how to decrease sweaty feet. This reader with profoundly sweaty feet found that if he cut back to decaf or drink only one cup of fully leaded coffee it made a huge difference in decreasing his sweaty feet. A respected journal also showed that caffeine increases sensitivity to sweating triggers.
As as Seattle podiatrist, I also recommend wearing flip flops in locker and shower rooms which are a hotbed of fungus and avoiding nail salons that don’t clean their equipment properly. Runners and other athletes are at risk because of the repetitive motion of the toes hitting the shoe end causing nail damage and easier fungus entry. Make sure your shoes fit properly, trade-off between shoes if you run daily, or purchase a Shoe Zap Ultraviolet Shoe Sanitizer which can be placed in your shoes after your work out to eliminate 99% of all the bacteria and fungus that develop.
If you have questions or what to make an appointment to get rid of your ugly, fungal nails, call us at 206-368-7000 or request an appointment online. Meanwhile learn more about our laser treatment for fungal nails.
