Here’s why it’s crucial to be proactive about your feet
By Patricia Nugent
Routine footcare—especially for seniors and diabetics—is crucial to maintaining overall health and wellness.
At Finesse Footcare in Lyndhurst, Dr. Danielle L. Shaper has extensive experience working with this population, offering a full spectrum of preventive and proactive care to keep her patients active and healthy.
“Routine care is often overlooked, but it’s important to avoid serious conditions or infections,” she explains. “Once issues such as in-grown toenails or sores become infected, they can be difficult to treat. And if allowed to worsen, they can become systemic or, in the worst case, necessitate amputation. Keeping nails trimmed to an optimal level is key.”
Due to poor circulation, diabetics are at a much higher risk of suffering from foot conditions such as fungal infections, calluses, corns, bunions, blisters, ulcers, hammertoes, plantar warts and in-grown toenails.
“Due to neuropathy, diabetics often lose sensation in their feet. They might not feel the pain of sores, so it’s important for a doctor to check them,” she advises. “In addition to routine care, I custom-fit diabetic shoes to the patient to allow for comfort and stability. They feature extra depth to accommodate swelling, which diabetics often experience.”
Beyond routine care, Dr. Shaper treats the full range of foot and ankle issues, including ingrown toenails, bunions, hammertoes, plantar fasciitis, corns, warts, calluses, sprained ankles, diabetic footcare issues and spurs. She’s introduced several new treatments to the Cleveland area, including the Lunula laser for toenail fungus and radial shockwave therapy for heel pain.
Dr. Shaper has another amazing addition coming to her practice this fall. She’s expecting and her due date is next month. Although she will be off several weeks for maternity leave, another podiatrist will be covering her patient load for an uninterrupted, and unsurpassed, level of care.
Finesse Footcare is located at 5035 Mayfield Road, Suite 202, in Lyndhurst. Medicare allows people to receive routine care appointments every 10 weeks. The practice accepts a wide variety of insurance plans and financing options are available. Laser treatment is a cash pay service and not covered by insurance. Call 216-382-8070 or visit FinesseFootcare.com for more information.