Alzheimers And Nail Fungus

My father had Alzheimer’s for the last 5 years of his life.  He slowly lost his ability to recognize me and became more and more withdrawn as the days when by.  But one thing did not change: he wanted to be impeccably dressed at all times.  He had taken a shower twice each day all his life – once in the morning and once at night – and that routine did not change one bit.  

I knew that if he developed a nail fungus infection (Onychomycosis) he would be absolutely distraught.  He would look down at his yellow, ugly, brittle and distorted nails and become confused and stressed.  The condition is very common among the elderly due to poor circulation at the extremities so I knew he was at risk.  I also did not want to have to follow a repeated nail fungus treatment routine over many months to get rid of the disease.  

I decided to incorporate a couple of extra steps into his hygiene routine to ensure that the likelihood of him developing fungal nails was reduced.  

1) After every shower I would make sure that he very carefully dried each toe.  As fungi like moist environments this is the best thing anyone can do to keep it at bay.  See more about nail fungus risk factors here. We made a little ritual of taking each toe in turn and drying it.  It’s something that my father began to enjoy doing himself.

2) I bought a bottle of tea tree oil and applied this every day to his nails.  At first the strong smelling essential oil was a little confronting, but after a while he got used to it.  Tea tree is an antimicrobial oil that has been used for centuries to keep skin and nails healthy and fungus free.

3) Even though my father liked to be dressed at all times, I did encourage him to take off his socks and shoes for a few hours each day.  Fungi do not like light or unprotected environments so this is a good precautionary strategy.

4) I sprinkled some anti fungal powder into his favorite shoes every two weeks or so.  With the progression of his Alzheierms my father only seemed to want to wear two pairs of shoes, so I wanted to make sure there was no chance that an infected fungal spore was harboring in them.

Alzheimers is a difficult disease to cope with – for both patient and carer.  By not having to deal with a nail fungus infection, I feel we both took one step to make the experience a little easier – even if just by a tiny bit.

Tags: Onychomycosis nal fungus

Category: Alzheimers