Dianne – Page 3 – Potty Purple Pod

Ingrown Toe Nails Explained

Ingrown toe nail – what is it? An ingrown toe nail can be really painful and happens when a splinter of nail penetrates the skin, usually at the front corner of the toe nail, this allows bacteria to get in causing an infection. The toe gets inflamed, swells up, goes red, maybe hot and any…

Thick Bendy Toenails

A podiatry patient with thick, bendy problem toenails.

When people ring me up and ask how much is it to “just” get their nails cut, I wonder if they think “just” how complicated they can be sometimes? One of the important things I need to bear in mind when I’m cutting thickened nails is, where are the blood vessels underneath them? Sometimes, especially…

Can Antibiotics Cure An Ingrown Toenail?

Let’s talk about antibiotics and ingrown toenails and answer some of your frequently asked questions about it. Can antibiotics cure an ingrown toenail? The answer is no, they can’t! An ingrown toenail is caused by a splinter of nail penetrating the skin, acting as a foreign body. That’s what setting the infection up in the…

Potty Purple Pod’s Spin On Strictly Come Dancing 2019

Dianne Ashcroft, Podiatrist ready for Strictly Come Dancing

More than half way through the 2019 season of Strictly Come Dancing with the Blackpool episode behind us isn’t it incredible! The standards really do get better and better every year. I’m honestly blown away by how quickly everyone is improving and becoming dancers before our eyes! I’d love to know who your favourite is…

Potty Purple Pod and the Fungus Fight!

How many times do you think I’ve heard someone say “I think I’ve got toe nail fungus, its ugly and I hate it”? Would you be surprised if I told you it’s quite a lot? Nail fungus is far more common than you’d think! Around 80% of the population suffering some form of fungal infection…

Verruca: What is it?

Officially, its a viral skin infection of the outer (epidermal) layer of skin caused by the human papilloma virus. In normal terms – a verruca is a foot wart, caused by a virus. Much like the common cold, there’s many different types of the virus. Luckily, like the common cold, you don’t need to know…

Potty Purple Pod and the Perils of the Pedicures

Cases from the clinic An interesting case of chalky white nail, came into clinic, they looked like this : Do you notice the chalky white lines going across the nail and the white grainy, patchy appearance of the nail? I am seeing this condition more and more, this lady had recently had some nail gels…

A Client Case Study – Potty Purple Pod & The Verruca That Wasn’t

Let’s set the scene Malcolm had suffered for 2 years with a painful foot, he thought he had a Verruca. He treated it at home with the usual preparations, it didn’t go and got more painful. He complained to his wife (a lot), he complained to his practice nurse (she gave him some ‘stuff’ to…

How to Fix Dry Cracked Heels

It doesn’t take much nice weather for us Brits to reach for the sandals and holiday shoes does it? Maybe this burst of sun has got you thinking about getting them out of the wardrobe and dusting them off? But, you’re scared of what’s lurking under your winter fluffy socks and slippers. Have you looked…

Do You REALLY Need that Expensive Fitness Tracker?

Back in June I met Dr Michael Mosely at a health conference in London. He’s a really interesting guy; he does the ‘Truth About’ and ‘Trust Me I’m a Doctor’ programmes on the BBC – which I love to watch. He was talking about how the idea of 10,000 steps has become the big thing…