Health and Fitness ? Elderly Foot Care ? Health and Fitness

A lack of foot care services for the elderly across the UK has left many of them housebound across cities in England. In fact recent figures have suggested that many who are over the age of 65 years, up to a third in some places, are unable to even trim their own toe nails. The restriction in flexibility and mobility that comes with old age can prevent the elderly from even reaching their toes. Elderly people may need access to a chiropodist because of problems with poor circulation, ulcers or overlapping toes. The chiropodist services are usually expected to be provided through the NHS.

Because older people have greater difficulty reaching their feet they may need help with basic foot care such as nail cutting and general foot hygiene. It was recently claimed the elderly were being put on long waiting lists on the NHS which forced many to seek out private care to obtain treatment or relay on charitable organizations to either help with costs or obtain treatment. In recent years it has been claimed there was a drop of about 20% in new NHS chiropody treatment cases and in some areas of the country virtually no access at all.

The lack of basic foot health care for the elderly can causes many other complications that may lead to restrictions to their mobility and increase the risk of dangerous falls. There have been known cases of people attempting to trim nails using garden shears or kicking brick walls to break off nails in the absence of any other means of help, support or treatment. Foot care should be universally available to anyone who needs it as per the founding principals that the NHS was based on and it has been suggested by some that chiropody should be included into the 18 weeks target waiting list currently deployed for the other areas of the NHS.

The importance of chiropody should not be underestimated for the elderly. The NHS should be expected to provide high quality foot health care to elderly patients to improve the quality of their life and ensure they remain healthy and mobile in old age. Elderly patients who can remain physically active later in life have a lesser impact on other sections of the NHS. The need in maintaining independence, social contact and mobility for the elderly should be an important part of any service available to them including the chiropody on the NHS.

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Source: http://medicaltips.biz/2011/09/10/elderly-foot-care/

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