The College of Podiatrists of Extremadura works together with a laboratory and oncologists from the SES in the Onco-Foot Project, the results of which will soon see the light and will be beneficial for cancer patients. Podiatrists play an important role in caring for this group that suffers from what is known as hand-foot syndrome as a result of some chemotherapy treatments.
What is the role of the podiatrist with cancer patients?
When a person suffers from cancer and is treated with chemotherapy, the most normal thing is that we think that it will affect the hair and its fall. But there is also an affectation that occurs in the nails. Like hair, these are made of keratin. When a patient begins chemotherapy cycles, the treatment also affects the toenails and allows a series of abnormalities to occur. There is a study by the podiatrist Patricia Palomo, doctor and professor at the UEX, on 200 women with breast cancer that reveals that 46% of the anomalies appeared in the nails and 36% were painful.
What is hand-foot syndrome?
Hand-foot syndrome is an alteration that manifests itself with pain, accompanied by cracks and dryness and inflammation of the joints and fingers, especially in the first cycles of some chemotherapy treatments. It is common for them to swell their feet. This causes nails to dig in, skin to dry out and cracks to appear. These people go to the podiatry consultation and their feet are checked so that they are in optimal conditions and thus prevent the skin from cracking and the nails from breaking when inflammation occurs. They are also given a guideline to prevent skin dryness.
How does chemotherapy affect the nails?
One of the factors that appears in people who are treated with chemotherapy is that the nails thicken and turn black or dark. In this case, the nails are filed and the patient is reassured informing him that it is a consequence of the treatment, just as it happens with the hair. Once the chemotherapy is finished, the nails grow back and return to normal.
Is the help of the podiatrist to the cancer patient very important?
The help of the podiatrist is very important because foot involvement can be disabling for the patient, since it causes pain and prevents him from walking normally or doing some daily activities. Our job is to help improve the quality of life of the patient.
–
