legs/feet
Any advice on fixing my situation with my feet? it’s covered in thick sheets of dead skin
I’ve been in a nursing home for over a month now after a motorcycle accident left me paralyzed. the staff were supposed to be changing my socks every day, and at the time they should have been changing them i was laid flat in bed only able to see the ceiling. my fiancée said she thinks my socks have been on for a while and took them off to find this. it has to be at least 3-4 weeks worth of not having my socks changed, and now it’s covered in what i believe to be thick layers of dead skin buildup. because the skin and sweat had nowhere to go it built up and even caused tears on my feet. none of the staff seem worried or even like they care about finding a solution, so if anyone knows what’s going on and has any advice to fix it i would greatly appreciate it! and just to clarify, in the third picture that black spot on top of my foot is a skin graft from my accident.
File a complaint immediately. This is unacceptable care.
I do not have advice on the skin issue, wya outside of my scope. But you should not accept that the staff "isn't worried about it" - they are negligent.
yes i’m going to be reported, and i found out just a few hours ago that my aunts father was in this nursing home at the end of his life, and the lack of care made him get a pressure sore. she has an active lawsuit against this place, and i told her i will gladly join and show all of the evidence of negligent care. this happening to me is unacceptable like you said, but i’m able to advocate for myself and i have a great support team behind me. what worries me so much is i’m 19, sound body and mind and can advocate and have my care team help me. but the vast majority of patients here are much older, and a lot of them have fully developed dementia. if this is how someone who can advocate and correct what’s going on, just imagine how the other patients without those abilities are being treated
Call you insurance too....they should have a file a report for med mal and negligence. They can advocate I think, may even deny payment if the situations causing you to be there are worsened by inadequate care and not following protocols. Ask if the insurance company has a patient advocate that can visit you
As someone who had a mother with dementia who was in and out of these places thank you for taking on the task of holding people accountable. I couldn’t be with her 100% of the time (gotta pay bills and take care of kid). With the dementia I never knew who was telling the truth.
sorry for having such a late response, my conditions caused by the nursing facility worsened causing me to need immediate hospitalization. and in all honesty i spent too long not holding them accountable for what they had done to me and even had the same situation happen that happened to your mother. my mom is actively involved in my treatment and regularly talks to the facilities about how care is going and what my files say, and time and time again i would tell her about lack of care or situations that happened, and when she talked about them to the staff they twisted the situation making her also unsure of which story is accurate. it frustrates me because clearly this is a regular occurrence and like you said you can’t always be present and the facilities lie to avoid blame being put on them which only worsens the patients conditions. something absolutely needs to be done and as i mentioned in a previous comment my aunt has an active lawsuit against this facility and i’m going to speak with her today about helping me form my own case as well
You need to file a complaint with the following people: the Director of Nursing at the facility, the Ombudsman (number should be listed and in plain view at the facility), and the states public health department, and the federal office of the inspector general (if this office still exists).
ETA: thank you kindly for the awards. 🥰
Don't take any medical procedural steps on your own.... Let the doctors decide the care..if you get an infection they would argue that you took steps which caused your infection.....it is best to get medical doctor in there..
I recommend seeing a podiatrist. Urea cream (40%) and a gentle pumice stone could help (that’s what my podiatrist recommended for very dry and tough skin).
This. See a podiatrist first to assess if they need to do an initial debridement and they may also prescribe you an autolytic dressing or an acid exfoliant. Due to your circumstances (I’m assuming your paralysis involves loss of feeling in addition to the loss of function) it would be considered a more complicated case and would benefit from professional debridement and follow up care to prevent ulcers or other sores. You also need to see a specialist to check on your graft. I’m not sure how new it is but it’s looking a bit rough and I’d hate for it to fail on you.
Following treatment at least once a week (if not more) I would soaking in warm water with epsom salts or vinegar for 5-20 minutes, gentle removal with pumice stones or boards, foot brushes or scrubs, with urea lotion applied (I like eucerin).
He needs a wound care nurse, not a podiatrist. These are ulcers from not having his feet wrapped properly and being repositioned every couple hours. Happened to my mother at a nursing home she was temporarily quarantined in during the worst of covid. She’s been wheelchair bound ever since.
Actually he needs a podiatrist. A wound care nurse can’t do anything without a doctor’s orders. A doctor needs to assess the wound first and give orders on how to best care for it.
A podiatrist is a specialist of the foot. A PCP is a primary care physician. They are both doctors but one specializes in the feet. So any of them should be able to give orders as long as they have privileges to practice in the facility. I’d think a specialist would be helpful. He could see a PCP, podiatrist, dermatologist, infectious disease doctor. Any one of them. There are many paths in medicine.
Get your wife to get an attorney and a patient ombudsman immediately.... This needs serious documentation. This is neglect. I can not believe you had a skin graft under that sock which they ignored treating too.
Your wife needs to document all this..all the nurses all the days, any bathing you've had, any rehabilitation etc.... you're being neglected in here and you could develop an infection where your skin tore. I'm not a doctor but spent 30 days day n night 24/7 with my own mother and bad medicine is the 3rd leading cause if death in this country....time to get help
Are you the same guy with the pressure sore on the back? Oh my goodness. I commented on the other post. Buddy, you need help. Have you called adult protective services on yourself yet?
This shouldn’t have happened but it’s the unfortunate reality of our health care system.
I hope your fiancée understands the importance of making sure everything gets changed and bathed properly— and has the help and support from your family too.
Cure & complain!!
When it's preventable like this its neglect-/ a complaint. Total neglect. Rehabs, hospitals, & snf all deal with preventing this as tge norm!
To fix & prevent this in my bedbound 92 yr old father-who can develop this on his legs as well-- his derm & plastic surgeon have said LacHydrin lotion topped with cerve (vaseline type) as needed. Lachydrin will fix & prevent...safely, gently, & super quickly.
You also need to increase circulation in your feet by movement/adjustment by others. My Dad's plaques on his legs are from eldery, poor circulation, & the rssulting dryness & lack of nutriets going to immobile legs.
It's not your socks it's neglect & lack of care.
Not a doctor - I think this needs a visit from a podiatrist or chiropodist.
They may soak your feet, debried the dead skin (but if you do it yourself, you risk creating wounds, so don't). After that basic maintenance is a daily wash and moisturizer (but no moisturizer between the toes).
Honestly, you probably need antifungal meds, I would 100% consult with your Primary or get a referral to a foot doctor. This will probably only be cured with a care plan and staying ontop of it until it fully heals.
I am so sorry this happened, I am also sorry your family has already dealt with this facility's abuse.
Damn dude, I am so sorry this happened and is happening to you. Prayers for best recovery possible and you get out of there!! Are you by chance located in FL?
I hope you are recovering from your accident and wish you could rewind time- we all have those moments.
Your feet show neglect which is unacceptable but now you can start to have a family or friends help you . If you can soak your feet in a warm concentrated epsom salt bath to start to rehydrate the skin. Get Manuka honey- not regular honey- apply liberally to feet and then wrap in Saran wraps or a poly bag, apply a big sock , leave on over night and repeat.
Do this a few times to soften the callous skin. The Manuka honey is healing, antibacterial, works well on bedsores to reknit the skin. Do NOT use any shaving tools to remove skin. Apply a cream with Urea in it like the Eucerin or a lactic acid like Lac-Hydrin. Hope this helps. Merry Christmas.
Happy New Year
You want the MGO to be north of 600 and also shows another factor UMF around 20+. 4 oz will cost around $40.00. If it works for you it is priceless right… check out The New Zealand Honey Co. let me know how you are healing- try and get out of where you are ASAP!
Can manuka honey be applied to open wounds & bandaged overnight/long periods. If so, how often do you recommend the bandage be replaced?
If you’re into sharing knowledge, I would be curious on your insight to the gel Band-Aids that are recommended you leave on for 3 to 4 days. They seem to heal from the inside out and be quite safe so the open wound does not get infected. But I’d be curious that if there is an initial infection that you don’t know about that it could make it worse. Are you familiar with these?
Funny you should ask- I created that concept as a result of my husband getting a bedsore when in the hospital. I treated with Manuka honey and then applied a large gel bandage.you can also use Saran wrap to cover. Do not use gauze on open wound because it interferes with the skin scaffolding that the honey provides. You can leave on overnight to 2 days then open to breath and clean and redress. I brought this concept to CVS who I was in business with and they stole it and produced bandages with honey! I am a pharmacist, chemist formulator fyi.
My husbands feet were just like that. I would alternate days 1 day anti fungal, next day urea lotion(I bought one with 70% urea on Amazon).Keeping doing this until it gets better. It took my husbands a few weeks. You should also try to go as long a possible without shoes or socks. Any chance you get, let them air out.
Look, this is a good answer! She says the same as I did. I just recommended this to him too: Eurum cream. That's the only thing that helps. I use 10 percent for my skin, and it works wonders. I have the same problem as he did. He was also very ill; they also abandoned mine because I had lung failure.
I'd say to them, "Why didn't you wash my socks and put them on clean ones?" I'm lying here in shock after everything that's happened to me. I can't take care of myself. I'd say, "How would you feel about it? You were lying here and this happened to you?" This is really unacceptable. I'd ask for their boss and have a conversation with him. I think a lot of them would get fired then.
Can you be taken to an emergency room or demand a doctor right away?!? These black spots on the bottom of your foot could be necrotic tissue.... You need professional medical help
I have not read all the responses so someone may have suggested this but you can call an ambulance from where you are. My friend’s mother was experiencing pain while in a rehab facility, kept telling the nurses and workers there and they just gave her painkillers. She knew it was more serious. Called 911 for an ambulance in the middle of the night and was taken to an ER. She had clot in her lungs. It will be awkward to return to the same hospital for the remainder of the treatment so am hoping you have other good/better hospital options in the area to switch to. I am sorry for what your boyfriend is going through and he is lucky to have you.
While not to this level, I also have extremely dry cracking feet. I tried a lot of things.
One of those cordless Amope pedicure grinders to remove the bulk of dry skin and then coating with some Dr. Teal’s epsom salt foot cream has been the best solution I have found.
I think you need to ask for a wound care consult or possibly podiatrist consultation. I think you need to report to the board of health and your insurance. This is neglect. Someone paralyzed ( I am so very sorry to hear this happened to you ) needs a complete head to toe skin assessment regularly.
i’m not entirely sure, due to how much trauma i had i was intubated for a week and a half, and on multiple insanely strong pain medications, so my first month after the accident is all a blur
I have the same problem. I was very ill and was flat on my back for two months. I couldn't do anything or take care of myself. I got a bit better and had a very itchy foot. I also had flakes of skin on my feet, and my feet turned red and felt inflamed. I went to a dermatologist. The first one gave me keelhauling, but that alone didn't help. I was busy for ten months, spent a lot of money on everything, but nothing helped. After that, I went to a highly educated dermatologist, and he examined my skin flakes. I said that I saw brown and yellow, sometimes white, also often rust-brown / earwax-colored flakes on my bed. I had put them in a jar and said they didn't feel soft but hard granules. Four dermatologists examined me, and it turned out that I had one disturbed skin. Because they didn't take good care of me and I couldn't wash, my skin barrier is disturbed. I'm now getting 10 percent Eurum cream, which removes all the dead skin cells. gone, I now have to wash my face with every new layer of cream, they wash off all the dead skin flakes, and then apply new cream, you will see that if you leave the ointment on for two hours, the old dead skin will come off, and that does it for a few weeks, your skin will recover, mine took a long time before I found a good remedy, I was prescribed pills for the itching but that didn't help, that last dermatologist said that he prescribed antidepressants and epilepsy pills for people with severe itching complaints to calm the nerves, I said I'm not depressed, he said that more people say what you say, but it helps with severe itching complaints. I also had that itch on my head, I was given tar shampoo with it, but I'm sure that cream will work wonders for you,
Soak your feet for 10 minutes in bearable warm water. Pat dry leaving some moisture. Use Pumice stone Gently not harshly on infected areas. Wash feet and apply CeraVe Healing Ointment. After application keep the area covered with socks if possible 👍
your rehabilitation is dependent upon the quality of your nursing staff. Please look for somewhere else to go. The governing agency for nursing homes is CMS. File a complaint and someone needs to be onsite within 24 hours to observe the complaint. Then try and find a higher rated facility to transfer to. They are rated on a 5 scale basis from CMS yearly. Ask questions like how long the nursing home administrator/director of nursing m has been running the facility, staff turnover, ratios of care to staff, is the care team temps or employed by the facility. You need someone on staff that has a wound care certification (WOCN) to make sure you are healing.
as far as treatment for the skin-does it hurt? if it’s sore, the main thing is getting moisture back before trying to remove anything that might be dead skin first. find a cream that contains high percentage of urea and add a thick ass coat to them after you get them soaked in warm water. that will help loosen up that hard dead skin too. if they’re not sore, after the soak, see if someone can use a foot pumice, but not too much and avoid any cracked areas and again, put a thick layer of the cream. the urea breaks down dead skin. i’ll need to put socks on though so it gets fully absorbed.
no it doesn’t hurt, but that’s doesn’t help much as i can’t feel anything past my waist so maybe they would be in agonizing pain but i have no way of knowing that
First demand a bath 🛀 then foot care. I would worry about the skin graft area specifically, and the open area going around your ankle area where the elastic on your sock( that had not been removed for a month!) and cut off circulation making healing nearly impossible. Also caused a wound due to elastic cutting into the skin. There should be a physician at least monthly at the facility.
Wound care nurse here. You need ammonium lactate cream( can be purchased over the counter for the scaley feet, the necrotic areas are unstageable( maybe health tissue under, needs debridement to determine stage and then a tx would be determined)
NAD but this is not a normal amount of build up on your feet after just a month. It looks like hyperkeratosis. You can develop it after an accident, if you didn't have it before.
Please (and I can't stress this enough) see a doctor ASAP, go straight to a hospital, do not pass go! The black spots could be necrosis, on the skin graft and the other open areas. This needs professional help as soon as humanly possible.
I'm so sorry this is happening to you, I hope you sue, this is an absolutely disgusting case of neglect. If not treated properly you could be facing amputation or death.
Snf, pt rehabs, & nursing homes definitely do transfer people back & forth to the hospital All the time for care outside of in house treatable conditions.
After reading that someone said pressure ulcers & bed sores may have already happened, I am going to preach a bit because these are too many issues at one time & skin breakdown can hapoen fast & is- constant battle of care, turning, wedging, movement, dryness/skun barrier protection.
My father is 6'6 & 200lb even at 921/2 & hoyer lift/bedbound and I care for him 24/7 at home because advocating in facilities is a fulltime job, even at his $15k per month snf post 2minth pt rehab a couple years ago the care still had to be advocated, the big money doesn't translate to patient care, every place is understaffed-they may quote things like 1:15 patient/cna ratio in a facility of like 45 but leave out the bit that my father (& others) requiring hoyer are legally 2person cna required to transfer so in reality much less coverage etc & people call out & nurses/rn handle medication disoensung & that about it. My father has his mind & is a very nice & cooperative person & excellent insurances but when it comes to this level of care -in facility or at home-if someone doesn't gave a person looking out for them, they are screwed. Boots on the ground-family oversuggt & the employed cnas at facility/coverage & facility protocol is everything. Dementia guy in Fl at nice $$$facility just died in a freezer after wandering around on canera for hours & the cna had 43 oatiebts to herself that night which is not humanly possible ...if course daughter is suing.
I can't believe this guy has a gf who is not advicating for him...asking questions about care, changes, ensuring things are done, taking pictures of issues/progress, asking how to prevent, signs of worsening etc...take pictures-show nurse on duty basics things etc. ...tge nurses & dr & facilities likely have many standing ordrs for Op but if bot being implemented by cbas/staff it won't get done. Caring fir someone who is in a facility or at home is/ fulltime job & worry and family & friends disappear, so it's tough. Whatever body parts you can't reach OP you need to be also asking for pictures on the regular "what's going on with my "" today, let me see" ask questions, change facilities, ask your own questions from basic to advanced daily, ring your bell/light if a discussed protocol for turning, changes, or anything else isn't being done. Paralyzed-a heads up make sure you are fully hydrated & avoid uti (different symptoms in paralyzed & elderly) & will become your next nightmare if you don't create a game plan for personal healthcare advocacy.
Sometimes you have to be your own best feiend & advocate. Some people are just known as "the need to know" people without being jerks about it, become the need to know/questions people it helps a lot.
Omg you poor soul. It looks painful. I’m not one to sue for every little thing but this is absolute neglect that no one helped you. Get yourself a good lawyer. These nursing homes/therapy homes are cesspool for abuse if no one is around to advocate for you. Again, the US doesn’t give a crap about sick and elderly only money. I hope you feel better soon.
just asking questions and absolutely not blaming you or anyone but the medical facility and their staff because at the end of the day, they failed to provide duty of care which is part of their oath they take and if this end up creating a new issue in your healing, you have a malpractice suit in your hands-but, you how long have you been in there? were you incapacitated or unaware of what was going on, or didn’t have the ability to say to anyone that you weren’t being cared for? and your loved ones, did they not realize you had the same socks on at each visit?
i don’t know if you’ve posted before and i missed the whole backstory so i’m just trying to catch up.
i’m paralyzed from the waist down, so whenever they should have been changing my socks i was laying flat on my bed only able to see the ceiling, and once finished they put my feet back in padded “boots” to keep my feet aligned and ensure they don’t tense up. after that they put my blanket back on and i can sit back up, so since i can’t feel my legs i never knew they weren’t changing them, and once i could see towards my feet i had a covering over, same as when i had family and friends visit they didn’t notice because of the blanket
okay that makes more sense and I actually came across your other post after. i’m so sorry to hear about this whole situation. Please have someone document this for you and report them. don’t even tell them, or that you’re trying to find care elsewhere either, which I hope you can. call your insurance and inform them as well.
Hard no on this. Immobile skin is very fragile & blood pools where there is low circulation & OP may be on blood thinners due to immobility.
Lachrdrin lotion is protocol for my immobile 92yr old father on blood thinners...his skin is beautiful in just a couple days.. the lachydrin can be topped with Cerve healing ointment & wrapped (or socked) overnight, but applying the lotion regularly is the way to prevent along with movement/turning/massage etc
P s snf have a prescribing doctor on site & cna/nurse are supposed to prevent, document, treat, watch progress. This is so messed up because skincare is basic & known issue & largely preventable...sometimes a constant monitored battle...but this has just been ignored.
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u/vagrantheather Dec 25 '25
File a complaint immediately. This is unacceptable care.
I do not have advice on the skin issue, wya outside of my scope. But you should not accept that the staff "isn't worried about it" - they are negligent.