Is the skin between your toes peeling? Do your feet have a rather whiffy aroma? If so, you may well have athletes foot.

Your fingernails and toenails grow at a constant rate, but older people find their nails, particularly their toenails, become ridged or damaged by infections. They also tend to thicken, making them harder to cut.

One of the problems that affect the quality of life for diabetics is problems with their feet. This happens because diabetes, if not well controlled or if under treated, can cause damage to the smaller blood vessels of the hands and feet.

Infections around the fingernails are called paronychia. They are usually caused by picking or biting at dry skin around the nails or by cutting or removing the cuticle from around the nail too enthusiastically. This allows infection to get into the skin around the bed of the fingernail. The infection can be caused by bacteria, yeasts or fungi, depending on the cause of the injury, and the organisms that get into the wound as a result of this.

We all know what smelly feet are like, either personally or from someone that we know after they have removed their shoes. The cause of this smell is from perspiration or sweat, but is appears to be much more offensive than sweat from other parts of the body.

A verruca is another name for a plantar wart which is a wart that grows on the sole of your foot. It is a viral infection, similar to the virus that forms warts on other parts of the body. The verruca virus is usually caught as a result of contact with infected skin from other people with the virus.