Patient To Patient Tips [updated 7-13-2004]

Symptom Describe Symptom Treatment Results
Cysts Cysts on head, face. Surgery. Cysts are excised, either in doctor's office or a same-day surgery center. Has surgery at least once a year to have cysts removed from my body. Read some instances where the doctor will give you a steriod shot if they are inflammed or swollen, but that is only a temporary fix as the steroid shot will not make them go away, it will just reduced the inflamation.
Dry skin, lips Dry skin. Get very dry lips and my sons and grandson (all with pc) get cracks in the corners of their mouth as well which turns soggy white and is hard to heal. Dryness is one of the most difficult things to manage, if feet dry out they become very uncomfortable and hard and if nails get too dry they are more prone to infection. Topical applications. Always use lip balm. Never put  hands in detergent - instant infection results. Spas or long soaks in the bath are out as it really dries out the skin. Use dry skin wash instead of soap and especially sorbilene and glycerine all over the body as a moisturiser. Always use handcream at night, especially around nails.  
Dry skin, lips Very dry lips. Cracks near mouth can split or turn into soggy white sore and sometimes turns to impetigo. Topical applications. Vaseline or lip balm - use often. If lips cracked or turns to impetigo, important to keep some kind of ointment on it. The cracking can to lead to infection if not careful.  
Dry skin, lips Lips get very dry. Topical applications.Use chapstick regularly or put Vaseline on lips at night before bed.  
Follicular Hyperkeratosis Skin gets "bad" and the pain is awful. Sitting down is a struggle and sometimes the bumps (I discribe them more as little picky needles) get caught on my clothing and rip out.. ouch. The worst areas are elbows, knees, behind upper legs and buttocks. I've been told by my dermatogist it's worse in areas where my clothing rubs on most and on where I most rest weight. Topical applications.  Apply Keri Original Moisturizing Lotion on skin immediately after showering or bathing. The thicker the better but even a thin layer works. Soaking in tub best. Just a few days of doing this makes skin smooth again. If do this every day for a week skin looks like "normal" skin. All of the bumps are gone and my skin feels so smooth.
Follicular Hyperkeratosis Bumps on elbows, knees, buttocks. Topical applications. Put Vaseline on elbows and wrap a bandage around them for a few days until they are soft and enough to "twing right off". On knees, use a good moisturizer as often as possible.  On buttucks  use mosturizer as often as possible, usually before bed to let it breath without anything on it besides the mosturizer. No more bumps on knees and elbows now, but still moisturizes them to prevent bumps from coming back. Helps the buttocks too. It can take a while for progress but will go away if keep working at it.
Follicular Hyperkeratosis Had terrible pain, wincing everytime sat down. Got them worst on the backs of legs, under buttocks. Topical applications. Used moisturizer for the bumps as recommended by other PC patient. Doesn't mention brands. Within a month, almost bump free. Lived with those bumps for 30 years and it all came down to a simple body lotion. In the past, had good results with creams containing salicilic acid but it's so yuk having to put it on all the time.
Leukoplakia Leukoplakia on tongue made sucking for PC babies very difficult and painful. Child care. Babies, sucking. Used very soft bottle nipples with big holes. Needed to sometimes squirt the milk in baby's mouth at first so used bottles with soft plastic that could be squeezed. Worked well. Sometimes baby will cry at first then be hungry enough to just "go for it" and then get used to the sucking. Either the pain lessened as sucking went on or just got used to it.The big nipples and squishy bottles helped a lot. Pain of sucking seemed to subside after the first half year?
Leukoplakia White build up on tongue Medications. Tetracycline Cleared up tongue.
Leukoplakia White coating on tongue and insides of mouth. Tongue. Brushing with toothbrush to keep white layer from getting too thick. Doesn't ever take whiteness away, but does seem thinner and prevents too much build up.
Leukoplakia White build up on tongue Tongue. Rinse with Plax before brushing tongue. Helps to get rid of more of the white stuff.
Palmar Hyperkeratosis Palms with calluses. Trimming. Large clipper to cut off calluses.  
PC White blisters on feet, bumps on skin (Follicular Hyperkeratosis) Medication. Dilantin or Phenytoin. Drug for sufferers of epilepsy. Used for 6 months to a year. Went off it to have unrelated surgery. After two weeks on drug, not one white blister and was able to spend 6 hours on feet. Still pain, but every time upped the dose, could tell a difference. All follicular keratosis on knees, elbows, bum and anywhere clothes rubbed disappeared.  When on Dilantin "my head felt 'right'.. felt like I was more balanced in myself...It made me sleep like I have never slept before, I was zonked out before my head even hit the pillow." Downside: If forgot to take a tablet, would get emotional and a little bit unbalanced. When went off it bumps and blisters came back.
PC   Medication. Grandfather using Tigason for about 20 years without any adverse effects. Really helps clear up his hard skin on his hands and feet. Person with PC making entry doesn't use, nor does his mother. Why not?
PC   Medication. Neotigason (acitretin)  Took for quite a while. Nails became almost normal on hands except for three on right hand that were already very deformed from repeated infections. Skin on face peeled off and had quite fine skin. However, hair was thinning and inside of mouth and nose became so sore and tender and itchy it was unbearable. Mouth continually split at the corners. Eyes became so dry had to use special lubricant drops. So, had to stop taking it. However, nails have stayed thin and  have 3 that are quite normal. While taking it, feet and hands peeled and I had soft skin on my feet for the first time but extremely sensitive to walk on, although some areas stayed callused. Toenails didn't improve.
PC Thick nails, blisters on feet, white coating on tongue Medication. Roaccutane, Soriatane Not helpful.
PC Thick nails, thick skin on soles of feet, bumps on skin Medication. Tigason or Etretinate when 12 years old. Scary because needed out of system for 5 years before getting pregnant, increased blood fat levels, no dairy foods allowed. Don't remember it making much difference but did cause fine cracks in teeth.
PC   Medication. Tigason. Took for maybe 10 years, two pills a day on even calendar days and one on odd days, 25 mg each. Got relief from pain and from some growth. But had a lot of side effects. Didn't know which was worse - PC or the side effects.
PC   Medication.Tigason (etretinate)  Severe side effects (hair falling out, skin peeling) but with good results (my nails started to grow out pink at the base and the thick skin on my feet peeled off, but they were very tender and sore. I had to stop taking it because the side effects were worse than the cure.
PC Thick nails, painful sores on feet Medications. Accutane. Took heavy dose. Sores on feet did get thinner, but still painful to walk. Relief was minimal since pain never left and didn't outweigh side effects. Nails didn't change at all.
PC Dry skin around and on thick skin is itchy and painful. Blisters may crack. Topical  Applications. Skin care product based on Rose Hip Oil Find it helps on very dry skin, especially on heels which would get very cracked in summer.
PCI   Homeopathic treatment. Have used for 5 years Enabled her to reduce the wounds and infections with repetition but not the cornea layer of the points of support, the whitlows are less requent and the nails cleared up. Skin less granulous and the white layer on tongue decreased.
PCI PC hurts Medication. Tigason used when 10-12 years old. Also used Soriatane. Tigason. "that walked very well, I opinion almost nothing, but the doctor then prohibited that I continue I bus treatment much risks". Soriatane. Worsens symptoms, very lose dose weakens.
Plantar Hyperkeratosis Painful to walk Insoles. "thermo mouless or formees" Transformed her life.  Help to walk better and with less suffering.
Plantar Hyperkeratosis Feet. Calluses and blisters on pressure points. Insoles. Custom made to fit inside shoes. Somewhat hard. Says can't walk without them.
Plantar Hyperkeratosis Feet were so sore, all breaky and leaking and infected.  Miserable. Insoles. Made from BioMed - makes custom orthodics. At company, you stand on foamy  material that makes imprint of feet and the way your weight is distributed on them.  Made inFeet out of spongy-like material. Within a few days, could feel feet healing and they looked better.  Today still has some of the sores on the deges of feet but they are smaller, smoother and can walk a lot longer before they really start to hurt. Only little issue is sometimes finding shoes to fit the insoles - but it's well worth the effort.
Plantar Hyperkeratosis Blisters crawling up the sides of feet on both sides, nearly to ankles. Insoles. Podiatrist made leather insoles with extra padding for the pressure points - the ball of foot, heel and built up the outsides as her feet tended to roll outwards. Strict instructions to find leather, lace up shoes. Wore shoes without fail and no blisters. It happened quite slowly, but skin that had once been red and infected was peeling away. Had scarring in the form of red patches arund heels for some time where the blisters had been creeping up towards ankles. Still hurts to walk but the added pain of infection and bubble like blisters was gone, unless she walked for hours and hours.
Plantar Hyperkeratosis Feet. Calluses and blisters on pressure points. Insoles. Shockblockers. Inserts to reduce shock absorption, leave your feet cool and dry, retain their shape. Stick inside shoes one size larger than regular size. Loves them. Makes walking easier.
Plantar Hyperkeratosis Open sores on feet during pregnancy that seemed to have many nerve endings sticking up and out of the sores. Sores also bleed a lot and were extremely painful, especially last 4 months of pregnancy. Medication - pain. During pregnancy used Americane, a hemorrhoid ointment, applied directly into open sores (they weren't infected, just bloody and sensitive). Worked great. Numbed the pain in the sores to make the pain bearable to get to sleep at night.
Plantar Hyperkeratosis Sore, thick skin on all pressure points, that can outbreak into blishers depending on the weather. Medication - pain. Nurofen  
Plantar Hyperkeratosis Pain Medication - pain. Nurofen Plus for really bad days. (Have anti-inflamatory and codeine) Mersyndol Night for really, really, really bad pain. (paracetamo, codeine, a calmative) Mersyndol Night makes her really tired and also makes her a bit hot which definitely makes the feet worse. Parents worried about addictiveness of the drug, but Kim only takes when "absolutely has to and it's worth it."
Plantar Hyperkeratosis   Medication. Anti inflammatories or enzyme inhibitors such as Vioxx or Celebrex. Takes one each night before going to bed. Cannot function without.
Plantar Hyperkeratosis   Medications. BEXTRA Worked extremely well. An anti-inflammatory medicine that helped his feet for long walks and every day use of feet.
Plantar Hyperkeratosis Painful to stand on flat, hard surfaces barefoot. Pain relief - Showering. Stand on large sponge like the kind you put a newborn baby on for a sponge bath  
Plantar Hyperkeratosis Painful to stand on flat, hard surfaces barefoot. Pain relief - Showering. Uses rubber thing to stand on so not standing on flat tiles. The thing is sort of rolled up and can balance it under arches of feet. At hotels, rolls up bath mat on stands on it in shower. Works so can stand in shower. Can't walk on flat surfaces with bare feet, but carpet okay.
Plantar Hyperkeratosis   Pain relief. Always make sure feet are placed flat onto the floor at least a minute or two before I stand up and this way I don't get the pain. I do this in the morning too when I first get out of bed and stand up. Occasionally, have had to get out of bed quickly and stand up straight away and then get the pain. If I have sat in a car for a long time and have my legs stretched out and heels only on the floor, then for the last couple of minutes of the journey I put the feet flat on the floor and it seems to help.
Plantar Hyperkeratosis Sweaty feet. Equals painful feet Pain relief. Change socks and shoes often. Will change socks several times daily in summer and rotates between 3 pairs of sneakers. Also sleeps with feet hanging out of bed.  
Plantar Hyperkeratosis Feet bothered with dryness of winter and shoeless days of summer. Pain relief. Good soak in warm water. Generally helps.
Plantar Hyperkeratosis Painful when hot Pain relief. Hang feet out the end of the bedclothes, especially in summer. Never can wear bedsox. Sleeping under a doona (quilt, eiderdown) feet get too hot and they're very sore the next day.
Plantar Hyperkeratosis Sweaty feet. Hot feet hurt Pain relief. To prevent sweaty, hot feet, sleeps with feet sticking out of bed, air conditioner in bedroom or window open in winter.  Also running cold water over feet is a good calm down cure.  
Plantar Hyperkeratosis After sitting for a while, especially in hot weather, when stand up, feet are excrutiatingly painful to put your weight on, get tingles of pain, a bit like severe pins and needles. Pain relief. When we sit down, we try to put our feet up on something. (This is a family with 5 PC patients.) Seems to help relieve the feeling of pressure on feet. All get aching legs as well. This may be from the strain of walking, trying to not put pressure on certain parts of your feet and thus walking unnaturally and straining muscles in your back and legs. Sometimes have tremendous pain when I put my legs up after walking for a while. Feels like they are full of water, though don't have fluid retention problems.
Plantar Hyperkeratosis Blisters that make it painful to walk. Shoes. Cheap, rubber beach shoes. Best ones not shaped or molded, just a flat slab of foamy type material and are usually slip ons, like flip flops but slightly fancier. Work well because they're flat, soft and make allowances for hard skin. Quite thick so they absorb rocks on the ground and they keep feet from getting sweaty because they're airy.
Plantar Hyperkeratosis   Shoes. ECCO sandles which are European and very expensive but are wonderfully comfortable and have great cushioned soles and soft velcro straps. Don't get the sweating that happens in cheaper shoes. Also, the lining under the foot is like a suede finish, so your foot doesn't stick and blister like it does on regular leather or other substances. Can wear them barefoot whereas I used to have to wear stockings or socks, not a good look in the summer. They also make great boots that I can actually hike in in winter months.
Plantar Hyperkeratosis   Shoes. Only wear shoes that are soft, cushioned and of natural leather. Found heat is main factor in the pain with feet and it also causes my feet to swell, redden and of course blister. If wear covered shoes (like sneakers) that have a synthetic lining, feet generate so much heat from the friction can't walk. Even if I am wearing absorbent socks of cotton or wool. One dermatologist suggested I use a biopsy punch (he gave me one) to make small round holes in the instep of shoes and sneakers just above the sole to allow air to flow.  
Plantar Hyperkeratosis Sweaty feet Shoes. Wear flip flops around the house and where ever else I can. Call them "my Lagunas" (that's the brand name.) Has specially made insoles, but wears the flip flops around house becaues they're just as comfortable but allow feet to breathe and she can't stand wearing socks.  The sweatier the feet get, the more they hurt.
Plantar Hyperkeratosis Hard skin on the soles of feet Surgery. Had the hard skin on soles of feet shaved down to the 'normal' skin, several times now. This is quite beneficial as although the skin grows back the blood vessels which grow within the skin tend to stay away for a year or two, making shaving the skin so much easier and less painful. I am currently enjoying a good couple of months on the pain front as they were last done 3 months ago. After surgery to have the skin shaved I have always woken from the anaesthetic literally shouting in pain (feels like feet are in an ever tightening vice!) until large amounts of morphine are then given. However, last time I had it done I made it very very clear to the anaesthetist how painful this procedure was and he made sure he gave me morphine before I woke up and I was fine, a small amount of managable pain. Again this pain goes very quickly, within a few hours and then codiene or paracetamol is sufficient. I have always been able to walk the day after or 2 days after the surgery, with crutches for a few days, and then alone.
Plantar Hyperkeratosis   Swimming. Swimming makes feet sore but has never made their condition any better or worse.
Plantar Hyperkeratosis   Swimming. Swimming in a pool that has chlorine helps feet.
Plantar Hyperkeratosis Cracks on feet, sore and painful. Topical applications. For cracks in feet useTree oil (Australian) Puts in right inside the crack/split at bedtime. Seems to help, especially with infections. Has a strong, unique odor.
Plantar Hyperkeratosis   Topical applications. Rub olive oil on feet, let it soak deep into skin, the scrub off oil with dish detergent. Recommended by patient's dermatologist. Took away burning feeling.
Plantar Hyperkeratosis Sweaty feet. Equals painful feet Topical applications. Uses foot deodrant during the day and keeps a cooling foot spray in handbag. Deodrant stops feet from sweating and spraying the foot spray on legs helps.
Plantar Hyperkeratosis Dry skin around and on thick skin is itchy and painful. Blisters may crack. Topical applications. Vaseline or generic petroleum jelly. Put it on feet (doesn't always have blisters but keeps them dry and bandaged), then socks and slippers or shoes Keeps feet soft and dry.
Plantar Hyperkeratosis Sores on feet get dry and painful. Topical applications. Vaseline or generic petroleum jelly. Put it on feet before putting on socks each morning. Use after trimming and washing sores. Addicted to Vaseline. Keeps sores from snagging on socks and prevents drying and cracking which hurts or is uncomfortable.
Plantar Hyperkeratosis   Trimming. Feet (and nails).  Use razor blade because it's flexible.  
Plantar Hyperkeratosis   Trimming. Hands and feet are debrided every 2 weeks under a physician's care. Takes a day to recover, but otherwise leads normal active life.
Plantar Hyperkeratosis Calluses and blisters on bottoms of feet. Trimming. Slice thick blisters daily or every other day with razor blade. Smooth rough sores with pumice stone, or if feet are dry, the sores will flake off. Use large nail clipper to trim hanging or oddly shaped sores. If trim too far, feet will be raw, especially first hours after trimming (do it at bedtime).  If not trim, sores feel hot and more painful to walk as it feels like rocks in your shoes.
Plantar Hyperkeratosis   Trimming. Soak feet in warm water to soften the skin and then use a one sided razor blade (like used in paint scrapers) which is safer then double edged and gently pare off the thickened skin. Can't bear to have a podiatrist touch my feet as they are just too sensitive.  
Plantar Hyperkeratosis Thick skin or blisters Trimming. Use double edges razor blades. When sores on feet grow too long, the feet start hurting again.
Plantar Hyperkeratosis Painful calluses and blisters. Trimming. Use razor blade to slice off thick skin and calluses on feet.  Take a bath first so skin is softer.  Keep it down under a quarter of an inch After cutting thick skin, puts on socks and wears shoes.  First two days are bad, but then good for a week or more.
Plantar Hyperkeratosis Cracks on feet, sore and painful. Sometimes splits are in sores, sometimes extend to regular skin Trimming.Trim down callus carefully around split, put ointment like Neosporin into crack to keep soft. If gets dry it will split more and hurt more. Keeping cracks soft and not so deep seems to help them heal faster.
Plantar Hyperkeratosis Painful to walk Wheelchair. Calls it a miracle, now can go to amusement parks all day.
Thick Nails Deep, painful fissures on the tips of fingers Bandages. New skin liquid bandages. Used relentlessly for 6 to 9 months. The bottle has a brush in it to wipe the bandage on the wound.Find more info at www.medtechinc.com/woundsblisters.html. The cuts finally healed and have not returned. The liquid bandage stings but once it dries, it's fine. It does eventually peel off (usually faster with repeated hand washings) so multiple applications may be necessary in a given day. When I had deep cuts, I would bang my fingers against things (unintentionally of course) and they would bleed and cause a lot of pain. The bandage actually insulated/protected my fingers and didn't hurt at all if I bumped them.”
Thick Nails Thick nails Child care. Nail care for children. Trim baby's nails when asleep or relaxed. Use the sharpest pair of nail clippers you can find, and don't take off too much at a time. Then file the nail smooth, in one direction only. Filing back and forth seems to make it sore. The more we messed with the nail, the more likely we were to have problems. Groom their nails about every 2 weeks. The nails are more noticeable when they're longer, but it's the balance between "short enough" and "not too often". Then apply a nail polish top coat or nail hardener
 
Thick Nails Thick nails Child care. Trimming. Filed PC children's nails down gently with an emery board or nail file while sleeping. Always file in one direction towards the tip of the nail. Now for self, uses electric drill that is actually a dentist's drill and has a diamond bur. Bought from a medical supplier - it is only quite small, fits into a drawer in the bathroom. Because it works at high speed it is painless. Called a micromotor and is used for finishing off gold and porcelain for teeth. Gets replacement burs. If filing done regularly it stops nails from thickening up. The dentist tool she finds invaluable in managing this condition. Well worth the expense.
Thick Nails Infected nails Infected nails. If the nail area starts to get red, soak it in warm, salty water or warm solution of Epsom Salts as often as possible. Sometimes prolonged soaking soften nails so hole forms spontaneously - the best outcome. Soaking also relieves symptoms without needing antibiotics or lancing.
Thick Nails Infected nails Infected Nails. Tea tree oil - An Australian natural oil known for its antibacterial properties. Soaked hands and feet in water with drops of the oil in water.  
Thick Nails Infected nails Infected nails. Tea Tree oil. Used as both a prophylactic (prevents the infection) and as a treatment. Not a miracle cure, but seems to help somewhat.
Thick Nails Infected nails. Red swollen, filled with pus. Nail pulsates and is extremely painful. Infected nails. Trim when feel the twinge of infected nail. With children, won't know until it's too late. Sometimes, can trim and avoid the swollen nail. Many times, must wait until nail "ripens". Then soak for long time in very warm water until nail is very soft. A gentle slice with a sharp razor blade may be enough to draw out the pus. Sometimes an especially thick nail will need help of large nail clippers, but pressure is involved with those, so if can get the pus through the nail with razor blade, the pain is less severe. Once pus comes out, soak again. We like the bubby Hydrogen Peroxide. Then add an antibiotic ointament. If infection is too bad, will on occasion need a prescription antibiotic. Great relief when pus comes out. Sometimes it's not enough and on occasion, red lines have gone up the finger. In that case, an immediate trip to the doctor for an antibiotic is necessary.
Thick Nails Very painful "our heart beats in our finger: and it's very hot Infected nails. Wait for nail to mature (son takes antalgic syrup to calm the pain.) Once the pus is assembled, bore with a needle brul and disinfect. Great relief when pus comes out.
Thick Nails Thick nails Nail Polish. Paints nails with skin colored nail polish which hides them a bit more.  Best polish to use is Cutex one that is made to fill bumps and pit in nails - it evens out the rough part of nail. Polish keeps nails clean. But disinfect. Always file them down, spray with Dettol and then put on polish. If don't, within 24 hours, they apprear to blow up like balloons (infected?) and don't go down unless take off the nail polish.
Thick Nails   Nail Polish. Sally Hanson Hard as Nails (a clear polish) on nails after sanding them. . Thinks it makes the nail more durable, and less prone to infection.
Thick Nails   Nail Polish. Wear a rosey-pink color that blends with my skin (looks much less noticeable). Nail polish remover is very drying, so moisturize them every night with cuticle oil. I also have them professionally manicured on occasion.   It doesn't irritate nails or the skin around them. Manicurist does better job filing down nails than she does.
Thick Nails   Nail Polish. Wear it all the time, apply once a week.  Usually file nails as low as I can, then spray with Dettol (very important as they get infected very easily once filed down and the polish seems to trap in bacteria) then let the disinfectant dry a bit then put on the polish. Uses a Cutex one that is a bit thicker than normal and it is one that is made to fill in pits and bumps on nails (gives nails a nice smooth look). Also uses a soft pink colour thats nearly skin colour so nails don't stand out. Don't coat them too thick, make it a thin coat because it seems if you make it thick or do two coats, the nail doesn't seem to be able to "breath" and they swell up easier. Thinks it's absolutely best thing to do to keep nails looking "presentable" for longer. Nails get really grubby looking and dirty in a few days after filing them if  don't put polish on.
Thick Nails Thick nails Surgery. Doctor shaved nail bed on big toes to see if it would make them grow flat. Made toe nails worse - quite lumpy. Painful operation.
 Thick Nails  Big toenails always swelling and falling off. Causing a lot of pain  Surgery. Had both the big toes on feet removed.  The procedure was not that big a deal. I spent one night in the hospital with a bit of pain (mind you I was on a bunch of pain killers) but not much worse then when they would swell and fall off.  For some reason none of my other toenails ever gave me trouble. Procedure didn't work - nails grew back. However, the two big toe nails don't swell as often. Don't know if it's a coincidence but since the procedure (at least 10 years ago) they have only fallen off 3 or 4 times.
Thick Nails Toenails Surgery. Had toenails removed
The first surgery all the toenails grew back exactly the same. It has taken 4 attempts to permanently remove the nails, each time I had it done a few less nails would grow back. Now left with pain free toes and the nail bed has been replaced with regular old hard skin which is much easier to shave off. Still have 2 very stubborn nails left now (4th toe on each foot) which seem to refuse to stop growing. The removal of the toenails is not too bad with some strong pain relief immediately after the surgery. The pain seems to go within hours
Thick Nails Infected nails Swimming. Results in nail infections.  
Thick Nails Thick nails Trimming.  For nails, uses Belt sander on toenails and a couple of fingernails.  Also has a Dremel sander. Have to watch out because if the nail is really big and you take it down far, it will really heat up.  Also, able to sand down some fingernails to "normal" size.
Thick Nails Thick nails Trimming. Continual filing in the one direction can change the way the nail bed grows the nail out. Since used a dremel, nails grow way lower and out towards the end of finger, rather than straiight up - as the sander only goes in one direction. Also, when finishing off with an emery board (as the dremel is quite rough) try to only file outwards, not back and forth and it definitely helps. I have pictures of nails sticking straight up in the air as a child and now they aren't like that at all.
Thick Nails Thick Nails Trimming. Don't trim too far down. Cut nails when soft, after bathing or soaking the nails.  
Thick Nails Thick nails Trimming. Dremel sander. Uses on feet and toenails about once a week. Emery boards good too -.the ones made for beauticians for filing down acrylic nails are the best. They work really well when the nail is nice and dry, the nail gets down flat quickly - doing this every night little by little gets them flat enough for weekly maintenance - it makes the nails way less noticible for kids too if you file them. Since I stopped "chopping" my nails and only have sanded or filed them, never get the seeping or infection. Definitely when the fluid comes out the nail is way more prone to bacteria getting in and infections starting (very very painful). A dremel is the best money ever spent in caring for my pc - it does the built up skin on my feet and my nails.
Thick Nails Thick nails Trimming. Keeps nails flat with a nail file. Always wears false nails on fingers. Wears false toe nails if going abroad on holiday and feet are on show.  
Thick Nails Thick nails Trimming. Trim regularly using large nail clippers. Trim PC children's nails every few weeks using large nail clippers and razor blades. Soak nails in water first. Seems to ward off infectious nails. Can sometimes feel a twinge in nail to warn of oncoming infection. Trimming immediately can avoid the problem altogether. Never get infected nails as an adult, but young children still do.
Thick Nails Thick nails Trimming. Use a Dremel Handheld Sander for toenails, for fingernails, use regular emery board to file down because nails on fingers too sensitive. In the past, used to use a double edged razor to cut away at my toenails. At times a clear liquid would come out. It was also a bit sticky. Happened more often when I let my nails grow too long and had a lot to trim off. I would get to about half the length and the middle of the nail would get soft and this liquid would start oozing out. It would always mean the nail would get infected and fall off (very painful). Now, hasn't happened since using Dremel hand sander (at least 4 years).
Thick Nails   Trimming. Use an ordinary masonary drill with a sanding disk attachment. Can sand the nails down to near flattness, depending on how much pain you can take.
Thick Nails Thick nails Trimming. Uses special trimming scissors to carefully snip back edges of nails. ***Need more details*** Over a ten year period has changed the shape of his thickened nails. Flatter, not as thick. Literally has changed look and shape of nails.