hi everyone ,just a quick question .my mum will not scrub her fingernails anymore ,and she wont let me try to clean them .is there anything we can soak her fingers in to maybe make the job easier .thanks jane .
Do people still scrub their fingernails? Barrier cream before doing anything to get them dirty. Nitrile gloves or soap under the fingernails before doing anything really messy like gardening. Prevention is definitely better than cure. As I"m getting older (and I’m not that old) things are starting to hurt when they’re touched which they never used to. And scrubbing nails always hurt so this may well be the reason.
How about arranging for Mum to have a ‘pampering’ manicure ? Either in a salon (if she is mobile enough to go out) or at home - like hairdressers there are manicurists who will visit at home.
We had a similar problem with my Mum and my niece (who is a mobile hairdresser and manicurist) used to visit especially to give her a manicure along with a soothing hand massage 
I keep a pair of nail scissors in my handbag so when I visit mum in her care home I will cut them regularly to keep them short. Sometimes though, she’s “not in the mood” and I have to leave them. I akways have a packet of baby wipes handy to keep her hands clean.
As time passes it becomes more and more difficult for me to take care of mum. A few months ago we had a pretty big problem with a fungal nail. She wasn’t willing to accept it saying that it was just a dirty toenail. After a few weeks though the infection started to spread and we went to the doctor for a fungal nail treatment . The treatment itself is not complicate at all, I just have to rub a few lotions on the nail every evening before sleep. The problem is that mum is not always in the mood for such procedures.
I think you could try antibacterial gels, there are different things you can try, like soaps, gels, and maybe you could try something where you are not scrubbing the fingernails. Explore different treatments, and i wish you good luck.
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