Uncertain tests make fungus hard to diagnose

Dear Dr. Gott: This may seem like a minor thing to you, but I have a fingernail that is separating from the nail bed. It is very tender.

The upper half is very white, with paler white on the lower half.

No one I’ve talked to, including my doctor, seems to know what caused it or what the treatment should be for it.

A sample was taken for fungus but showed nothing.

Would you have any ideas as to cause and cure?

Dear Reader: Nail fungus can be difficult to diagnose because the lab tests are often inconclusive. I usually rely on my exam and not on the lab findings.

Obviously I haven’t examined your fingernails.

Nonetheless, your brief letter suggests that you have nail fungus.

I suggest that you apply Vicks VapoRub twice a day, rubbed in well over the nail and surrounding tissue for a month.

If I’m correct, you should, by then, have experienced improvement.

If not, see a dermatologist.

Dear Dr. Gott: I have a question pertaining to medical equipment.

I went to my medical doctor for a scheduled checkup appointment, and the receiving nurse took my blood pressure, which was 160/62.

Then I waited in the doctor’s office, and, on his arrival, she took my blood pressure again, twice, and the readings were both 130/65.

I’ve had my blood pressure taken at senior centers by nurses and at other places.

There is a question in my mind that some of the blood pressure instruments are or could be out of calibration.

The people using them hang them around their necks, bang them around, toss them on tables, etc.

Don’t you agree that these instruments need to be checked for calibration for true readings?

This makes one wonder if a person is taking high blood pressure medicine that is the result of inaccurate readings.

Dear Reader: You are correct.

Modern blood pressure devices – unlike the mercury type of old – should be calibrated periodically.

This is especially important for frequently used equipment, such as public blood pressure machines in supermarkets and pharmacies.

This situation is complicated further by stress-induced blood pressure elevation, which affects many patients in doctors’ offices.

Ask your primary care physician about these two reasons for false blood pressure readings and see whether he agrees that regular calibration is appropriate and that “stress hypertension” needs to be monitored.

I should mention that doctors do not wear blood pressure machines around their necks. I believe you are referring to a stethoscope, which needs no calibrations but is used along with them.

To give you related information, I am sending you a copy of my health report “Hypertension.”

Other readers who would like a copy should send a long, self-addressed, stamped envelope and $2 to Newsletter, P.O. Box 167, Wickliffe, OH 44092.

Be sure to mention the title.