How to Cut Your Toenails if You're Obese

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Things that weight-typicals take for granted can be hard or downright impossible for obese individuals. But that doesn’t mean plus-size people have to give up on hygiene and personal grooming. Even something as tricky for big guys as reaching their toenails has a solution.

Here’s how to cut your toenails if you’re obese:

Decide if you are going to cut your toenails by yourself or ask for help
Select the long-reach toenail clipper you want to use
Place a mirror next to your feet if required
Consider using a footrest
Use the long-reach clipper to cut your toenails

In this article, you will discover the steps you should take to cut your toenails as a big person, starting with a choice.

Decide Your Mode of Assistance: Tool or Person?

You might be painfully aware of the fact that you need help cutting your toenails. The first step in getting rid of your excess toenail growth is to figure out which kind of support you will use.

If you are obese to the point where you require human help in day-to-day functions, you can hire a helper who is willing to cut your toenails for you.

Human assistance isn’t complex in the plus-size assistance service as such helpers can even help fat individuals wipe themselves. Judgment isn’t a big part of this industry, but getting any type of service in this form can be very expensive. On average, two times the local minimum wage is the asking price of such help.

A second alternative is using a tool.

You can use a tool to help you reach your toenails, but the problem with using tools for your toenail clipping is that in other areas where you need assistance, you will end up having to get even more specialized tools.

If you don’t mind having a different tool to help you wipe, one to assist you when walking, and one for clipping your toenails, then choose the latter. With the former option, human help, you don’t need to follow the rest of the steps in this post. With the latter option, you have to execute the next step.

Pick the Tool: Long-Handled Toenail Clippers

Fat people can cut their toenails using a pair of long-reach clipping tools like these long-handled toenail clippers. These clippers come with a long rod (19 inches+ in this case) and a wide mouth toenail clipper lodged vertically at the end.

We like this model because there is a hand-held clipping handle on one side that makes the clippers on the other end snap as if they were held directly by human hands.

To know whether this would be helpful to you, take an umbrella, walking stick, or broom and hold it so that 19 inches of the stick protrudes from one side of your grip.

See if you can accurately place the point of the stick on one of your toes. Then try to do the same with another toe. This tool will work if you can control where the stick touches your foot.

In some cases, you might have to test in front of a mirror. If you cannot see your toes, arranging a mirror alongside the clipping tool is a good idea.

While the mirror itself might not be essential for everyone who is obese, assisted toenail clipping tool is a must. Extended reach toenail clippers come in different sizes, and you can order one starting at 15 inches.

The attached clipper should be a wide-mouth toenail clipper that can tackle broad toes without a problem (meaning you don’t have to get microscopic with your precision). You can even use your toes to feel out the clipper and assess whether it is in the right position.

Once you have tested your reach (to find out how long of an extension you need), you can move to the next step.

Place a Mirror on the Ground Next to a Wall

Unless you have a full-length body mirror at home, you’ll need to place a medium-sized mirror on the ground to see where the nail clipper is.

This step is required for obese individuals who can’t see their toes. Anyone who can see his toes but can’t reach them can skip this step altogether.

Use an Angled Footrest

This is another optional step (pun intended), but we highly recommend resting your feet on a footrest. We picked up this one off of Amazon and it was sturdy enough for our use.

Why?

Sitting and placing your feet on a footrest bring your toenails closer. And an angled footrest helps you see better.

Use a Long-Range Toenail Clipper To Cut Your Toenails

This is the final step that requires you to sit in a comfortable chair, take the clipper-extending tool in your hand and start clipping your toenails.

Doing so requires getting used to because the motion for regular nail clippers is different. With a toenail clipping tool, you have to push down in a different way.

But making the clipper snap a few times in the air, you will get the hang of it. Use it to cut your toenails and safely store the tool for future use.

Recap: How to Cut Your Toenails if You Can’t Reach Your Feet

One of the more common cosmetic procedures today is toenail trimming. While the average person typically goes to see a professional for this procedure, some fat people cut their own toenails at home.

But why?

People who don’t exercise regularly may find it difficult to see their toenails without bending down to look, making it uncomfortable for them to sit on the floor to cut their toenails.

Other fat people live in places where they don’t have easy access to salons or spas for toenail trimming, so few methods exist for them to cut their own toenails.

To cut your toenails if you are obese, you must get the help of another person or a tool that extends toenail clippers to a point where you can use them. The latter is preferable for obese people who can reach their toes with a stick of about 15 to 19 inches.

There are models that extend out much further and that’s the type I would advise using if you can’t bend over much at all. Check out our recommenced model on Amazon that will extend out past 30″ for super easy slipping.

Best of luck!