INTERVIEW: ‘Toe Bro’ lands on his feet
Photo: The Toe Bro features Jonathan Tomines, a registered chiropodist. Photo courtesy of A&E / Provided with permission.
A&E’s newest series is The Toe Bro, and it follows the clinical adventures of Jonathan Tomines, a foot specialist who treats a number of interesting (and sometimes gross) foot problems. As a registered chiropodist, Tomines is tasked with taking off the shoes and socks of his patients, and looking for all those painful conditions that might prevent them from living a full life.
The Toe Bro premieres new episodes Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on the network.
“Just about two years ago I decided to start a YouTube channel,” Tomines said in a recent phone interview. “I, of course, am a Dr. Pimple Popper fan, and she’s pretty amazing. Her stuff and content is crazy, and I thought, you know what, I do some pretty gross stuff, too, and pretty interesting since I hope everyone can relate to feet. So I started to film some of the procedures that I do in my office, and I started posting them. And the videos did pretty well, so here I am today.”
Each time the door opens on Tomines’ office, he doesn’t know who or what might walk in. One could say this diversity of conditions keeps him on his toes.
“I see quite a few new patients, and I really don’t know what’s coming in,” he said. “So one person might have a really infected ingrown toenail. The next person might have a huge wart. The next person severe foot pain, so it’s always a variety of different foot problems every single day with different types of people and different stories. It’s always quite interesting.”
Tomines originally became interested in the profession thanks to his father, who was a chiropodist for 30 years. As a young boy, Tomines grew up going to work with his dad and visiting nursing homes to help the patients. During the summer months, he was even tasked with taking the shoes and socks off his father’s patients — not exactly the best-sounding summer vacation.
“I absolutely hated it,” Tomines admitted. “It was so gross just to take other people’s shoes and socks off being a little kid. I was only like 10 years old. That’s what he made me do, but as time grew on, and I finished university, I realized that it’s a pretty important profession. My father literally paved the way for me, so all I had to do was follow in his footsteps.”
The reality series does not shy away from showing the complex, sometimes gross foot conditions. Ingrown toenails, in particular, receive extreme closeups.
“I have a whole mix of patients, but the visuals that you see and the bad, bad nails are usually with older people, for sure,” he said. “And that’s because their overall health, circulation, their mobility to reach their feet really limits them on how healthy their feet can be, so they’re usually the ones stuck with those really thick, long, painful-looking nails.”
Even though the audience might find some of the foot problems on display difficult to view, Tomines doesn’t have a problem looking at his patient’s feet. He’s a tried-and-true professional who has been at it for years.
“I think I’m pretty much immune to anything,” the chiropodist said. “Even if I see it and I feel that way, I don’t show it at all. I have a pretty good poker face. Nothing really fazes me. I’m ready for whatever and anything.”
He added: “For a lot of these issues with ingrown toenails or some hard skin buildup, corns, calluses or a painful nail that’s too thick, a lot of the treatment we do right on the spot will give them instant relief. They’ll feel much better, but it’s really about the education afterward on why did that problem happen, what they can do to prevent it or what do they have to do to maintain it. So that’s a big part of my focus of treatment, really educating the patient on what’s going on with their feet and what they can do to prevent it or maintain it in the future.”
Some of those preventive measures include proper footwear and socks, the careful cutting of nails and cleaning.
“If the shoe doesn’t fit, don’t wear it,” the Toe Bro suggested. “That’s a big thing. Shoes have to be wide and round enough so they’re not cramping the foot and with enough padding to cushion the foot to reduce hard skin buildup. And when you cut your nail, making sure you’re not cutting into the skin or leaving a nail spike or creating ingrown toenails, and then, of course, doing simple things such as drying in between your toes after a shower, drying your feet appropriately, applying a moisturizing cream or lotion just to give the skin a little bit more hydration. Those are little things that will save your feet.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
The Toe Bro airs new episodes Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on A&E. Click here for more information.
