It’s the start of a brand-new year, in fact it’s the start of a brand-new decade, and the perfect time for new year’s resolutions and new starts.
If you’ve had foot trouble that’s been bothering you for a while and you have been putting off doing something about it, the start of a new year is a great time to think about getting something done! So, whether its recurrent problems with an ingrown toenail, a stubborn verruca or your toenails are discoloured and thickened with a potential fungal infection. Use this new year to take some time for self-care and put your feet first! Sometimes the treatments for these conditions can take a little while, but if they are started now, your feet will be looking and feeling much better by the summer.
Here are some of our best general foot care tips that are great to use all year round to keep your feet in tip top condition.
1. Wash your feet regularly, seem obvious, but sometimes when we are in the shower or the bath you wash the rest of your body and miss the feet out. Getting them wet isn’t good enough, get the sponge around them and give them good clean
around the nails and between the toes and rinse them well. After the shower make sure you thoroughly dry your feet all over, paying particular attention to spaces in-between the toes. Drying between toes can help to prevent fungal infections developing.
2. After the shower when your feet are clean and soft is a great time to use a foot file with an abrasive surface. Use this to pay particular attention to areas of the feet that might have a build-up of hard skin such as the heels and ball of the foot. Just gently rubbing over the areas of dry, rough, hard skin. Try and do this a couple of times a week and this with easily lift off the flaky skin with ease.
3. We would then suggest applying a foot cream. In clinic we use CCS©, we love it and have used it for years, however there are lots great foot creams available on the market. We recommend a foot cream with 10% urea in, urea binds to water and pulls it into the skin. The skin on the soles of your feet are different to everywhere else on your body its much thicker, its hairless and it does a massive amount of work. A bit like oiling a machine, by keeping the skin moisturised and well lubricated it enables it to do the fantastic job it does for us every day.
4. Footwear, one thing a podiatrist talks about to all their patients. Wear shoes that are appropriate to the activity you are doing, if you’re out walking, a good pair of walking shoes, if you’re sporty and out for a run then running trainers. Ladies, if you are off to an event such as a wedding, wear the gorgeous new heels that match your dress, but just for the hours that are necessary. For the rest of the time you need a shoe that is giving you support and comfort. A good sole that isn’t completely flat, it has a slightly raised heel. The shoes want to have a good fastening, preferably lace up to support the ankle, slip on shoes tend to be tight fitting and the feet can move about in them when walking so they are less supportive for the feet. Room in the toe box and dept is also important for a comfortable shoe.
To Recep –
o Wash and dry well
o File the hard skin & moisturise
o Wear appropriate shoes
If you follow these tips you should find you stay problem free, if you find you are having a problem with your feet, do get yourself to your local podiatrist. Remember that your podiatrist will not be shocked by your feet, no matter how bad you think they are, they will not be the worst your podiatrist has seen, and they will LOVE making you feel better.
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