Care Your Feet

How to care for your feet?

In day to day life most of us ignore the health and hygiene of our feet and do not give much emphasis on foot care. Although they follow with our pace and serve till we are capable of walking. Throughout your lifetime, feet are subject to a number of stresses and take countless challenges. Our occupation, sports activity, seasonal effect, status foot hygiene and different disease conditions affects the health and wellbeing of feet. In order to keep on rolling on our own feet, we need to pamper our them and give proper care.

Following are few simple tips and tricks to pamper our feet as we well as keep them healthy

Maintain adequate hygiene.
Use gentle soap to wash your feet and rinse with lukewarm water after soap wash and dry them before putting socks.
Should change your socks daily.
Apply good quality moisturizer before going to bed.
Trim nails regularly; never cut it too short to avoid developing in-growing toenail.
Wear well-fitting shoes; not very tight or very loose.
Do not wear high heel very often; high heel is not good for feet as well as spine and other joints.
We should walk on bare feet for some time every day to maintain the natural reflexes of foot.
Should follow a regular routine for a bare minimum stretching and strengthening exercise of foot muscles.
Examine your feet regularly to detect any problem, lesions or changes in appearance earliest.
Do not ignore any foot pain or changes in shape; seek advice from your Foot & Ankle Specialist.

Special foot care in different seasons

Seasonal changes affect feet hygiene significantly in different ways. You need special care for your feet for different seasons specially for summer, winter and monsoon.

Winter Care for Foot

Excessive dryness during winter affects textures and integrity of skin can cause cracks and invite infection. Cold temperature affects circulation especially at toe tips and can cause chilblains and frostbite. To avoid these health hazards of foot

You should use moisturizer more frequently than that you use during summer and monsoon.
Use woolen socks to keep feet warm.
Never go outside on bare foot or on sleepers but on a good pair of shoes that covers most part of the feet.
If you are living in an area of freezing temperature use a proper boot to avoid fall.

Monsoon Care for foot

During monsoon the environment remains wet due to high moisture content. We tend to sweat more and our body remains wet through most of the time especially the body parts where there are many skin folds and it barely gets a chance to dry off from sweat. Moist environment favors fungal infection to develop. Toe clefts are such part of our feet. People whose feet sweat more and who remain in shoe for most of the time of the day like sports person and office goers are at high risk to develop fungal infection of foot. Immunocompromised people like who are suffering from DM with poor glycemic control are also at high risk of developing fungal infection during monsoon. To avoid this health hazard and keep your feet healthy should do the following.

Change your socks more frequently than other time of the year.
Choose cotton or natural fabric for your socks.
Rather than keeping feet moist you need to keep it dry.
Use antifungal powder between the toe clefts to keep it dry.
Trim your nail regularly.
Do not wear same shoe every day.
To get rid-off from foot odor soak your feet in lukewarm lemon water, clean your feet with antiseptic solution, put your shoe under the sun to dry it.

Summer Care for foot

Summer is very hot and dry as well. It’s become difficult to wear shoes for long hours. Your feet will require extra care to keep it moist and soft to avoid cracked skin and sole. Choose a comfortable thin sock made of natural fiber to feel comfortable in hot weather.

Foot Care in Special Conditions

Foot care for people who need prolonged standing for work

Choose the right shoe: For most of the people flat sole shoes may seem like the obvious choice if they work on their feet, but these shoes aren’t recommended for prolonged standing. Your heel should be elevated by at least ¼-inch. Work shoes should also provide adequate support to your feet arch. This helps in reducing weakness and soreness in the legs and feet. You may need extra arch insole to either maintain your feet arch in case of flat feet or accommodate your cavus feet to provide rest for your feet arch. If your shoes don’t provide enough support, you can purchase arch support insoles from a foot care centre or an athletic store. Avoid wearing high heel throughout the day and when you are wearing high heel it should be less than 2 inches. If you have to wear High heel at office then carry an alternate pair of comfortable shoes with you to change in between.

Make sure Your Shoe fits well: Many people wear shoes that are too small or a bit big. Smaller shoes cuts off circulation to your feet, increases your chances of blisters, and makes walking or standing uncomfortable. Bigger size shoe fits loosely thus lacks provide inadequate support. Getting yourself properly sized and fitted shoes can help you in reducing discomfort.

Your feet are naturally larger at the end of the day. Buying shoes a half size larger to fit arch supports or custom orthotics will be tremendously helpful.”

Stretch when you can: Muscles can become stiff and painful as you stand or walk all day, especially for female who wears high heel at work place. Stop every hour or so to stretch, relax, and lengthen tightened muscles. Heel raises and ankle movement improves circulation of feet and prevent pooling, which happens during prolong standing.

How you can do this stretching?

Stand tall on the edge of a step or platform, with your abdominal muscles pulled in.
Secure the balls of your feet firmly on the step with your heels hanging over the edge.
Raise your heels a few inches above the step as you stand on your tiptoes, and hold for a second.
Lower your heels back to level with the platform.
Repeat 10-15 times.

Another great stretch is the runner’s stretch.

Face a wall and place your hands against it.
Extend one leg behind your body.
Push your heel to the floor as far as it will go.
Hold for a moment to feel the stretch and then switch sides.
Repeat 3-5 times on each leg.

Foot Care During Pregnancy

During pregnancy, a woman’s feet need special care because of weight gain and blood chemistry and pressure change. These factors have a major impact on the body as well as feet of the women. Most of the pregnant women find they are not able to reach their feet in the later stages of pregnancy and suffer from swelling, cramps, aching, itchiness and varicose veins. Foot problems during pregnancy can cause discomfort and they need special care. Generally, it is advised to gain 25 to 35 pounds during pregnancy for average-sized women which is healthy and essential but also puts extra pressure on the lower limbs, including the feet. Higher incidence of heel pain has been reported during pregnancy.

Few common feet problems during pregnancy with remedies

Swelling of the feet (edema): Plenty of rest and support the feet by elevating it while sitting can solve this problem. Placing a cushion under knees, feet, and head while in half-sitting position on the couch improves the flow the fluid back to trunk. Move your feet up and down while lying on your back, this also helps in reducing edema.

Varicose Veins: During pregnancy, the blood volume increases and at the same time the speed at which blood returns from leg to the heart decreases. Also Due to prolonged standing with extra body weight can cause varicose veins to appear in feet. It is recommended to take adequate rest and fluid

Leg Cramps: Painful leg cramps can bring tears in your eyes specially during sleep. Doctor’s feel it happens due to dehydration and the imbalance of electrolytes. In this case, the elevation of the leg and rest can help.

Cracked Heels: Dry foot skin is a common problem for pregnant women. Regular exfoliation and frequent application of moisturizer are recommended.

Chose the correct pair of shoes

It is a good idea to wear a pair of low, comfortable shoes with adequate arch support. During the latter stages of pregnancy, very high heels will be hard to balance, and not comfortable and can cause trouble most of the time. Better go for a low heel, which gives a bit of a lift, but will prevent one from stumbling. Check your feet size regularly and change your footwear accordingly

Have Foot Friendly Diet

Most of the packaged food which is heavily salted and excess sugar makes your feet swell and look puffy. Avoid such kind of packaged food