Introduction: 

How to take care of feet and toes? What are the gestures and reflexes to adopt?

Let’s face it, your health and the choices you make can directly affect your quality of life. One area we tend to avoid focusing on is our feet. But ignoring your feet can create problems later in life. Keeping your feet healthy can save you from foot discomfort, pain, and even surgery later in life.

Here is a graph showing the percentage of people feeling moderate to severe pain by age :

In this blog, I’ll show you how to keep your feet healthy.

7 Tips to Keep Healthy Feet :

 1) Wash Them Regularly and Dry Them Good:

Daily foot hygiene is important for healthy feet, wash your feet daily, like you would wash your hands or brush your teeth..

• Warm water, soap and a soft cloth are good tools to clean your feet.
• You may use a pumice stone to remove dry skin from the bottom of your feet.
• When you just get out of the shower dry them carefully and don't forget between the toes. Cut your nails once a week, preferably after a shower so that your nails are soft enough for easy cutting.
• Once they're clean, wear breathable slippers to let air get to your feet and through your toes .

2) Maintain your Body in a Good Shape:

Doing exercises regularly is one of the best ways to maintain a healthy body, so healthy feet. Your feet support all of your weight, so keeping the rest of your body in shape will help you take the pressure off your feet. Make physical activity a regular part of your life, and eat healthy foods for your feet.

When you exercise, your feet are in motion, strengthening muscles and keeping them flexible. This can help prevent foot pain caused by conditions such as plantar fasciitis and Achilles tendonitis.

Stretching the muscles in your feet and lower legs can also help promote blood flow and relax tight muscles that can lead to foot pain.

Here are some easy foot exercises you can do to keep your feet healthy.

3) Wear Appropriate Shoes:

Whether you're skinny or overweight, if you stand or walk a lot in your job, comfort is key. High heels are bad for your feet daily, Of course you can wear them on Saturday night, they won’t hurt you. While these stylish shoes might make your legs look longer, they also compress and deform the toes, which promotes hallux valgus (deviation of the base of the big toe outwards).

The foot has 26 bones and over 100 muscles, ligaments and tendons, so it is important to look after your feet to avoid problems. It is imperative to wear comfortable shoes to avoid pressure on your feet.

The way your shoes fit is extremely important when choosing shoes to avoid pain or injury. It is imperative to have the right size on your foot so that it fits snugly enough to not slip off while walking or standing but also loose enough so it's not too tight or constricting the foot.

4) Examine your Feet: check for cuts, pain, hard skin

Examine your feet once a week. Look for cuts, redness and swelling, which can be signs of infection, and check that your nails are trimmed and filed.

Check your toenails are cut straight across - cutting them into the corners can increase the risk of an ingrowing toenail.

If you have problems with your feet, or if you have diabetes or another condition that means you don't feel pain as well as most people, it's important to see a podiatrist (foot specialist) regularly.

Hard skin is not a major problem, but you may want to remove it – it’s easy to do. Make sure your feet are clean and dry. Soak the hard skin in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes. Dry your feet and rub the hard skin with a pumice stone or foot file. Do this once or twice a week to keep your feet smooth.

If your feet are very dry, apply moisturizer to help prevent hard skin forming. You should also see a podiatrist (chiropodist) if your corns, calluses or hard skin become painful, inflamed or infected, or start interfering with walking or daily activities.

5) Hydratate your Feet: Put Moisture

Skin that is cracked or damaged is more likely to become infected, so it's important to keep it as moisturized as possible. If your feet are very dry, apply moisturizer to help prevent hard skin forming. There are plenty of products available, but you can also use olive oil or coconut oil for the same effect.

Here are some tips

• Wash your feet every day in lukewarm water using an unperfumed moisturizing soap or cleanser.
• Dry your feet gently and carefully, especially between the toes. It's important to get rid of all traces of moisture, as this will help stop bacteria and fungi from multiplying.
• Smooth a small amount of moisturizer into your feet. Use a non-medicated moisturizer to help keep your skin soft and supple. Don't put moisturizer between your toes as this can encourage infection
• Moisturize every day, even if you don't think you need to. This helps prevent dry skin returning.

6) Foot Massage: Stretch

Foot massage is a therapeutic technique that can help you relax, reduce pain and discomfort, and improve your overall health. Most people do not think of massaging their feet on a regular basis. But by massaging your feet you can improve your circulation and relieve pain in other parts of your body.

There are a variety of ways you can do foot massage yourself at home. You can even use a tennis ball to massage your feet.

Sit on a chair and place the tennis ball on the floor. Put your foot on top of it and roll it back and forth for about 10 seconds. Then, move the ball to another part of your foot and repeat. Do this for 30 seconds to 1 minute on each foot.

A good foot massage should feel relaxing and painless. However, you may experience some slight discomfort initially because your feet aren’t used to being touched in this way. This is normal and should subside after several minutes. If you experience any severe pain or other symptoms, stop immediately.

7) Corns, Calluses and Blisters:

Corns and calluses (hyperkeratosis) are painful areas of thickened skin that appear on the hands, between the toes, and on the soles of the feet. Read about causes, treatment, home remedies, symptoms, signs, and removal, and see pictures.

The feet are susceptible to corns and calluses because:

• They often have to endure excessive pressure and friction from tight-fitting shoes. The thickened skin forms in response to this stress.
• Take part in activities that put a lot of pressure on your feet, such as running, dancing or sport.
• Have clawed toes or bunions (deformed joints at the base of your big toe)

You may want to treat it – it’s easy to do. Make sure your feet are clean and dry. Soak the hard skin in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes. Be careful not to cut yourself or injure the skin too deeply. Dry your feet and rub the hard skin with a pumice stone or foot file. Do this once or twice a week to keep your feet smooth.

Conclusion:

While 1 in 4 adults over the age of 50 will have some form of foot problem, the good news is that most can be controlled with preventive measures. In a nutshell, by making sure you keep your feet properly nourished and hydrated everyday it should be possible to maintain good foot health and reduce the risk of complications down the road.