This is a topic that I find myself discussing with many of my patients on a daily basis. As basic as foot care and hygiene may seem, it is crucial to prevent injuries, infections, and many pathologies. With advances in medical sciences, there is a heavier emphasis on preventative care because 'prevention is better than cure.' This is certainly true for foot and ankle health as well. Whether you are a healthy athlete, an ailing elderly, or somewhere in between, basic foot care and hygiene is important for good overall health.
The next obvious question may be: what is foot hygiene? I wash my feet, isn't that enough? Below are some basic things you can do to keep your feet happy and healthy for years to come.
Basic Foot Care:
Refrain from Home Doctoring
Too often I see patients that have unsuccessfully tried "treating“ ingrown toe nails, painful calluses, warts, splinters, boils, and wounds on their own at home using sewing needles, razor blades, scissors, pliers, and other tools that don’t belong in their feet. Household tools are not sterile nor are they meant to be used as medical instruments and therefore can easily cause infections and other serious injuries. Also, if you are not careful while doing these procedures, you can actually make the problem much worse which can complicate the treatment when you do see a podiatrist for it. It is safest to seek medical attention for problems that can’t be safely remedied at home.
Wash Your Feet
This goes beyond just letting the shower water run over your feet. Use soap and water to clean the feet daily. You’d be surprised to see where debris can hide in various parts of the foot! After washing, be sure to dry your feet thoroughly before putting on socks/shoes. Keeping the feet moist can build macerated skin which makes it vulnerable to tearing easily. Excessive moisture also makes the feet prone to developing fungus. However, you should also avoid excessive dry skin by applying hydrating moisturizing cream daily.
Limit Barefoot Time
Depending on the type of surface where you spend most of your time, being barefoot can be harsh on your feet. The ground reactive forces act directly on the feet without shoes. Shoes/sandals act as barriers between the ground and the feet to absorb the shock. Excessive shock from ground reactive forces can lead to or exacerbate many pre-existing conditions such as plantar fasciitis, metatarsalgia, and painful callosities from constant friction between the skin of the soles of feet and the ground. Those on blood thinners or with peripheral neuropathy maybe at higher risk for wounds, and/or infections from excessive barefoot walking.
Many people think that they are not barefoot because they wear socks. Socks are mainly for thermal regulation and to wick away moisture. They do not provide shock absorbency from the ground reactive forces. Though it may not be practical to wear shoes at all times, know that there are a myriad of options for adequate support. Talk to a podiatrist about the best support for your foot type.
Supportive Shoe Gear
Wearing shoes that are appropriate for your foot type, size/width, and activity is important. Improper shoes can lead to many painful conditions such as ingrowing toe nails, blisters, bunions, hammer toes, and can exacerbate arthritis and chronic inflammation. Make sure you try walking in the shoes before you buy them. And don’t forget to retire them as the tread marks wear out to prevent falls and sprains.
Shoe gear is a very broad topic with many considerations. Stay tuned for an upcoming segment dedicated fully to shoe gear!
Check Your Feet
This one might sound like a no brainer. But it often gets overlooked. Inspecting your feet routinely for anything out of the ordinary is especially crucial if you are suffering from peripheral neuropathy because you can’t rely on your ability to feel/sense things; such as in advanced stages of diabetes. Check in between your toes, behind the heel and hard to reach spots. If you have difficulty bending forward or have visual impairment then use a hand held mirror or ask someone to inspect your feet. Don’t ignore cuts, scrapes, bumps, lumps, growing spots, and chronic areas of pain.
Some things cant be ’walked off’ and don’t improve with time without treatment such as infections, wounds, and inflammation to name a few. Many serious problems can be treated early or avoided altogether by keeping a close eye on the feet and getting evaluated early at the first sight of something 'off.' Become an advocate of your own foot/ankle health by performing good foot hygiene. Promoting foot/ankle health is a step forward towards better overall health.
Happy Foot Health!
Comments