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hen we gaze into a mirror, what usually gets most of our attention? I’ll tell you. Our face, our eyes, our hair, and often our figure. We almost never look down at those faraway appendages that are called feet. Because, like Alice in Wonderland, who grew taller and taller while eating her cake, we say to our feet: “I’m too far away to trouble myself about you; and you must manage the best way you can.” So most of us never give our feet a second thought – unless they itch, burn, or hurt.
Our foot is actually an intricate structure designed for strength and flexibility. Each foot contains 28 bones, 107 ligaments, 33 joints, and 20 muscles. With each step, an entire network of muscles, bones, and tissues – from toe to calf – goes to work to get our body moving. And moving it does: the average person will walk about 120,000 miles in his or her lifetime – more than four times the circumference of the earth.
Our feet suffer harsher treatment than any other portion of our anatomy: they bear the weight of our body, they pound the pavement, and they spend most of our waking hours stuffed into dark, tight shoes. And although they take decades of punishing service, our feet serve us admirably: they propel us through life, providing balance, support, and motion.
Encasing this highly capable, sensitive marvel of design is the skin of the foot. Different from the skin on any other part of the body, the sole of the foot is fifteen times thicker than the skin of the face and three times thicker than the skin of the palm.
While we trap our feet all day in shoes that don’t permit them to “breathe,” the 250,000 sweat glands continue to pour out about a half pint of perspiration every day. Inside a pair of shoes, feet swelter in a tropical environment with 80-degree heat and 80 percent humidity, making an ideal breeding ground for microorganisms: bacteria, viruses, and fungi. (The toe webs possess 1,000 times the number of bacteria that can be found on other portions of the skin.)
As we get older, our feet begin to lose their natural resilience; heel pain is common because the fat padding of the sole begins to wear thin; and the skin of the feet becomes thinner and loses some of its elasticity. Proper foot care for the elderly is essential: healthy feet allow older people the opportunity to remain physically active and independent.
Basic Foot Care For Comfort & Beauty
A beautiful foot – and there are beautiful feet – is one that feels supple, exhibits soft heels, has smooth toenails, has no odor, and displays no corns or calluses.
Here is how to make the skin of our feet look and feel great:
Skin Conditions of The Feet
Dry Skin
Even though feet perspire and lose about half a pint of fluid each day, the moisture released from the sweat glands can evaporate quickly. Environmental factors, such as low relative humidity and extremes of heat and cold, can dry out the skin, as can frequent bathing with harsh soaps. When moisture is lost, the outer, protective layer of the skin loses its flexibility and becomes dry and brittle. About seven out of ten adult women complain of rough, dry skin on their feet and legs, a phenomenon that is more common in the wintertime.
To prevent dry skin of the feet, pamper them regularly. After a long day, soak your feet in warm water for about 30 minutes to soothe and re-moisturize them. Adding bath crystals made especially for the feet will help soften not only the upper layers of the skin but any corns and calluses you may have. After soaking, pat your feet dry with a soft towel and remove any dry, flaky residue with a pumice stone or callus file. Then gently massage a moisturizing cream that is specifically designed to penetrate the thick skin of the sole and that will enhance the skin’s ability to absorb moisture. And do not go to sleep under electric blankets!
Cracked Heels
More than 18 million adults – and one in every seven women – suffer from cracked, painful heels. This is a result of excessively dry skin, the heels being especially susceptible to cracking because there are continually subjected to friction and pressure.
To relieve painful cracked heels, soak your feet for 30 minutes in a moisturizing bath as described above, pat dry, and then apply a soothing, emollient foot cream, such as that will soften the heels, allay the pain and help prevent infection. There is a very helpful cream – Lac-Hydrin Cream – prescription product that, when applied once or twice daily after a bath, will help relieve all the symptoms of dry heels.
Athlete’s Foot
Athlete’s foot is discussed here.
Warts
Warts are discussed here.
Corns & Calluses
Corns and calluses are common foot problems. Characterized by layers of compacted dead skin cells, these protective mechanisms of the skin develop as a result of abnormal and prolonged friction and pressure between the shoe – often a tight or ill-fitting one – and the skin.
Corns
Beginning as red, irritated skin over an underlying bony prominence, these painful and unsightly, cone-shaped areas of thickened skin are among the most common ailments to which the human foot is subject. Pressure of these hard, conical masses on sensitive nerve endings causes the pain and tenderness.
Depending upon where the corn is located, it is either hard or soft. In general, corns on the top of the toes are hard; those between the toes are soft.
Hard corns are indicative of concentrated pressure over the toes and sole of the foot, the result of deformity or dysfunction of the foot or toes. The hard, central core of these corns is often embedded in surrounding callus.
Soft corns form between the toes, almost exclusively in the fourth web space (the last toe web), as a result of pressure of the joint of one toe pressing against the other. The characteristic softness of these growths is due to the retention of moisture; mainly sweat which, as a result of the close proximity of the toes, is unable to evaporate.
Treating Corns
The first step in eliminating hard corns is to remove the cause of rubbing and friction. Wear properly fitting shoes or stretch the toe of the shoe. For immediate relief, cut off that portion of the shoe at the point where the pressure is greatest.
At the first sign of redness, use moleskin to provide protection for the affected areas. Soak feet in a footbath with special foot bath crystals, use a corn file to remove the rough, dry skin and apply corn remover pads to ease the painful pressure.
To treat – and prevent – soft corns, keep the toe webs separated with lamb’s wool or one-inch squares of cotton material (not, however, cotton balls or batting) at all times, and dust on a foot powder. By reducing the pressure that was responsible for the corn in the first place, these growths usually disappear by themselves.
Calluses
A callus is a thickened mass of skin that can form on any portion of the body. Like corns, calluses develop to protect sensitive skin from continued friction and pressure.
Calluses on the hands are very common and often indicate the type of work one does. Calluses on the bottom and sides of the feet arise where weight-bearing pressures of the body are concentrated. These calluses are hard, dry, horny-like masses of yellowish skin. Unlike corns, they do not have a central core. As the calloused skin thickens and hardens, it begins to press on sensitive nerve endings, causing pain and discomfort.
Treating Calluses
The solution to the treatment and prevention of calluses of the feet is simple: wear shoes that fit properly. Shoes should be wide enough so that the foot can expand to its full width.
Redistributing the weight evenly over the entire ball of the foot using cushioned pads made of felt or foam rubber is a popular method used in relieving and preventing callus formation.
For the long-standing calluses, there are special foot bath soaks, callus files, callus cushions and removers, and other products especially designed for these thickened and oftentimes painful masses.
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For further information about foot problems, log on to: www.aad.org 1-888-462-DERM x22 |
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