Foot Care

Feet support the body weight, maintain posture and also help in movement. As the feet bear the entire weight of the body; they are more prone to injuries such as calluses, corns, cracks, rough surfaces, fungal infection and traumatic injuries.

Foot care becomes essential in individuals having leg artery disease (peripheral arterial disease) or diabetes. These disease cause hardening of the arteries and block blood supply to the limbs. If these conditions are not treated, your nerves may get damaged and cause gangrene (tissue death). Worst cases may require amputation of limbs. Therefore, it is very important to take special care of your feet and keep them healthy.

Tips for foot care

To maintain good health of the feet and prevent injuries, one should always wear comfortable, good quality and proper fitting footwear.  Specially-designed shoe inserts, called orthoses, helps in alignment and stabilisation of the feet. The basic instructions for maintaining beautiful and healthy feet include:

• Wash your feet properly and scrub them to remove the dead skin
• Check your feet regularly for early signs of injuries such as redness, discolouration, cracks, or other abnormalities
• Wear appropriate sized foot wear that supports the arches and tendons
• Footwear should have adequate ventilation to prevent fungal infection
• Keep the area between the toes dry and clean
• Cut the toenails properly and regularly
• Never try to remove a corn, callus or ingrown toenail at home, as it can induce infection
• Moisturise the feet properly to prevent cracks
• While sitting for a long time, keep moving the feet and ankles at regular interval to promote blood flow to the feet
• Avoid exposure of the feet to high temperature
• Stretch your feet daily and perform foot exercises
• Never ignore foot pain.
• Exercise regularly to improve blood supply to the feet