How to Maintain Healthy Feet? Among the various parts of your body, the feet work throughout the day. From the moment you wake up, your feet will take you where you want to go, provide you with freedom of movement, and keep the rest of your body physically active. Sadly, it can be easy to take your feet for granted, overlooking regular care until you end up with an injury or condition.
Always remember that good foot health should be a priority. Most people overlook this body part, but it’s essential to prevent foot conditions from developing to keep your body healthy. Good foot care is also a priority if you have certain health conditions such as diabetes.
Best 9 Tips To Maintain Healthy Feet
If you want to keep your feet in good shape, here are several tips to help maintain healthy feet:
1. Daily Healthy Feet Inspection
For those who overlook their feet, it might be time to check your feet starting today, ideally when you take a bath or shower. You can utilize a small mirror to help you go over the base of your feet.
Make sure to inspect them for any redness, blisters, cracking skin, or minor cuts. When there’s scaling on the soles and peeling areas in between your toes, it might be Athlete’s foot.
As for nail discoloration, it might be an indication of nail fungus. Additionally, if you have diabetes, make sure to inspect your feet daily since you face a higher risk for sores and infections.
Additionally, don’t ignore foot pain, no matter how trivial it might seem. If the symptoms worsen or don’t resolve within a reasonable time, it requires an assessment by a doctor. If you’re experiencing heel or arch pain, click here to learn the possible causes and how to manage them.
2. Observe Good Foot Hygiene
Remember that good hygiene is the initial step if you want to maintain the health of your feet throughout the year. Read on below to maintain your foot hygienically:
Regular Washing
When caring for your feet, thoroughly wash them every day with lukewarm water. Avoid using hot or cold water as much as possible.
If the water is too cold or too hot, it might damage your skin, especially those with diabetes who have poor skin sensation. Use a soft towel or washcloth and mild soap while cleaning. Rinse and dry your feet thoroughly, especially in between each toe.
Toenail Care
When trimming your toenails, cut them straight across using a nail clipper. Avoid cutting into the corners or close to the skin since it can increase the risk of an ingrown toenail, which can be painful.
If there are sharp corners or rough edges, you can carefully file them away using an emery board. If your toenails appear thick with discoloration, crumbling, or cracking, it’s a sign of nail fungus. Avoid applying nail polish to hide the discoloration since it can worsen the problem.
Moisturize Your Feet
If you love to wear open footwear, it can cause a rapid loss of moisture from the skin, resulting in itching, cracking, or fissure formation.
You can keep your skin hydrated by applying creams or lotions regularly, ideally after a shower or bath or at night time. Avoid applying into the spaces in between the toes. Additionally, don’t skip out on moisturizing your feet, especially during dry or cold weather.
3. Protect health Feet
One of the ways to keep your feet healthy is to provide proper protection at all times. You can protect your feet by wearing the appropriate shoes in public places such as locker rooms or gyms. It’s best to have indoor shoes such as slippers to keep your feet protected even while at home.
Wearing suitable footwear, especially in public areas, can help minimize the risk of injury or getting fungal or bacterial infections.
4. Avoid Sharing Footwear
Sharing footwear and socks with others will put you at risk of acquiring fungal or bacterial infections.
Certain fungal infections, such as Athlete’s foot, can be highly contagious and quickly spread via direct contact, sharing shoes or socks, or walking barefoot on contaminated surfaces.
5. Wear Proper Footwear
Proper footwear plays a vital role in the overall health of your feet. When looking for the appropriate footwear, some features to consider are comfort level, breathability, and fit.
Constantly wearing shoes that don’t fit correctly or allow the feet to breathe might allow podiatric conditions to develop.
How To Choose The Right Shoes
- The shoes should fit the natural form or shape of your foot. The ball of the foot must fit right into the widest section of the shoe, while the heel should be secure without slipping or moving out of place.
- The shoes should allow your feet to breathe. Footwear made of natural materials such as cotton fabric and leather are porous, which allows your feet to breathe. To increase air circulation, choose a meshed fabric if your feet are prone to heavy sweating.
- When buying new shoes, it’s crucial to choose those that you feel comfortable with. As much as possible, avoid pointed shoes with heels higher than two inches since it can put you at risk for developing ingrown toenails and calluses. If you wear heels most of the time, it’s best to switch to rounded footwear with stable heel support.
- Try to limit wearing flat shoes on flat feet or flip-flops since they cannot provide your feet with adequate arch support.
When fitting shoes, stand up and walk around to ensure the fit is comfortable. There should be a gap at around half an inch between the big toe and edge of the shoes.
6. Wear Moisture-Wicking Socks
With the abundance of sweat glands on your feet, it’s prone to excessive sweating, especially when you’re wearing closed shoes most of the time. As sweat builds up, it creates the ideal environment for bacteria to develop.
If you have been using cotton socks, it might be time to switch to moisture-wicking socks made of materials such as nylon or polyester to keep your feet dry throughout the day, even if you’re wearing closed shoes.
If possible, make an effort to rotate the footwear you’re using to allow your shoes time to dry thoroughly.
7. Maintain A Healthy Feet Weight
When you’re overweight, it can affect your feet by placing extra force on them with every step you take. It can also increase your risk of developing podiatric conditions such as arthritis. Additionally, being overweight is also detrimental to your foot health. It puts you at risk of developing diabetes or poor blood circulation, leading to loss of sensation in the feet.
8. Stretch And Exercise Your Feet
If you want to keep your feet in good health, you should find time to stretch the upper and bottom parts to help minimize and prevent foot pain.
Aside from stretching your feet, you should also include exercise as part of your daily routine. Walking is an excellent activity to help keep your weight under control and effectively conditions your feet by improving blood circulation. Try going on brisk walks for 30-minutes, ideally five to seven times a week.
Whether you’re going out for a walk or exercising indoors, make sure to wear the proper footwear while exercising.
9. Allow Your Feet To Rest
Let your feet rest when you get home after a long day at work or running errands. You can raise your legs and feet to provide relief. Try to lie down and elevate your feet by propping them over pillows or resting them over the wall for a few minutes.
You can give your feet a massage using your fingers or roll them over a tennis ball to achieve a similar soothing effect. Massaging your feet is a simple way to relax your tired muscles and lessen any pain while improving circulation.
Final Thoughts:
At any time of the year, always set aside time to provide proper care for your feet. By following a good hygiene routine, wearing the proper footwear, and knowing when to see a doctor, it’ll help keep your feet healthy, pain-free and will always make you ready to go through your daily routine with ease.
Also Read
- lifetime-fitness-membership-prices-locations
- membership-levels-at-lifetime-fitness
- everything-you-need-to-know-about-la-fitness
- 40 Junk Food List | Healthy And Unhealthy Food
- Lifetime Onyx Membership: What Is It- Advantage & Price
- What is Ursolic acid? Benefits, Side effects and Supplements
- 5 Best Ingredients to Increase Testosterone Levels Naturally
- 6 Benefits of Biotin – How It May Protect Your Health
- Keto Diet Advantages And Disadvantages