Healthy feet

feet reflexology

Feet need looking after as much as eyes and teeth. After all they carry us around for our whole lives and we want them to continue doing so. A top London podiatrist, Dipesh Raja,  at Footopia in Chelsea, explains what a healthy foot should look like.

What is a healthy foot?

  • No callouses or corns.
  • No nail problems – fungus, ingrowing toe nails, or thick nails.
  • Warm temperature – ‘cooler at the toes and getting warmer towards the legs’.
  • The nail beds should be pink.
  • Skin should not be dry.
  • No bunions, claw or hammer toes.
  • Feet should be pinkish underneath – not white or blue towards the toes.

Looking after feet

Feet need to be looked after on a regular basis.  According to Dipesh, they need regular moisturising, and nails should be cut straight across – but not too short. File down the corners rather than cutting them.

He recommends wearing trainers and  good sandals like FitFlops to support the foot but is not in favour of high heels. He claims that high heels can cause bunions, hammer toes (where the toes become claw like), corns, callouses, ingrowing toenails, and you could sprain or fracture your ankle if you topple over on them. They may also cause lower back pain.

So what are common foot problems?

• Corns – small circles of thick skin which become very painful – giving a sharp pinprick kind of pain.
• Callouses are hard, rough areas of skin that often turn yellow – they are very painful.
• Bunions – even the rich and famous get them (as Victoria Beckham famously had them). The big toe starts to turn inwards and the joint can become inflamed.
• Cracked heels – when the feet get too dry thin cracks appear and these can be really sore.
• Athlete’s foot – this can be quite persistent, but often they’re not cleared up in the first place.
• Ingrowing toe nails – a result of poor nail cutting. Cut nails straight across but not too short.

Featured products
Foot balm 100ml £4.99 Grandma Vines
Foot Cream Extra 75ml £7.92 Gehwol
Earth Line Aloe Vera Foot Cream 100ml £10.20 Rio Trading
Magnesium Flakes Foot Salt 150g £3.49 Better You
**To purchase these products from the Nutri Centre please click here**

Footopia has its own range of foot products too.

 

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