Many people only remember the need to take care of their feet when it comes time to put on open shoes. And you need to think about your two all year round. This is important not only for beauty but also for health.
Our expert is a podiatrist (foot specialist), Alina P.
When buying cosmetics for the face, we meticulously read what kind of skin this or that product is intended for – for dry or normal, for young or old, for problematic or sensitive. But we choose foot creams as if these body parts are all made from the same dough.
Normal skin
There are three types of skin on the legs – normal, dry (the diabetic foot can also be included here), and with high humidity (hyperhidrosis). Foot care products should be chosen depending on the type of skin.
Normal skin—smooth, no cracks, no excessively dry or wet patches—is not as common as we would like it to be. There are no problems with her, and she does not need careful care. Even cosmetics for the feet can be saved. Any cream or body lotion will do. Means are better to use light, non-greasy. But the skin of the other two types needs special attention.
Dry skin
This type of foot skin is the most common.
Who happens
For those who do not properly care for their feet or neglect hygiene. But physiological causes are also possible (thyroid disease, diabetes mellitus, problems with the gastrointestinal tract), deficient conditions (lack of iron), and overweight.
The main care mistakes
- Do not treat the underlying disease. Then no external influences will help.
- Wrong choice of cream. Usually, people use moisturizing creams, but they need nourishing ones. Only they will help heal the cracks and put the legs in order. Urea creams do not help with dry skin, as they are intended for people with hyperhidrosis.
- Apply cream incorrectly. It is applied only to steamed skin when the pores are open – then the cream penetrates deeper, acts better, and is spent more economically.
- It is wrong to use a file with a coarse abrasive, sawing off the skin to the point of thinning so that it bursts. Skin cells are renewed every 28 days – the file can be used once a month. And only for dry skin. If you cut off the steamed skin, on the contrary, it will become rough.
How to properly care
Not to moisturize but to nourish. It is necessary to steam the legs before going to bed, wipe them dry with a towel, immediately apply a pea of nourishing cream and spread it over the entire surface of the foot.
Do pedicures regularly. How often depends on the condition of the skin. But on average – once every 1.5 months.
Solve any problems with the foot (cracks, calluses, dry skin) with a podiatrist, and not on your own. For example, many people confuse calluses with warts and, when removed, only provoke the spread of a viral infection throughout the foot. To remove corns, especially corns, you must first find and eliminate their causes (as a rule, this is increased pressure and friction of shoes). Otherwise, the calluses will grow back, and this process will be endless.
Wet skin
If, when visiting, you are embarrassed to take off your shoes, fearing that your feet will exude amber, if you often rub your feet and easily pick up a fungus or bacterial and viral skin infections (say, warts), then you have foot hyperhidrosis.
Who happens
Usually in men, especially in athletes. It often occurs in adolescents (the reason is hormonal jumps). The skin condition is influenced by lifestyle (those who like spicy food sweat more) and genetics (the tendency to excessive sweat is inherited). There is also secondary hyperhidrosis associated with diseases (for example, tuberculosis and neurological disorders) or certain medication intake.
The main care mistakes
- Get involved in foot creams. Creams will only make your sweating worse.
- Without measure, use talc. Apply it not only on the skin but even fall asleep in socks and shoes. This causes the skin to dry out and crack.
- Use alcohol-based foot products. It dries the skin; instead of hyperhidrosis, you get dyshidrosis (torn skin).
- Wear synthetic socks and shoes. She is not breathing, and the hyperhidrosis is only getting worse.
- It is wrong to use folk remedies. Vinegar exudes a pungent odor and causes a burning sensation. Applying a weak solution of lemon juice is useless, and a concentrated one can burn the skin. Baths with oak bark remove sweating but stain the skin of the legs green.
- Resort to a hardware pedicure. With hyperhidrosis, an acid pedicure or a classic one is possible (without soaking the foot and using an instrument and keratolytic).
How to properly care
Dry, but do not overdry. Acid foot soap (containing fruit acids and essential oils) is ideal. It reduces perspiration and maintains an acidic flora where bacteria do not live (there will be an unpleasant odor). Not without reason, in children under seven years old with acidic flora on their feet, their feet never smell. Use this soap twice daily – in the morning and evening.
Use talc only occasionally, in small quantities and locally, powdering only heavily sweating places. Instead of talc, you can try Teymurov’s paste. It works great, but not for long.
Wear shoes only from natural materials in summer – with perforations and without straps. Do not wear shoes with bare feet.
Instead of a cream, use tonics and foot fluids. You can use a cream with urea locally if there are so-called rubber corns on the heels.
Try to solve the problem radically. For this, Botox is injected into the feet. The procedure is painful and cheap, but it allows you to solve the problem for six months. True, there are also disadvantages: excessive sweating can occur compensatory in other unexpected places – for example, under the chest or on the head.
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Important!
General rules for foot hygiene :
- Wash your feet in the morning and evening, dry them with a foot towel, and do not forget the space between your toes;
- Change socks daily;
- Do not wear the same shoes all the time; every evening for an hour disinfect shoes with ultraviolet dryers;
- Do not go barefoot in pools, baths, or saunas – when the skin of the feet is wet, it is very easy to pick up a fungus or other infections.