Good foot care pays off not only in summer, but all year round. We often only become aware of our feet once they start to hurt – whether for health reasons, or because of unsuitable footwear or synthetic clothing that “suffocates” them. You might also be thrown off by a corn, cracked heels, and various calluses, pressure sores, deforming joints, fungal infections, or varicose veins.

A Little Foot Relaxation

Sit down in a comfortable armchair or on a chair and place your feet in an elevated position so that they are completely relaxed. Take a moment to feel your feet. How do they feel? How do you perceive the socks or other clothing on your feet? Feet reflect the overall vitality of the organism – the way your feet feel is the way you feel throughout your body as a whole. It is no coincidence that the soles of the feet contain acupressure points connected to the entire body, and no coincidence that the meridians of the individual internal organs run through the feet.

Let's continue. Are you willing to show your feet in public? Once, at a children's summer camp, we played a really fun game called: “Whose feet are these?” A bedsheet was turned into a theatre curtain, raised to about the height of the children's knees. The children then took turns walking behind the curtain and showing their feet while the others guessed who it was. Would you be willing to present your feet like this as an adult? Are you ashamed of them? And yet it's hard to get through everyday life comfortably without them.

Essential Care

We'll cover this part of the article very briefly, since these are basic, generally known rules. However, many people don't follow them and thus risk certain health problems.

  • Wash your feet every day. Don't forget the soles and the areas between your toes. Feet must then be thoroughly dried to prevent fungal infections, eczema, odor, and so on. If you already have a fungal infection or another ailment between your toes, pay maximum attention to wiping and thoroughly drying them after washing. However, use a different towel for your feet than for the rest of your body.
  • Put on clean socks, tights, or stockings every day, and prefer healthier materials over the fashionable “synthetic” trend. When shopping, choose ones that absorb sweat well and minimize allergic reactions. This is especially important to follow if you're prone to fungal infections, eczema, or allergies.
  • If you tend to get ingrown toenails, you should trim them straight across, not in a rounded shape.
  • It's important to regularly moisturize dry skin on the soles with a suitable cream, rather than just complaining about dry skin. Massage the cream into the skin of your feet after washing them, ideally before bed and in the morning before putting on socks.
  • Give yourself a relaxing, releasing self-massage of your feet as often as possible. Perform the massage very carefully if you have diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, or another serious medical condition. (This could inappropriately stimulate an acupressure point on the sole and trigger an unpleasant health response.) Everyone else can try the following tip: warm up some oil (sesame or olive oil are versatile choices) to a pleasant body temperature and add a few drops of an essential oil, such as lavender, eucalyptus, peppermint, or whichever you like. Then massage it into the skin of your feet however feels good to you. As a reward, you should soon experience reduced stress, a sense of well-being, relaxation, and a better mood. It's worth doing this massage before an anticipated stressful situation, or alternatively after it's over. But if you give yourself a gentle, slow massage shortly before bed, you should feel better than usual in the morning.
  • It's worth regularly checking your feet and noticing any changes or defects, such as pressure sores, corns, blisters, cracks, and so on. These are important signs of possible health problems that are creating fertile ground within the body for their onset. It's therefore not strictly necessary to have them removed by a pedicurist right away – they serve a function on the foot, and this is how the body speaks its language to you. If there's no underlying problem, there won't be a “defect” on the sole or foot either.
  • Prefer “healthy” footwear over excessively high heels, pointed narrow shoes, any uncomfortable footwear, non-breathable materials, and so on.

Pleasant Tips

A relaxing salt bath. For relaxation and detoxification of the whole body, it's very pleasant to occasionally place your feet (up to and above the ankles, if you don't have varicose veins) in a basin of warm water with quality salt added (you can also add a few drops of an essential oil, such as lavender – dilute a few drops in about 1 dl of milk first, otherwise it won't dissolve, or add herbs, etc.). After the bath you should feel better and lighter. The bath is best done before bed.

Pebbles from vacation for a massage. You surely have pebbles at home that you brought back as a souvenir from the sea, and now you don't know what to do with them. You can use them as a pleasant, natural tool for a foot massage. For example, place them in the basin while you're doing a foot bath and play with them with your toes, or gently walk on them (this activates the muscles of the foot arch). You can also place them in a towel on the floor and stand on them while brushing your teeth, combing your hair, and so on. Or you can warm them up and stand on them directly. This gives your soles a lovely massage and will leave you with more vitality first thing in the morning.

Source: www.celostnimedicina.cz