Now is the time to give those feet a Summer Health Check before it gets even hotter!
Podiatrist, Nicole Wright from Outreach Podiatry (Dubbo) says there are three main concerns she often hears from clients when it comes to foot health during the Summer months. These include foot odour, cracked heel prevention and care, and the control of foot fungus.
Nicole says: “It may surprise many of you that we have around 250,000 sweat glands on our feet alone, which can create over a cup (250ml) of sweat a day!”
“Foot sweat is a natural occurrence, and there’s no miracle cure out there to prevent it! Thoroughly washing your feet daily will help, scrubbing away dead skin cells and bacteria, including washing between your toes. Make sure your feet are dry before putting on socks and shoes.”
You may also find that a hand sanitizer used after washing and drying, or an antiperspirant deodorant spray can help with foot sweat, minimizing the formation of bacteria and helping with the odour.
If you’re STILL coming unstuck with foot sweat and saying “but I’ve tried everything” - Nicole suggests to use cotton sanitary pads as inserts in your shoes, and change them throughout the day, to help collect the moisture from your footwear! It's a little unconventional, but hey, whose to complain if it works, right?!
Ofcourse, with all this foot sweat, those poor shoes are likely to end up quite smelly! To help prevent the odour in your shoes, Nicole says “give your shoes a spray of tea tree, or even Glen 20!” Sprays can be far more hygienic than powders or inserts, when left to dry thoroughly before putting on your shoes.
Leather footwear also helps with the movement of air for those sweaty feet. Many of our clients often find man-made materials add to the problem, and seek our leather to help minimize the frustration of it all. Ofcourse, in Summer, open shoes and sandals help with air flow too!
A
natural remedy for removing the odour in footwear is the use of cedar
wood shavings or whole cloves, popped inside your shoes for a few days
(when you don’t need to wear them!) – the odour will disappear after a
few days.And ofcourse, rotating your shoes, letting them dry out completely between wearing, helps to prevent the build up of bacteria and more odour. It can take at least 24 hours for a shoe to dry out completely! Help the process along with removing the innersoles (when able) or using crumpled newspaper inside the shoes overnight to help leech the moisture out of the materials.
With all this effort in preparing and caring for those feet, you’d be hard pressed to find time to do the same for the rest of your body!! But it’s an important process for those who suffer extreme sweat or odour and are very self conscious about this problem.
If you find you have severe issues, then we recommend talking to your local Podiatrist or Doctor and making sure those tootsies are as healthy and comfortable as you can make them!
In our next blog, we’ll offer suggestions and tips for those cracked heels so many of us suffer in Summer!
Until then, look after your feet!
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You can contact Nicole Wright - Outreach Podiatry (Dubbo) on 02 6815 9900 or email outreachpodiatry@yahoo.com.au
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