Your feet are an essential part of your life. They help you walk, stay upright, and also keep your body in balance. So, you want to give your feet the love they deserve by taking care of them properly. Learn how to show your feet some love with this Ultimate Foot Care Basics Guide!
Foot care is not always on our list of priorities; most people don’t notice our feet when they are enclosed in shoes or socks. Still, this does not mean that you should neglect your feet and leave their care to the wayside. In fact, it is crucial for you to maintain the health of your feet and keep them looking great.
We will talk about everything you need to know about foot care here. This way you understand the importance of your feet and can help give them the care they need!
Foot Care Basics Guide
Foot care can be as simple or complex as you want it to be. In fact, there are many ways you can take care of your feet, from basic hygiene practices to more involved spa-like routines. In truth, though, you need to take care of feet, no matter what gender or age you are. So, in this part of the post, we’ll go over the basics of foot care.
1. Check Your Feet
Footcare begins by looking at your feet regularly. Feet are prone to aches, pains, and other issues just like any other part of the body. So it is important to be mindful of the condition of your feet always. Look at your feet and check for signs of cracks, cuts, or even fungus.
Cracks and cuts in your feet are not as benign as you think, and can actually lead to infection. And, foot fungus can grow and create health issues as well. So it is good to be proactive about any abnormalities you notice on your feet.
2. Keep Your Feet Clean
In addition, you want to wash your feet on a regular basis. Your feet should be washed with water and soap gently. Make sure you carefully wash in between your toes too. More people skip over this basic foot care technique. It might seem harmless to just rinse your feet off in the shower. But you want to be more involved in your foot hygiene.
3. Wear The Right Size Shoes and Trim Your Nails
Other basic foot care you should engage in include toenail cutting and wearing properly sized footwear. When you don’t cut your nails, and your shoes are too small, you can create aches and pains in your foot. Having good footwear is important in general too because you want good support for your feet.
4. Keep Your Feet Well Protected
Lastly, try and be mindful of where you are walking. It is best not to go barefoot when you are outside. But wearing slippers and other protective footwear indoors is useful too. You do want your feet to breathe of course. But when you are outside try to keep your shoes on so you don’t harm your feet.
Top Foot Care Routines
So we talked about the basics of foot care, but what kind of foot routines can you do to actively improve your foot’s health and looks. We’ll discuss this here and introduce you to some of the top foot care routines. These care routines are simple but will keep your feet looking fabulous and feeling soft.
Foot Exfoliation
Foot exfoliation is the perfect way to reduce the appearance of calluses, corns, and rough patches on your skin. You can use all sorts of tools to exfoliate your feet from pumices to scrubs. Any foot tool or materials can be used to soften up your feet effectively.
Just be gentle with your skin. You don’t want to rub your feet raw or take off essential layers of skin. A little bit of pressure can go a long way! You should get rid of dead skin cells but you don’t want to harm your feet by being rough.
Foot Moisturizing
In addition to exfoliating, you should also try moisturizing your feet. Foot balms and other foot lotions can be used daily to prevent cracks and tears from forming in the feet. We also recommend using scented products to keep your feet smelling great! There are a ton of great options out there from plenty of great skincare companies!
Do A Foot Soak
Foot soaks are another great way you can moisturize your feet. You can fill your foot tub will all sorts of sweet-smelling essential oils and ingredients. Warm water is preferable as it can help you relax and keep your feet in top condition.
The water will soak into your skin and help prevent cracks and get rid of patchy or hard skin. We recommend doing a foot soak for around fifteen to twenty minutes. In addition, you can put ingredients with antibacterial properties. Black tea soaks and olive oil soaks are great for preventing infections and fungus growth on your feet!
Trim Your Toe Nails
We talked about this briefly, but trimming your toenails is an important part of foot care. This routine should be taken seriously and should be done with the utmost care. You don’t want to cut your toes unevenly or cut them in a way that creates foot issues.
Ingrown toenails can develop when you cut your toenails wrong. And in some extreme cases, you could even end up needing surgery. So make sure you cut your nails in a straight and even line. And try not to over cut your nails.
For people with diabetes and circulation issues be extra careful not to scratch or nick your foot. This could lead to infection.
Add Some Support To Your Feet
It can be tough staying on your feet all the time. So, if you have a job that requires a lot of standing, or you like to work out or walk a lot, you should try and invest in good footwear. Certain shoes are ideal for prolonged standing an exercise.
But, you can also get extra foot support by buying some insoles. Get something that fits well in your shoes and is comfortable for you!
Change Your Socks and Shoes
Lastly, you want to change your socks and shoes when you can. This final foot care routine is important to your foot health. You can wear the same shoes of course, but you don’t want to keep wearing the same footwear every single day. It’s better to let your shoes air out every now and then.
If you keep wearing the same shoes, your feet will get damp and start to smell bad. You can even start to develop foot fungus. The same can be said when you keep wearing the same socks over and over. No one wants stinky or unhealthy feet. So consider this recommendation carefully.
7 Helpful Foot Care Tools and Supplies You Need To Have
1. Foot Pumice
If you want smooth and shiny feet, foot pumices are a must. Foot pumices are made from stone, usually from lava stones, and are great at getting rid of dead or dry skin. You can use this tool daily or weekly.
2. Foot Tubs
You could use other large containers to do a foot soak, but a foot tub is a much more convenient product. It is the perfect size for feet and can be contoured to the shape of your feet as well. Some foot tubs even have extra features like water heating and massages.
3. Nail Clippers
Nail clippers are a basic foot care tool that you need to have. You do not want to pick at your toenails or cut your toenails with sharp objects. It’s best to just have a nail clipper on hand. Really, this is not an expensive tool and you can find nail clippers in almost any store.
4. Foot Scrub
Foot scrubs can be bought or made from your own home. These exfoliating scrubs smell great and have a lot of awesome benefits for foot health. Olive oil-based scrubs and scrubs with other natural ingredients are the best for your feet though!
5. Foot File
Foot files are similar to foot pumices, but instead of using stone, foot files are made from metal materials. They look like a cheese grater and are great at getting rid of callouses. You can get these products in almost any size. Some can even be bought in an electronic version!
6. Feet Peels
Feet peels are another great foot care tool we recommend. Like foot scrubs, you can make your own or buy some peels from the store. Feet peels can be used overnight or for a matter of hours. These feet care products are effective and easy to use.
7. Foot Cream/Lotion
Finally, foot cream or lotion should also be made a part of your daily foot care routine. Moisturizing your feet helps maintain the skin of your feet. So you want to get high-quality lotions or creams for yourself.
DIY Home Foot Care Routine Video
Do you have a foot care routine? Feet are often forgotten about and neglected. The main responsibility is for the person wearing them to take care of their feet. In today’s video you will learn an at home foot care routine so that your toes can feel pampered and taken care of too.