Of course you brush and comb your hair every day, of course you brush your teeth regularly and pay attention to the care of your skin. You would be rightly indignant if someone asked you about the thoroughness of your daily body care. But do you also think about your feet? Well, you often take a footbath, if at all possible even daily. But is that alone enough to do justice to these “most faithful heavy workers” of our body? This guide will help you learn more about DIY medical foot care.
Heavily used feet
Foot care, also known as pedicure, involves trimming toenails and removing calluses (including corns). On the other hand, medical foot care, or podiatry, includes direct treatments of the feet.About 80 out of every 100 people suffer from foot ailments, and almost all of them were born with healthy feet. This should make you think. A housewife or househusband covers a good 10 km in the course of the day, a salesman achieves a daily output of 30 to 25 km, and a schoolchild easily manages around 35 km a day. However, these figures only give an incomplete picture of the work we demand of our feet every day, because carrying our body weight while standing is also work that must first be done by the feet and legs. Anyone who wants to keep healthy feet, and even more so anyone who complains of foot complaints or who has already developed a bent, flat or splay foot, should not take the service of the feet for granted. Those who believe they can do without foot care, perhaps even mistreating and overworking their feet for years in poor footwear, should not be surprised if they have bad feet.
Maintain healthy feet
Now, how to maintain the performance of the feet and what can be done to make it easier for the feet to work if they are already deformed? For this, there are some rules that can be fulfilled without effort and time. You just have to remember them:
1. do not always stand! The feet also want to rest once in a while, even if only for a few minutes. So, every opportunity to sit down should be taken advantage of by frequent walkers. People who have to do a lot of housework, for example, stand much more often than one would initially assume. A large part of the housework can also be done while sitting. However, people should not just sit all day either. Variety is important. 2. not always sitting! Due to the angled position in the hip and knee and the lack of work of the leg muscles, the blood is not transported back to the heart fast enough. Blood congestion, thick feet, a feeling of heaviness in the legs, even varicose veins can be the result. 3. wear comfortable shoes suitable for your feet! Don’t go along with the fashion follies. Shoes that are too tight, too pointed, too small, and possibly have a rigid sole, will soon turn you into a foot sick person. The heel should be as wide as possible and no higher than 3.5 cm, otherwise the body weight is shifted unnaturally and the overused muscles tire too quickly. Do not wear the old, worn-out shoe, which therefore seems comfortable, to work, but the most suitable one is the right work shoe. Do not wear the same pair for weeks, otherwise weakness of the foot muscles will occur with habituation. For summer, buy shoes that are as wide-cut as possible. The foot can then be better ventilated. 4. dance a lot! This not only exercises the foot and leg muscles, but also puts you in a good mood. If you own a bicycle, put the saddle up and pedal with the tip of your foot. This imperceptibly exercises the sole and calf muscles. 5. walk barefoot a lot! Don’t just pick stone slabs, though; walk in sand, moss or across a meadow. This not only exercises all the ligaments and muscles in the most natural way, but also stimulates blood circulation. 6. keep your legs elevated as often as possible! By elevating the legs, the blood accumulated during the day’s work flows out. If you suffer from tired feet in the evening, you can support the flow of blood with a balancing foot massage from the tip of the foot to the heart. 7. regularly do foot gymnastics, jogging or hiking! The last point is not as effortless as the previous ones. It requires time and perseverance, at least 15 minutes a day.
Medical foot care with foot gymnastics
The treatment or removal of foot complaints and diseases, such as corns, nail fungus and belong to the medical foot care with. Now here are a few exercises for foot gymnastics:
- Raise and lower the toe of the foot, left and right ten times.
- Inner edge of the foot vigorously lift and lower, left and right ten times. So that the muscles can relax again and again, pause several times in between.
- Toe stand, toe walk, bounce and jump on your toes, toe walk squat. At the same time, the knees must remain closed!
- A small ball is rolled back and forth under the whole sole of the foot. The first few times this exercise is not as easy as you might think at first, but patience, soon you will have the right foot feeling.
- Supine position, knees and hips are bent at right angles, the soles of your feet hold a small ball. Now roll the ball back and forth between the soles. But do not lose it.
- Try picking up a towel, a wooden spoon or a box of matches from the floor with your toes.
Then hold the object with your toes only and extend your leg until your knee is pushed through. The effort is worth it. The gripping and spreading ability of the toes is increased and the muscles become more elastic. If you want to bring it to mastery, pick up a pencil with your toes and paint a little house on a piece of paper. Of course, you have to show the painting to your acquaintances. They will have at least as much fun with it as you have with this exercise. By the way, this exercise is also suitable as a little party fun. So it’s hard to get started. But once you have made the decision to think about your feet as part of your general body care routine, you will be able to get through your everyday life without foot complaints. And also remember that nothing expresses the youthfulness and resilience of a person more than a confident and cheerful step.
