After a long winter with our feet hidden away in fluffy socks and comfy runners, Summer has arrived!
Our feet are out again for a little sunshine!
Have you kept up a foot care routine at home to keep your feet bacteria and fungal free?
If not, don’t worry!
Here is your New Foot Care Plan and my top 5 favourite products
which I recommend to patients daily.
Corns and calluses are thick hardened layers of skin than develop when there is too much friction or pressure going through your foot.
They can occur because of the shape of your foot or simply from ill-fitting shoes.
Corns and calluses can appear anywhere on your feet but particularly on the ball of your foot and on the tops of your toes.
Cerave Smoothing Cream is wonderful for softening callouses and cracked heels. Hard callused skin is created by a protein called Keratin. This combination of Salicylic acid and Urea dissolve this keratin build up. This combined formula effectively exfoliates the dead skin cells and accelerate the healing process.
Athletes Foot Infection, also known as Tinea Pedis. This is a contagious skin infection caused by
fungal spores. If left untreated, it grows into a damaged nail and creates a fungal nail infection –
onychomycosis.
Fungal infections are picked up in warm damp environments such as swimming pools and
changing rooms. Sharing socks, shoes, towels and bathmats with a person who has a fungal skin
infection is the most common way a fungal infection is transmitted.
Tight closed-in shoes can cause the feet to perspire more than usual, which creates a breathing
ground for the fungus to grow.
Most people will suffer from a fungal skin infection at some point. It can appear between the toes as white damp skin, or on the soles of the feet as dry scaly skin that will not resolve with a moisturiser.
The skin will also appear slightly red and inflamed. You may also feel an uncontrollable itch
from the skin. People with compromised immune systems like diabetes, will suffer more often from Athletes Foot Infections.
Dacktarin Cream is first line treatment for Athletes foot. Apply a thin layer to the soles of the feet
and avoid leaving residual cream between the toes.
Fungal Nail Infections occur when fungal spores attach to the nail bed or the nail plate.
The infection often starts with a white dusting appearance or yellow lifting on the nail plate, particularly if you have had nail varnish on for a period of time.
Mycosan is a wonderful product to treat minor fungal infections.
Most commonly seen in clinic is the nail plate becoming damaged from trauma or tight shoes. This allows the fungal spores to become trapped in the nail bed beneath the nail.
Curanail which has the active ingredient amorolfine, which will treat this style of infection, but it needs to be continued for at least 3 months and until the infection has completely resolved.
Blisters are really common in the summer months. We are more active and feet can swell in the
heat and rub on shoes. Never burst a blister because this will create an entry for a bacterial
infection to occur.
Instead clean the skin with salt water and apply a small dry dressing to protect the skin.
If the blister has burst or the top layer of skin has rubbed away Compeed Blister Plasters will protect the skin from infection while it heals. This plaster does not need to be removed on a daily basis, it can be kept in place until you notice the plaster bubbling.
SPF!!!! Factor 50!
Feet are one of the most common areas for melanoma skin cancer, caused by sun damage. Do you remember to top up your sun cream on your feet and toes? Often, we forget to apply sun cream to our feet throughout the day, even when just popping to a friend for a BBQ.
La Roche-Posay Anthelios Invisible Fresh Mist 50+ is a handbag essential. Symptoms of
melanoma can be as subtle as an abnormal-looking mole or freckle found anywhere on the
foot. Make sure if you are lying in the sun without shoes, that it is also applied to the soles of
your feet.
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