Pamper your feet: use these tips to keep your feet soft and pain-free - Bodycare / News and Notes - Brief Article

Natural Health, Jan-Feb, 2003

THIS WINTER, TREAT YOUR FEET RIGHT:

1. Avoid tight shoes, says David Weber, a reflexologist in Cincinnati. Wearing them causes friction and calluses (which can split) and corns.

2. Wear socks that wick moisture away from your feet (like hiking socks), advises Charlene Saulnier, a family nurse practitioner at von Weiss Dermatology in Salem, Mass. Prolonged contact with sweaty socks dries your feet out.

3. Skip soaps, lotions, and powders that contain drying ingredients like alcohol, formaldehyde, fragrances, and parabens (which typically have the prefixes "butyl," "ethyl," "methyl," and "propyl"), advises Saulnier.

4. Moisturize your feet as you sleep. Right before bed, cover your feet with a thick layer of lotion and a pair of socks. Use moisturizers that contain aloe, oils like olive or coconut, and vitamin E. These natural ingredients moisturize and heal your skin and are easily absorbed, says Weber.

5. Do an at-home spa treatment once a week. Wet two large towels, wring them out thoroughly, and heat them in the microwave until they're comfortably warm (about 1 minute). Sit down, slather your feet in moisturizer, wrap them in the towels, and elevate them for 10 minutes.