Autumn and Winter

With the leaves turning and falling, and the mornings getting darker; and with (believe it or not) the first spotting of Christmas decorations in the City Centre; its impossible to ignore that Christmas and the party season will be upon us sooner then we realise.

Here at Podiatry at Home we’ve decided to welcome the festive season in by launching two new gift voucher ideas; a year’s worth of podiatry (6 sessions) with a foot goody gift hamper* for £140 (a saving of £25 approximately), or a pamper pack and session (1 session) for £35 this includes a full treatment and a box of foot goodies**.

As well as these fantastic gift ideas which come gift wrapped, we are still offering our fantastic routine treatment appointments at £27.00, and we offer a £2 discount per every additional person added on to the session, i.e. 2 people would be £52.

And remember a treatment is the fantastic way to get yourself and your feet into the party mood; and with evening and weekend appointments available there will always be an appointment that will suit.

At this time of the year your feet require care just as much as during the summer months. Being enclosed all day, problems such as smelly feet or athlete’s foot can flare up, if you do suffer from these problems you would benefit from a professional examination and treatment, but there are things you can do at home:

• For smelly feet remember to alternate your footwear regularly to give the shoes time to dry out and air, and, if you are wearing socks the more natural fibres of cotton and wool can help with odour, as what can sometimes flares odour up is sweaty feet in stockings or tights, this is due to sweat being trapped within the nylon weave, this is hard to avoid but foot deodorants can help.
• A common cause of problem odour can be due to excessive natural flora and fauna of the foot, a way to minimise this is to use tea tree oil based products or astringents (such as surgical spirit) to dry the tissue
• So the best way to prevent malodour is regularly washing your feet and drying thoroughly especially between the toes, alternating the shoes daily to allow them to air, the use of a tea tree oil or astringent cleansers, and, a deodorising creams or sprays.

• For athletes foot, if it between the toes ensure you are washing your feet daily and drying thoroughly between all toes, and then cleansing with surgical spirits on a cotton wool ball between each toe, however, if the athletes foot is extensive you will need to treat it with an appropriate product: one of the best on the market at the moment is Lamisil but Mykored offers a good alternative with a range of creams and sprays.

• And, with Christmas shopping and parties your feet can get tired and achy, the best thing to do is to treat yourself to a good sit down with your shoes and socks off, and your feet on a foot stool (ideally at hip height), this will reduce any swelling, and let the skin cool and air.

Another problem that can flare up this time of the year is chill-blains, the best way to treat chill-blains is to prevent them occurring in the first place, so if you are vulnerable to chill-blains ensure that you wear well insulated shoes with a thick sole to reduce your expose to cold, thermal/wool socks are also great to wear; also, the use of a insulating insole for the shoe can also help. If you are exposed to the cold ensure that your feet slowly acclimatise to the change in temperature as you warm up. If chill-blains do start to flare up, there are several products on the market that can help relieve them, these encourage increased blood flow to the area to minimise the damage to the tissues, a great one on the market at the moment is Foot Essentials ‘Warm that Sole’ an essential oil based soothing treatment.

* example of products in a foot goody gift hamper – Foot Gel Cushion, Heel Balm, Foot Bath, Foot Cream, Foot File (and a selection of foot care samples)

**example of products in a pamper pack – Foot Bath, Foot Cream, Foot File (and a selection of foot care samples)