Out comes the sun and out come the sandals but if you're not taking care of your feet, all sorts of problems can trip you up. Fiona Tyrrell reports.
While flimsy summer sandals and peep toe high heels are this summer's must-have fashion item, are you ready to unleash your feet on an unsuspecting world? What can you do to get your feet in sandal condition and ensure they don't get damaged by often crippling summer shoe fashions?
For most people the foot is the Cinderella of the body. The feet of an average adult take about 10,000 steps a day and over an average lifetime they will walk around 130,000km carrying you the equivalent of five times around the earth, and yet we hide them away in tight-fitting shoes and only pay attention to them when they really hurt.
More importantly, our feet can also be a guide to our general health. Signs for certain conditions such as diabetes, arthritis, circulatory and neurological diseases often appear on the feet first.
Healthy, happy, pain-free feet come from proper and regular foot care. This should be as much a part of your daily routine as brushing your teeth and putting on face cream, according to podiatrist Jennifer Maxwell, who operates from the Dalkey Podiatry Clinic in Co Dublin.
She estimates that around 60 per cent of the population neglect their feet. "People think they are too busy. The feet are the part of the body that is furthest away from the head and people tend not to bother looking or thinking about them."
With the arrival of fine summer weather, however, foot panic sets in as people look for the miracle cure to get their feet in sandal shape.
"At this time of year, once the sandals come out, we are very busy with people getting hard skin removed, cracked heels treated, corns removed and fungal infections treated."
Every second client is seeking a cure for the dreaded nail fungal infection, according to Maxwell. They are all looking for an overnight remedy to a condition that is notoriously difficult to treat.
A fungal infection begins when living fungus gets under the nail, into the nail bed. It causes white spots or unsightly brown and yellow discoloration on the nail. The nail may also become brittle, crumbly or bruised.
The fungus can be picked up in swimming pools, showers and from unsterilised manicure or pedicure tools that have been used on others with the infection.
The bad news is that cover-up treatments often used by women for unsightly nails with fungal infections such as acrylic nail and nail varnishes provide a protected place for an infection to thrive.
"A fungal infection is essentially a yeast infection and using nail varnish or false nails just seals it in," says Maxwell.
Even worse, a fungal nail infection is very contagious and can be passed onto other nails or other people by something as ordinary as an emery board or nail varnish brush.
Women who get pedicures and are treated using the same brush can be infected with the fungus. "This way it just spreads and spreads and spreads."
She advises people to buy their own nail varnish bottle from their beautician, which is used every time you go for a pedicure.
Because a fungal nail infection lives deep under the nail bed, it can be very difficult to treat, according to Maxwell.
If you catch the infection at the early stages (identified by small white spots on the nail) the simple application of tea tree oil on the nail may do the trick.
Tea tree oil has anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-fungal properties, she says, and should be brushed or rubbed on to the nail neat and then followed up with some almond oil to keep the nail clear and infection free. Just be careful not to put it on the skin, as it is quite strong.
Otherwise, if the infection has developed, it is recommended to go to your GP to have the fungus identified. Treatments include tablets, oral capsules or a lacquer treatment that needs to be applied regularly to the affected nails.
Only your doctor can prescribe the necessary treatments, which will be taken for around three to six months. It will, however, take a year for the nail to completely recover.
"These treatments are strong and the oral treatment is hard on the stomach. But they are the only successful way to treat the problem."
Even if you don't have a fungal infection, Maxwell advises against constant use of nail varnish.
"At the end of the summer in September or October, I will see lots of women coming in complaining about brown and yellowy nails. These are the people that will have put on nail varnish and just kept adding coat after coat. No wonder the nails look like that. Nail varnish should only be left on for two to three days and then your nails should be let breath for a few days."
Corns, cracked heels and calluses are just as unsightly but much easier to shift. Corns are the result of friction on the foot caused by fallen arches or wearing footwear that is too tight, according to Cabra-based chiropodist Pat Mortell.
Dead skin emerges to protect the area, which is suffering from additional pressure. Corns can be easily removed by a chiropodist, but unless the ill-fitting footwear or fallen arch problem is sorted out, they will emerge again.
Calluses are hardened skin over a larger area and are not as deep as corns. They can be caused by narrow footwear that don't allow the toes to spread out and take the weight of the body properly.
Cracked heels are a symptom of seriously dehydrated feet and can be associated with thyroid conditions. By simply applying cream to the feet as part of your daily routine you can avoid the problem.
The modern tendency to rely on showers rather than baths means that very few people soak their feet regularly, according to Maxwell, who advises regular washing and soaking as a basic foot hygiene routine.
Once your feet are sandal fit, it's important to try to keep them that way. Four-inch heels or backless kitten heels are not the way to go.
Squeezing your feet into high heels or relying on thin straps to keep your feet secure is bad news. High heels thrust the toes forward and anything over 1¼ inches is too high, according to Mortell.
The old reliables such as Birkenstocks, which allow the foot to breath and offer lots of support, are still the best summer option.
Flip-flops and sandals with a ring around the big toe are okay but can result in blisters and calluses and should not be used for extensive walking.
If you're keen to avoid the German hippie look, wedge sandals are probably the best option, according to Mortell. By ensuring that the weight of the body is more evenly distributed and not just thrust on the front of the foot as in heels, they are the sensible summer glamour option.
Step by Step
- Wash feet daily in luke warm water. Always check the temperature of the water with your hand or elbow because if the nerves are damaged, you will not feel if the water is too hot.
(As recommended by the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists of Ireland)
www.nailcare.ie for more information.