Don’t just take care of your face, take a look at your feet to see if there is anything wrong?

With the arrival of autumn and winter, the skin becomes drier and drier. Many people pay special attention to the skin on their faces, but don’t pay much attention to their feet. In fact, in autumn and winter, the heels will peel or even crack, which makes people feel very uncomfortable. The feet also need to be "faced", and the skin on the feet also needs to be well cared for.

01

If you don’t maintain your feet, your skin will have problems

The skin of the feet has the functions of protection, temperature regulation, secretion and excretion [1]. Only when the skin of the feet is healthy and can function normally can we move normally.

If we do not pay attention to the daily care of the foot skin, the following problems may occur:

1. Rough

The skin on the feet has the least oil secretion but the most sweat glands, so the skin on the feet has the thickest keratin. The pressure and friction during walking can cause the skin on the feet to become rough.

2. Peeling and cracking

The sebaceous glands of the foot skin are not well developed, especially in the arch part of the sole, so the foot skin is very dry. In autumn and winter, the dry climate will further affect the secretion of sebum and sweat, and the soles of the feet are more prone to peeling and cracking. In addition, some serious dry and cracked foot skin may be related to skin lesions, such as fungal infection, which needs to be carefully identified.

So, how should we take care of our feet to alleviate these problems?

02

3 steps to take care of your feet

Foot skin care is generally divided into three steps: soaking, exfoliating, and moisturizing.

1. Soak

The stratum corneum of the foot skin is thicker than that of other parts, so the first step in foot skin care is soaking to soften the stratum corneum.

So, how to soak to achieve better results?

First, the water used for soaking should be slightly hot, so that the pores can be opened to the maximum extent, and hot water can stimulate the nerves and relax the feet to the maximum extent. But the water temperature should not be too high, otherwise it will damage the foot skin and even destroy the sebum membrane on the surface of the skin, causing the skin to degrease and dry. Generally speaking, the water temperature should not exceed 40℃ and the soaking time should not exceed 15 minutes.

Second, you can add Chinese medicinal materials or essential oils to soak your feet. This can nourish the skin of your feet, eliminate fatigue, help rejuvenate the whole body and feet, and can also treat problems such as excessive sweating and odor on the feet.

2. Exfoliation

When the foot skin is fully soaked, it will become soft. At this time, the stratum corneum has softened and can be exfoliated. You can use a special exfoliating cream for the feet to massage for about 5 minutes. As the massage progresses, the old dead skin will fall off. If there is long-term accumulation of dead skin and calluses on the feet, you also need to use a foot file to polish it, and use a dead skin scissors to cut off the softened dead skin.

3. Moisturizing

In order to protect the fragile foot skin after exfoliation, moisturizing is very important. The best way is to apply some highly moisturizing body lotion, apply more each time, and try to apply it thicker. After applying, you can wrap the foot skin with plastic wrap, and then remove the plastic wrap after the body lotion is completely absorbed. Finally, massage the body lotion remaining on the skin surface until it is absorbed by the skin. If the foot skin is very dry, you need to add a few drops of essential oil to the moisturizing lotion to increase the moisturizing effect on the skin.

In addition to following the above 3 steps to care for your foot skin, what other foot skin problems do we need to pay attention to in our daily lives?

03

For foot skin

There are two aspects that need to be paid attention to in daily life

1. Reduce redness and swelling

This is something you need to pay attention to when your shoes don't fit. Many people have had this experience: after changing into new shoes, their heels become red, swollen, and broken when they walk. Others have red and swollen foot skin because they walk for too long and their shoes are uncomfortable.

Once these situations occur, we must change into comfortable and well-fitting shoes in time and reduce walking time appropriately; we can also apply moisturizer on the red and swollen areas and gently massage for 3 to 5 minutes; we also need to pay attention to cleaning and keeping the feet dry to prevent the red and swollen areas from rupturing and becoming infected.

2. Prevent cracking

In autumn and winter, the skin on the feet will develop a lot of dandruff and even become dry and cracked. At this time, you can apply Vaseline, glycerin, etc. to moisturize the skin of the feet and prevent it from drying out.

The "face" of the feet is not only related to the appearance of the feet, but also to health and freedom of walking. Therefore, we must take good care of the foot skin and give it the same treatment as the face.

References:

[1] Yael Adler. The Secret of the Skin. Beijing: Oriental Publishing House, 2019.

Author | Tang Qin Deputy Secretary-General of the Science Popularization Expert Committee of the Chinese Medical Association

Review | Zhang Jianzhong, Chief Physician, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University

Submitted by: Chinese Medical Association