Regular foot care can prevent foot problems, including pain, infections, and long-term issues, by ensuring feet are comfortable and supported, skin and toenails are clean and healthy, and any concerns are swiftly addressed and treated. An effective foot care routine for Londoners involves looking after your feet each day at home and regularly obtaining professional help from our London chiropody and podiatry specialists.

Your feet perform an incredibly demanding job and are almost constantly under pressure. As Harvard Health Publishing points out, they must provide ‘a steady base’ to help you balance, propel you forwards so you can walk/run and protect you by absorbing shock when in motion. The average person in the UK takes 5,444 steps per day, while people who are on their feet all day (nurses and waiters/waitresses, for instance) may take three or four times more steps than that. As a result, feet are particularly vulnerable to wear and tear, including overuse injuries (such as damage to the shock-absorbing plantar fascia tissue that runs along your soles).

But because they’re so often encased in socks and shoes, feet can end up being overlooked rather than looked after. Neglecting your feet breeds problems, for example, they may start to hurt, contract athlete’s foot or another infection, or develop a persistent, chronic issue related to damage or deformity, such as plantar fasciitis, stress fractures, peripheral neuropathy (which is particularly common among individuals with diabetes) or hammer toes.

Thankfully, you can safeguard your foot health with effective foot care. Think of it as a key part of your wellness routine, just like eating nutritious meals and going to the gym.

The Key to Avoiding Foot Problems

The importance of your feet can’t be overestimated – and neither can the importance of taking care of them. Prioritising foot care is the key to keeping your feet in optimum condition, maintaining your mobility levels and reducing your risk of foot problems.

Preventing Pain

Regular foot care helps you to prevent foot pain by ensuring skin is soft and supple, toenails aren’t overlong, footwear is discarded when it stops providing support, and that any source of discomfort (a nail beginning to dig into a toe, say) is promptly dealt with by our London podiatry and chiropody experts.

Preventing Infections

Keeping your feet clean and dry, tending to minor cuts and grazes, and seeking professional treatment for more severe problems (such as heel fissures) helps to ensure your skin and toenails provide an effective barrier against germs. In other words, regular foot care prevents bacteria, viruses and fungi accumulating on your feet, penetrating them and causing infections.

Preventing Long-Term Issues

By inspecting your feet daily and visiting our London chiropodists and podiatrists regularly, you can ensure that any changes in appearance, sensation, shape, or range of motion are addressed as soon as possible, thereby preventing problems from developing. Regular foot care can therefore prevent a minor ailment from turning into a chronic, long-term issue. With expert help, you could stop a slow-healing wound from becoming an ulcer, for instance.

Essential Tips for Looking After Your Feet

There are a number of practical steps you can take to help keep your feet healthy, strong and flexible:

• Wash your feet daily and dry them thoroughly. Pay close attention to the areas between toes, which can be colonised by fungi if left damp.
• Change hosiery daily and alternate between two pairs of work shoes to prevent sweat and bacteria from building up.
• Check your feet daily for any changes to the way they look/feel (a mirror will help you to see your soles). Book an appointment with us if you have any concerns.
• Apply a urea-based foot cream daily to hydrate and soften skin. Use sun cream if feet will be exposed outdoors.
• Remove dead skin weekly with a foot file when feet are dry.
• Trim toenails every six weeks – cut straight across to avoid interfering with their growth pattern.
• Avoid walking barefoot in communal areas to prevent contamination.
• Exercise regularly to strengthen your feet. Include warm-up and cool-down sessions to prevent foot fatigue.
• Have your feet measured when buying footwear. Look for breathable fabrics, roomy toe boxes, arch support, cushioning and flexible soles with good grip.

Expert London Foot Care from Feet By Pody

Attending podiatry and chiropody appointments is crucial when you want to look after your feet. We provide check-ups, diabetic foot assessments, biomechanical assessments, tests, diagnoses, treatments (encompassing general foot care and specialist services such as prescription orthotics) and advice at five London clinics.

For 5* foot care in London, book an appointment with Feet By Pody today.