04 Oct To Soak or Not To Soak?

Soak Feet or Not

Soaking your feet can feel amazing. That long, luxurious soak is one reason we enjoy getting pedicures. That might get you wondering: Should you indulge in a foot soak at home? Here’s when and how to get the most from your tub time.

Get the Spa Treatment

You can create luxurious foot treatments at home that leave your feet looking and feeling great. Use salts, oils, herbs and spices to get an expensive spa treatment for pennies.

How to turn your tub luxurious:

• Fill the tub. These treatments will work for a full bath or a foot bath.
• If you’re sitting on the edge of your tub, roll up a towel or use a bath pillow as a comfortable seat.
• Use warm–not scalding–water.
• Add the salts or oils and stir them into the water for a few moments before you enter the tub.

Try These Homemade Recipes

You can make easy spa recipes by adding spices, salts or moisturizing oils to your bath. Try coconut oil, sweet almond oil, jojoba oil, sunflower oil or shea butter. They will soften and soothe your skin. You can buy these oils in a drugstore, grocery store or natural food store.

Skin Smoother

Have your feet been mistaken for lizards lately? Add a combination of your favorite oils to the bathwater. Don’t use soap, which can dry your skin. Soak for 20 minutes to reveal silky, glowing skin. Follow with a moisturizer.

Treat for Working Feet

Are your feet tired after a long day of standing or walking? Add Epsom salts and a few drops of your favorite oil to a bath. This will make your feet feel clean and refreshed. A dash of ginger will help them feel energized. Soak for 15 to 20 minutes, and follow up with a foot massage.

Rash Remover

If you have a rash or sunburn, fill your bath with a generous helping of colloidal oatmeal. This isn’t what you eat for breakfast, although it smells just like it. You can find it in most drugstores.

Colloidal oatmeal is a natural skin healer and moisturizer that can ease the pain of sunburn, dermatitis, eczema and dry skin. It also helps build a protective barrier on your skin. Soak for 20 minutes to get long-lasting relief.

Callus Control

If you have thick, stubborn calluses, soaking your feet in warm water can help. It won’t get rid of them, but it will make them easy to remove.

• After soaking your calluses, apply a salicylic acid remover to the calluses. This often comes in a gel or liquid form. Avoid using the remover on skin that isn’t callused, and don’t use it if you have open sores on your feet.
• After letting the remover sit on your calluses for about 5 minutes, use a pumice stone, foot file or callus scraper on your feet. The calluses should come off quickly.
• Rinse your feet and apply an exfoliating scrub to remove the last of the calluses and the gel.
• Dry your feet and use a rich moisturizer on them.

When Should You Not Soak Your Feet?

You Have Diabetes

People with diabetes must take extra care with their feet. This means checking your feet every day and visiting a podiatrist every two or three months for routine checkups.

It also means avoiding activities that can damage the skin on your feet.

Soaking can cause the skin of your feet to break down. It invites bleeding and infections that can lead to serious complications.

You Have Neuropathy

If you have neuropathy in your feet, you may not sense if the water is too hot. You risk scalding your skin.

Soaking your feet is risky for people with certain conditions. If you need help with dry skin or calluses, talk to your foot specialist about the right products for your situation.

Soak Up the Goodness at Shuman Podiatry

At Shuman Podiatry and Sports Medicine, we appreciate the benefits of a good foot bath. We also know how to get those same benefits in ways that are safe for everyone. If you have questions about the best ways to care for your feet, call us today.