Friday foot fact

On this Friday, I would like to share the factors that affect nail growth.  A lot of the time I get questions asked about why the nail is growing in a particular fashion. There's about 8 factors that will determine why they do grow in such a way.

1. Trauma

2. Infection

3. Nutritional deficiencies

4. Aging

5. Lack of blood supply

6. Skin diseases

7. Inherited factors

8. Congenital conditions

So whenever you see your fingernails or toenails growing in a different matter as they used too, try to see if any of these factors come into play. They usually will!

That's all for today, I will cover in depth on these factors at a later post, it's been a very busy week at Toes2U, thanks for reading!

Have a great weekend everyone, try to stay cool in this hot summer weather and don't forget to put your best foot forward!

Friday foot fact

Ever have a toenail injury that's taking forever to heal and just doesn't seem to grow out?

The reason is probably because our toenails do take a long time to grow.  It takes a total of 12-18 months for the nail to be completely grown out or replaced and they usually grow at 1 millimeter per month. So be patient with them and let time do it's course of nature.

Our fingernails do grow a bit quicker at a rate of replacing itself completely from 4 to 6 months. That's why we cut our fingernails a lot more often than than our toenails. Keep in mind that nails and hair grow more quickly in the summertime than winter and that's a Friday foot fact!

Remember to put your best foot forward everyone and have a great Father's Day weekend!

Tuesday Nail Tip

I recently tried a nail polish and had to talk about it. It was a last minute buy at the drug store and I hoped it delivered the quick drying it advertised since I had a wedding to go to in a few hours time.

Did it deliver? Yes it did! In fact I'm highly recommending you to try it, here it is:

Sally Hansen Insta-Dry in Blue Streak #240 

Sally Hansen Insta-Dry, fast dry nail color in Blue Streak #240, kudos to you!  The metallic blueish teal color is intense and looks good on short fingernails too.

I have to say I did have to apply 2 coats of the polish to get the nail fully covered but it dried so fast I had no lost time in between layers. The drying time from the start of the application to the end of drying time was about 10-12 minutes at the most.  I was able to clip suspenders on a tuxedo without smudging, not even the imprint of material appeared. The polish only started chipping 3-4 days after and that was with a whole day of removing wall paper by hand on the fourth day!

Please, do note there was no base or top coat applied either, that would slow the drying time though it would make the color last that much longer if you are not in a rush.

Again, highly recommended for a pretty, quick & polished look to any evening!

Friday foot fact

Week 21

This is the time of year where most of us are wearing sandals and some are going barefoot all throughout the summer months. We're even showing off our well groomed, pedicured feet and freshly painted toenails in many different shades. There is one thing though I noticed, a lot of us laugh at the guy who is wearing socks and sandals. Like really? Who does that?

Well believe me, ladies and gents, you might want them to keep the white cotton socks covering those feet. Most of the time, there's always something more going on than a fashion faux pas. It's like a 'fun-guy' party, I mean, fungi party going on with his toenails.

You're thinking, well, how bad can it be? Do they have to wear the socks AND sandals?

Let me tell you how bad it can be, fungi aka mushrooms, love to frequent this sweet spot a lot. They are like the relatives visiting you that just won't leave because your weekend buffet is outstanding! Let me show you how fungi can destroy your toenails. I'm giving you a warning with the next image though, it isn't pretty and it might even make you gag a little for those faint of heart or find the thought of feet disgusting!

Fungi toenail

Not laughing anymore? You have to realize that this is an extreme case of fungus and a lot could of been done to repair this type of situation and this isn't an overnight thing either. So if a friend, a relative or even your boyfriend is starting to do the sock and sandal shuffle, you might want to let them know there is help out there.

This has been my Friday foot fact on fun guys with fungii! Have a great weekend everyone and remember to put your best foot forward this summer minus the foot 'shrooms!

Anatomy of the nail 101

Nail Anatomy part 1

Ever wondered about what the nail is made of? It's actually the same material as your hair too.

You see, our skin, nails and hair is made of a protein named keratin. The skin is made of soft keratin and our hair and nails are made of hard keratin. The difference between the soft and hard keratin is, when you cut your hair and nails, it doesn't hurt but getting a cut in your skin does.

Our nails protect the ends of our digits and they also help us pick up the thinnest of objects.  Some of us bite our nails, some like the acrylics, gel or porcelain falsies because we don't like the way they look, some wear them short and natural.  There's a lot that our nails endure on a daily basis all depending on the wear and tear of the work we do with them. The fact is, I've seen so many nails ruined, some temporarily, some permanently, on so many levels. Personally, I have had very short nails for the longest time out of convenience for work and my second passion, cooking.

Learning about the anatomy of the nail is important to understand different problems that arise with them all throughout our lives. It's good to know the elements and their function to better understand what is going on when problems do arise.

First we will take a look at the dorsal view of your nail:

Dorsal view of the nail

1. Free edge, also known as the free margin, is the part of the nail is growing beyond the fingertip.

2. Nail plate or nail body, is the part of the nail that is attached to the skin of your finger.  This plate is made of layers consisting of the ventral, intermediate and dorsal plates.

3. Nail root: this is where the nail actually begins to grow underneath the skin at the base of the nail.

4. Lunula: the pale, half crescent moon that appears at the base of your nail. This part is actually situated underneath the nail plate.

It seems that the lunula is not always apparent in everyone or on all the nails either for some reason and sometimes, lacking something in your diet or some chronic diseases will affect the appearance of it.

The nail consists of much more elements than meets the eye, stay tuned for part 2 of the anatomy of the nail. Till next time, remember to put your best foot forward and have a great day!

Friday foot fact

Week 20

It's a gorgeous Friday morning in Ottawa and May long weekend is almost upon us.  It's usually a time when my feet are ready for sandal season but time flew by and I'm looking like the cobbler's son with no shoes.  Meaning my feet are due to get pedicured big time and taking a closer look at them, I realize that I have a white mark on the nail of my first digit a.k.a. The Big Toe.

I'm even going to share a pic of this mark since I find it quite impressive if I do say so myself. Please remember, I haven't been kind to my feet this season as you can see for yourselves, my feet and toenails need some TLC as in Toe Lovin' Care! The white mark on my nail is actually called leuconychia.

Leuconychia

Usually these type of white marks or spots appear on the fingernails and sometimes, as you can see, on the toenails too.  Leuconychia is usually caused by an injury to the nail causing an air bubble or a bruise to the nail leaving a white mark or spot.  Sometimes we don't even remember the injury but believe me the one on my big toe was memorable!  In some instances though, it can by caused by a lack of zinc and before you start taking in some extra nutrients, check with your doctor.

The good thing about this type of nail injury is that it will grow out and nothing that a little nail polish can't hide in the meantime since it usually takes a bit of time to grow out.

This has been my Friday foot fact, I wish you all a great long weekend and remember to put your best foot forward!

Friday foot fact

Week 19

One of the questions I get often is why your toenails are yellow, it's a fact that once you take off the remains of the old polish, there's a yellowish tint to your nails.  One of the reasons for this is because your nail is porous and will absorb some of the pigments in the nail polish. The other reason is the color of the nail polish, the darker the color, the more pronounced the discoloration of the nail will be. Red polishes leave the toenail stained at it's worst as I've seen throughout the years.

You can prevent this problem by applying a base coat before the colored polish. This clear base shields your nail and protects it from having the pigment seeping into your nail.

You see, a professional polish application has 4 steps involved.

1. Base coat

2. First coat of the nail polish.

3. Second coat of nail polish

4. Top coat

If you are an avid polish wearer that can't seem to go without any, you might want to give your nails a break once in a while to let them breath or switching it up with a French styled polish. To get rid of the stain all together is going to be covered later on since it involves different procedures.

Hope you've enjoyed this Friday foot fact, I wish you all a great Mother's Day weekend and remember to put your best foot forward!

Friday foot fact

Week 17

Did you know that friction and pressure are the main causes for callouses? It's our bodies natural defense for the skin to thicken when there is an excess of pressure, to protect itself. The callouses usually appear on the heels and balls of the feet, a certain amount of callosity is good when playing sports, walking or running and that's the upside of them.

The downside of callouses are when they become rigid, inflexible, burning and cracking. At this point, they're painful and the cracks in the callouses can even start to bleed, sometimes creating ulcers in the worst cases. They have become a nuisance and this is when you should get them reduced. Either you do it yourself or get a professional to do it if you lack flexibility, can't see properly or diabetic. If you're diabetic, go see a certified footcare nurse, this is most important for your feet and overall health.

The trick to maintaining them is easy, filing them down once a week and applying a good moisturizer should keep your feet happy!

Have a great weekend everyone and remember to put your best foot forward!

Tips for the travelling feet

A lot of of us have had the experience of going on vacations that will involve a lot of walking. Either you are doing a backpacking trip across Europe or wanting to do some hiking on the east coast. If your feet are not ready for such an excursion, you will pay for it after a few days. How? With blisters and callosity build up.

Picking a right shoe is essential and don't think of "breaking in a shoe" either on your trip. Investing in a good walking shoe is essential overall, even going to a sports store to check out  the walking sandals is a great idea, they are looking more and more stylish now compared to a few years ago.  If the weather is quite warm where you are going I would strongly suggest not wearing a thong sandal, you'll be asking for trouble if you do.

While you are trying out the shoes, make sure to run your hand on the inside of them for any seams that might do some wear and tear in very unslightly spots that can put you in atrocious pain on the first few days of your trip.  Let's face it, you are travelling and visiting the world on foot, if you wanted to put your feet up on vacay, beaches and spas are great for those that want to put their feet up.

For those that have the right shoes already and are going to get a pedicure done before leaving on your trip, here are some tips.

1.  If you're going to get a pedicure done before leaving, make sure the pedicurist doesn't remove all the callouses on your feet, you are going to need some padding for walking. If you have deep cracks in your callouses I would suggest reducing and sealing them.

2.Have your toenails trimmed properly, too short or too long will cause some problems. Believe me, I have had the experience of shearing the sides of some toes because of too much squeezing against them, making my nails dig into the flesh. Not pleasant!

3. Bringing a pumice stone and a nail file would really help out to maintain your feet. While you're at it, make a first aid foot bag by putting in a small bottle of peroxide, a tube of Polysporin and some adhesive bandages together. I saw some bandages that might be a good investment especially made for blister protection.

4. There's also anti blister sticks that are available in drug stores when you know a blister is coming on. A quick fixer upper for your footsies and easy to carry.

5. After a long day on your feet a good moisturizing cream containing either peppermint and/or lavender would really help getting your feet back in tip top shape for tomorrow's excursions.

I hope these tips help making your journey easier on your feet and puts your best foot forward on your  next adventures.

Friday Foot Fact

Week 16

It's Friday and I'm giving a tiny foot fact, like in baby feet tiny! Ever notice how baby feet are so chubby?
The foot of a child has an abundant layer of fat all around it so that the bones of the foot are well protected. This layer of fatty tissues will disappear in the first couple of year of the child's life while the foot develops.

Not only are a baby's foot chubby but usually the toes are pretty much the same length all the way through and the arch of the foot is not very visible, giving the look of a flat foot.

The growth of the foot varies greatly,  some will have a very rapid growth in the second and third year of life, another through the seventh and eight year to have a final growth spur in puberty. Our feet stop growing when we reach the age of 20 in general.

I hope you've enjoyed a the Friday foot fact, tiny but interesting. Last week fact was not published due to a computer melt down, very glad to be back at it today and have lots more to say about feet and aesthetics in general. Have a great weekend everyone!

Friday foot fact

Week 14

Friday foot facts is on Good Friday today and I'm keeping it short and sweet. It used to be very customary to wash your guests feet about some 2000 years ago. It usually was to refresh them from travelling in sandals, if you had sandals but most didn't have the luxury of having foot wear. I can just imagine how dirty feet could get in that day and age, in fact even our sandal adorned feet in the middle of an urban market will get dirty too.

Why I'm touching the subject of washing feet is because I have had some people tell me it's a bit degrading to bend down to someone else's feet, to which I usually reply that some important historical figures have washed the feet of many in humility. As the story goes: Jesus washed the feet of his apostles before the last supper.

I have been brought up in a spiritual home but even though I hardly practice my spirituality in church, I do have to say I feel I practice it every day in my work. I just feel blessed that many have trusted me with their aches and pains on a daily basis, grateful to the support others have given me in my practice.

Last but not least.....Good Friday and Happy Easter to you all.

Friday foot fact

Week 13

Did you know people that have high arches of the feet, also known as pes cavus, are more likely to have stress fractures and ankle sprains?

Because of the high arches of the feet, the feet themselfs are less flexible, more rigid and the heels will have callouses.

Actually, anyone that have high arches can take a look at their shoes and see the heel of the shoe is more used up on the same places where your callouses appear on the heel of your foot.

Go ahead, take a look at the soles of your shoes...now take a look at the soles of your feet. You should see where the wear and tear of the soles of your shoes, you'll have callouses on the same parts of the sole of your feet.

Please be aware to have proper footwear with built up arch support and consult a foot specialist that does orthotics. Your feet will be forever grateful!

This is Friday foot fact is short and sweet but I hope it inspires you to put your best foot forward.

Have a great weekend!

What's that smell???

Dear readers,

Do you have a pair of shoes that are just atrocious to take off because of the deadly vapors that are permeating a whole room? Either you have a teenager that his sweat glands are out of whack, a husband's construction boots that are deadly or even your favorite pair of sandals that can emit a smell that is comparable to a very pungent cheese.

What is that smell? Well to keep it simple, it's these little bacteria that have gas. A lot of them! I've had this problem a few years back and it was beyond bad foot odor, I think I could of put a small animal under 3 pounds out cold with the smell of them. Seriously! 

How I solved my stinky feet problem was pretty easy but as soon as I wore those pesky shoes, it came back in a vengeful force. You see the problem wasn't just my feet but those shoes in particular. So you really have to solve the source of where this problem is starting to really get rid of the smell. 

One of my favorite breathable sneakers

The first step is to take your shoes, slip them into a plastic resealable bag and put them in the freezer for a good 24 to 48 hours. By doing this, you are cutting off the bacteria from an thriving environment, warmth. If you have more than one pair of shoes causing you this problem, you will want to put them all in the freezer.

The second thing to do is a very cost effective solution too. White vinegar and lukewarm water in a 50-50 mixture. Meaning a cup of vinegar for a cup of water. Soaking your feet for 10 minutes for 10 consecutive days and making sure that the mixture is covering the whole soles of your feet. You really have to follow through with this treatment for it to be fully effective.

I have to say that wearing shoes made with synthetic materials are more prone to do this and wearing a shoe that is made with natural materials that are breathable is a better option. There is also more than one solution to this problem of smelly feet but I think this is one of the best and simplest ways to solve it. I hope this will help anyone that is having this problem without throwing out your favorite footwear.

Yours truly,

Nadine

Friday foot facts

Week 12

Did you know that your toes have no actual muscles?

In fact, neither do your fingers. All your phalanges, meaning the bones that shape your digits, meaning your toes and fingers are moving because of an intricate network of ligaments and tendons. The foot alone contains over 100 ligaments and 20 different muscles. Ligaments serve to bind the structure together, give strength and support the bone structure.

Grateful feet on the beach

Still, I'm always amazed at how intricate the human body is made but foremost the foot. After all, it's because of them we can carry our bodies everywhere. Walk, run, skip, jump, stand or dance, they do it all for us but we rarely pay attention to them. Maybe taking care of them will allow many of us to dance till we are 90 years old, well that's my wish to everyone.

Short but sweet was the intent of my Friday foot fact today, enjoy putting your feet up or your best foot forward this weekend, just be grateful you have them!

Men and waxing

It's a hair ripping experience....

Why I'm attacking this issue right now is because it's unusually warm for March in the Ottawa region, record breaking temperatures actually and it feels like summer is upon us. Some of you guys will be taking off your shirts to soak up some vitamin D in the flesh. (Do not forget your sunscreen, you can still burn.) But to the ones that feel like they are wearing a hair shirt underneath your shirt or you have an unusual body hair pattern that prevents you from taking off your t-shirt. Listen up!

I have been ripping hair off men for quite a while now, have tortured many of you with the sticky goop and given advice to you, yes you, hairy messy package of walking testosterone. No matter what they say about men being the stronger of the sexes, you really have a hard time handling the pain of waxing compared to women.

Now, let's talk about a few things you must know about getting waxed for the first time or reminders for the seasonal clients to prevent a bit less pain. What part of your body are you going to get done? Let's say it's your back and your have a few patches of hair growing in the region of your lower back, which is a very sensitive area for most that I have encountered. How sensitive? You stop talking and some of you whimper like little girls but it's nothing compared to waxing the chest rug.

If your hair is long, over an inch, you must clip it down. Clipping down your hair is to avoid initial, painful tugging or breaking of the hair if it's too long.  If it's too short it will not remove easily either, in fact, it might even be useless to try to wax it since it won't "catch" in the wax. Your body hair length for waxing is ideal at 1/4 to 3/4 of an inch for a better waxing experience.

Investing in a good clipper with different hair length adapters is a great idea, it will come in more than handy throughout your life. A cheap hair clipper might cause you pain in places where you don't want pain, go ahead, buy a cheap one, I dare you! Don't forget to maintain your clippers just to avoid some unnecessary pain involved with hair stuck in between blades. Let's hope it's just hair, not skin!

Another thing that would really help men that are thinking of doing any sensitive wax areas besides reducing the thickness or length of the hair is trying a topical/dermal anesthetic.

What is that? It's cream named EMLA that really numbs the skin for some serious waxing and laser hair removal.  It's a bit on the pricey point, about 60$ for 30 grams but a little tube goes a long way. You can buy it at the drug store, ask your pharmacist for it. Please follow the instructions through, you will need to seal the cream from oxygen with a garbage bag or plastic wrap for a period of 1 hour for satisfactory results, meaning no pain and total numbness! Do not forget to wash your hands after using the cream and make sure to check with the pharmacist for any counter effects that could affect you.

I'd like to mention you try not to use your razors on areas where you don't want to make the hair stronger and one of the main reasons for waxing is that it weakens the hair a lot, takes a long time to grow back (3-5 weeks). Because of the initial pain factor, most guys take way too long to come back but the more you do this procedure the less painful it will get and that's called building pain tolerance!

I really hope these tips will help in getting yourself ready for the summer season or even for those travelling down south. To all the male clients I had the privilege to rip your hair off in the last 15 years, thank you for trusting me to inflict pain as fast as possible!

Yours truly,
Nadine

PS: If any of my male readers have any questions or curious about any subjects pertaining to skin, hair removal or nails, leave me a comment or you can e-mail me. Your question might be a great subject for one of my posts.

Friday foot facts

Week 11

Last Friday's foot fact got me thinking more about nails. I have seen them in many shapes, sizes, thickness, growing in every direction and forms. Even though they seem to just cover the tip of your digits, they're mistreated and shoved in the most uncomfortable positions in many shoes. Even though you're wearing the correct shoe for the correct job, you might still have a problem. Take a runner training for a marathon. Now the amount of stress the nails endure all throughout the training and the marathon itself can lead to losing toenails even though the shoe is the right one for the job.

Now this doesn't just happen to runners but also to anyone who is wearing a shoe where the toebox is too narrow and not deep enough to accommodate the toes properly. Even a shoe that is a tad too big can create a problem when the foot is sliding back and forth in the shoe, the repeated impact on the nail can lead to it's loss.

How can a nail fall off?  The nail is made of 3 layers, the top part is called the Dorsal nail plate, the middle is called Intermediate nail plate and last but not least, the Ventral nail plate is the part that is attached to your nail bed. When a nail falls of it is usually the top 2 layers that are involved and the bottom layer, the Ventral will still be intact. That would be that thin layer that is left behind when the nail fell off. You nail should grow back even though it might take time since the toenails are the slowest to grow compared to your fingernails and they will grow approximately about 2 inches a year. 

To make sure your toenails don't get punished from too much from exercise or repeated abuse, you might want to make sure to keep them shorter then the tip of your toes, it would be less damaging to your nails. 

If your fallen nail is growing back in an abnormal way, it's more than the nail affected. The matrix of the nail could be damaged and that, dear readers, is for another post.

Hope you've enjoyed this short Friday foot fact. Have a great weekend everyone and don't forget to put your best foot forward!

Waxing: it's a hair ripping experience!

At one point in our lives we have to deal with hair removal one way or the other. Unless you are totally oblivious to our obsession for being hairless at the right places in this society or have been living in a cave and looking like it's dweller! We have come a long way and have many options to remove hair. You can shave it, wax it, tweeze it, trim it, have little shocks given to the hair shaft through a hair fine needle (electrolysis) or get hair laser removal done.

Now, what ever means you try to remove it, you have the option on how long the treatment will last once you get it done. Hence, shaving is less painful and grows out quickly and getting laser hair removal done is more pricey but permanent after a few treatments. Waxing is middle ground to getting a longer lasting treatment all in meanwhile of having less and less that grows back in the long run.  The returned growth in between waxes vary from 3-5 weeks till your hair is long enough to wax again. If you live where the climate fluctuates with the 4 seasons, you will notice that it will take longer to grow back in the winter months than in the summer months.

Today is all about wax and what you need to know before ripping hair off. Either you do it to yourself, have a professional do this procedure or some of you will trust a friend to inflict pain on you. What you must know is this first and foremost: you hair must be long enough for it to catch in the wax, a quarter of an inch is long enough but if it's too long, like closer to an inch, it might snap off or give you an extra yanking sensation that is not to pleasant. Next, you want to make sure your skin is dry and has no lotion on it what so ever. The wax will not adhere to your skin or hair making it pointless to try to rip it off.

Mini hard wax pearls and gel wax with essential oils.

Here are some tips on waxing yourself with a drug store wax kit for first timers and occasional wax users.

1. Read the instructions all the way through first, someone took the time to explain the use of the product, hopefully properly and then read it a second time just to make sure you really understand the directions. It's like a carpenter, measure twice, cut once.

2. Make sure your skin is dry and free of any lotions and your hair is longer than a 1/4 of an inch, if it looks like your hair is stuck underneath a layer of dead skin, it will not come off easily. You'll have to exfoliate your skin the day before to make it easier for hair removal.

3. Get all your equipment ready in an area where you have good lighting, it is not recommended to wax in a carpeted area either or where cleaning it up won't damage any floors or cover up the area with an old bath towel. You will need tweezers and some type of afterwax lotion that is sometimes provided with the kits, if not, a soothing body lotion should work well too. If the wax needs cotton strips to remove it, get them ready also.

4. Turn off the ringers and bells that might distract you from doing the job.

5. When heating the wax, make sure you follow the instructions, always make sure the product is well stirred to distribute the heat evenly. Test the wax on your inner wrist to check the temperature of it, better your wrist then your face to figure out it was too hot.

6. Always apply the wax in the direction the hair is growing, apply the cotton strip to the area leaving about 2 fingers wide of the cotton where you finished applying the wax, at this point you want to rub and press at the same time the cotton strip into the wax.

7. You should have a "lip" of cotton left where you will pull it in the opposite direction that the hair grows. When you do this, don't think about it too much, it's like a band aid, all in one piece and commit to the strip!
Follow through in the motion, not in an upward or away from the skin motion but in a paralleled motion with the skin. As fast as you have removed the strip, apply pressure with your free hand to the waxed area to relieve the sting.

8. Apply wax to a small area at a time. Always.

9. If you are in a jam and you're backing out of a sticky situation and have no clue what to do. Body butters and most cooking oils in the kitchen will help to dissolve the wax.

10. If you are being disturbed and need to heat the wax a second time, make sure you test it again. You never know if it can burn you and you better be safe than sorry.

I hope these little tips helped make the home waxing experience a bit better for some of you. If you have any  comments, stories or questions about waxing or hair removal, let me know about it.

Friday foot facts

Week 10

It's a Friday foot fact again, the week just flew by with a lot of toenail cutting this week. Good to be busy but sometimes, when I see what I do, I think most of you would gag. But for me it's a real pleasure to fix as best as I can the problems I see with toenails. You see, nails protect numerous nerve endings and the tiny, little bones (phalanges) at the very end of your toes and fingers.

Now I understand some of us have exceptionally beautiful feet and toes but let's face it, some of us have not all been blessed with pretty feet or toes. But there is a difference between a healthy nail and one that it's health has been compromised to the point of no repair. I have seen nails that are way too short, way too long, way too thick or thin and some of you have even stuck Exacto knives in very tight spots where you thought it would of been a good idea to relieve some pressure off a ingrown or involuted toenail! There are many things that can happen to them in a lifespan, let's face it, most of us will have them for life if all is well with our health.

Glass file on healthy nails.

But for some of us, the health of a toenail will be affected by trauma, infection, skin diseases, inherited factors and nutritional deficiencies. If your health is compromised by diabetes, it is of most importance that you find adequate certified advanced footcare nurses to provide and educate you on regular footcare. Even if you are healthy, sometimes ignoring a simple little foot or toenail pain can make you regret not paying attention to them.

The fact is this, ladies and gentlemen alike, we have all seen someone wearing socks and sandles at one point in our lives. Did you ever think there might be a reason underneath that? Hmmm, maybe you don't want to know why they will never see the light of day either.

So here's to Friday, hopefully you will get to put your feet up sometime this weekend and maybe you will inspect your toes a bit closer and give them a bit of some toe lovin' care! My version of TLC!

Friday foot fact

Week 9

In this week's Friday foot fact, I'm talking about what our feet are designed to do: walk!

Did you know the average person walks the distance of going 3 times around the world in a lifetime? Women walk an average of 10 miles in a day meanwhile men will walk an average of 7 miles in a day. Our feet absorb 3 times your body weight while walking and some of us will inherit the way we walk. The name of the way you walk is called a gait. Our moods can affect our gait and so does a really bad pair of ill fitting shoes. Making sure you take care of your feet now can save you from future foot problems.

I hope this post, even though short and sweet, will have made you appreciate what your feet do for you. Don't take them for granted either, it's when we have problems with them that we realize the important tasks they perform in our day to day life.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Advice on dry & cracked heels for Anonymous.

A reader was asking on how she can solve a dry and cracked feet problem even after moisturizing twice a day.  If the skin is not getting rehydrated even after moisturizing, I'm thinking there might be a barrier that is preventing your skin to rehydrate, most commonly it would a layer of dead skin cells and even a build up of calluses.

For any moisturizer to be absorbed in your skin, exfoliating with a foot file or a pumice stone is always a good idea to prepare your foot properly. If you are going to use a foot file, usually it's 2 sided with the grain of the file coarser on one side than the other. You want to use the coarser side first to remove the larger dead skin cells than transfer to the finer side of the file to smooth out the job. The trick is using the foot file on dry skin.

The pumice stone is used on wet skin and it should be used in a similar manner by rotating the pumice from one side to the other. Depending on the shape of the pumice stone, it's sometimes more useful to get in the nooks and crannies that are harder to reach than with the foot file to remove the dead skin. Keep in mind to do this always in moderation. The fact is you don't want to overdo anything when it involves your skin and this type of quick maintenance can be done once a week depending on the severity of your cracking and dryness.

Dry and cracked heel

The best time to apply your moisturizer is once you're done with exfoliating your clean foot. Not all moisturizers are created equal either and it's not always the expensive creams or foot balms that work the best. The trick is finding the one that works for you. If you see moisturizer that contains urea, that would be a good choice since this ingredient will help draw the moisture to a deeper layer of skin. To those that suffer from food allergies, avoid the same ingredients in your moisturizer. My mother has celiac disease and has to stay away from some products containing oatmeal and wheatgerm, it will make her skin extremely dry.

A few things I'm really curious about this type of problem is what is causing it. A few factors to keep in mind is if you wear a lot of colored/dark or black type of socks. The dyes and chemicals that are used for them might be detrimental to the moisture of your skin. Natural fibers such as cotton, bamboo or hemp material.
Also, what kind of physical activities that your feet perform for you on a regular basis? Is there an area of your foot that is more dry than the rest of your foot?

So many questions to really get at the sole bottom of this, yes, the pun is intended. The more information you can provide me with, the more accurate my answer. If any of you have trouble explaining a foot problem in particular, you might want to consider sending me a picture by email if that's more convenient and you can find my address on my contact page.

I hope this information will help some of you sooth your dry skin and put your best foot forward.