Assalamualaikum. Since little, errr. Since adolescence, to be precise, I've been using this feet too much, I guess. Thanks to these pair of feet, I can make it to all the camps, jamborees & expeditions. not to forget I've stepped at most parts of Melaka, Puncak Alam, KL & Selangor too, as well as more to come in future, thanks to them. Yet, as their owner, I think I'm being mean to them. Truthfully, sometimes I do have bad feet day like foot odour, blisters & so on & so forth which I think is not as bad as these two.
As the awareness arrives, I did my findings & as a result, I extracted this :
Why do my feet smell?
Why do my feet smell?
The culprits in foot odor are sweat eating bacteria.
The problem begins when bacteria become attracted to the sweat on your feet and start feeding on it.
The bacteria's excretion has a strong odor that causes your feet to smell bad.
Since each foot has over 250,000 sweat glands in it, and produces over a pint of sweat a day there's a lot for the bacteria to eat.
What makes the situation worse are shoes and socks which trap the sweat on your skin. Now the bacteria have their favorite kind of environment: dark and damp, causing them to go into a feeding frenzy. More waste is excreted, and when you take off your socks and shoes, your nose is presented with the results!
Why do some people's feet smell more than others?
The simple answer is, some people sweat more than others. That's also the reason why your own foot odor can vary. You might sweat more at different parts of the day. The more you sweat, the more your feet will smell.
How can foot odor be reduced?
Since more sweat equals more bacteria and more odor, the amount of sweat that collects on your feet must be decreased. This will lessen your bacteria load as well.
- » Always wear clean socks. It is even recommended you change sock throughout the day.
- » Wash your feet with anti-bacterial soap. This won't lessen the sweat, but it will kill bacteria.
- » Give a pair of shoes 24 hours to air out after every wearing. The sweat will evaporate.
- » Avoid restrictive shoes like, boots. Well-ventilated shoes whisk away sweat.
- » Wear socks made of absorbent materials, like cotton. The sock will soak up the sweat leaving the bacteria nothing to feed on.
- » Apply antiperspirant to you feet.
Putting inserts in shoes will mask part of the problem, but they won't solve it as they fail to kill bacteria. If your foot odor is really strong, the best method of prevention is to see a doctor. There are several prescriptions available to treat foot odour.
That's for the foot odour. For blisters, here's what I've found :
Foot blisters are very common to athletes and people who wear socks everyday. They develop when socks stick to the sweaty skin of the feet. When the feet and socks then rub against each other on the interior walls of the shoes, the outer layers of the feet’s skin separate from their inner layers, and the space between these layers are filled with lymph fluid. This is how foot blisters (running) form.
Foot blisters usually heal on their own. The blister fluid is reabsorbed and disappears. However, there are cases when the blisters pop (by themselves), causing them to become infected. Once redness, red lines, or yellow liquid develops around the blister, medical attention is required.
What are the symptoms of foot blisters?
A person developing blisters on foot normally notices some redness over the infected skin, usually on the instep, the back of the heel, or the toes. In time, the redness turns into a balloon-like area filled with fluid.
What causes blisters on foot?
Three things cause foot blisters: moisture, heat and friction. Athletes – especially those who take part in very lengthy sporting events that require walking or running (such as marathons) – are prone to developing blisters.
New shoes that have not yet been broken into and ill-fitting footwear tends to cause blisters, too. Blisters may also be caused by allergic reactions, fungal infections of the skin, burns, and excessive foot perspiration.
Tests and diagnosis
During a consultation, the doctor may ask several questions to make sure that your blisters are under control and to rule out the possibility of Staphylococcal skin syndrome, chicken pox, or erythema multiforme.
Be prepared to answer questions about the history of the blisters (when it started) and its characteristics (size, location, color of liquid), among others. In some cases when the doctor suspects that the cause of the blisters is other than simple athletic activity, more intensive rash examination may be required.
Care for foot blisters
See a doctor to determine if your blister is caused by simple skin rubbing and is not a symptom of a bigger disease.
Most blisters can be self-medicated. Athletes usually apply skin dressing or plaster and tape over the affected area. Covering the blisters with petroleum jelly helps relieve pain. This treatment is temporary, however. Once the petroleum jelly thaws out, you may feel pain again.
Patients are advised to refrain from ‘popping’ their foot blisters especially when it has blood in it, as doing so may infect it even more. Health professionals are more qualified to hygienically create a small hole at the blister’s edge with sterilized needles. They can effectively drain the fluid without removing the skin covering the wound. This layer of skin is very important in healing – it serves as a protective layer for the inner layers and help prevent further infection.
Always clean the area with a sterilizing cloth or wipe. Make it a point to cover the blister wound with a blister plaster. Some people apply tape for added security.
Yet, I can't afford to take my feet for granted once the problem's settled. Thus, I looked up for how to take care for these only one pair of feet of mine. The discovery is as follows :
1. Make sure to wash your feet daily. With all the running
about from place to place that most people do everyday, the
feet would have been exposed to a lot of dust and dirt by the
end of the day. If you take showers in the morning and not at
night, at least make feet-washing a part of your nightly
routine when you get home. Lather up with soap, and pay
extra attention to the spaces in between the toes. Wipe the
feet gently with a towel afterward. Aside from being a mark of
good hygiene, doing this would also ensure that you do not
step onto your bed with dirty feet, and thus prevent from
dirt to your place of rest and relaxation.
2. Give your feet a pedicure every two weeks. Painting
them does not necessarily have to be part of every pedicure
routine, but regular pedicures really make a difference in
keeping your feet soft and free from dry and rough skin, and
your toenails clean and neat. You don't need to spend a lot of
cash to have your pedicure professionally done in a salon, and
with a few tools, you can do your own pedicure right in the
comforts of your own home. Here's how to do one:
- Soak your feet for about 5-10 minutes in a large bowl with lukewarm water. As an added treat, you may also wish to infuse the water with a few drops of essential oils or Dead Sea salts, to keep the feet smelling good and to soften hard skin respectively. The soaking time indicated here is merely just a suggestion -- you may choose to soak your feet for much longer if you want to relax, or if the hardened skin on your feet need extra hydration.
- Exfoliate your feet with a foot scrub to slough off dry and dead skin, and to moisturize your feet as well. Massage the scrub in circular motions, and rinse off afterward. To exfoliate the hardened skin on the heels and bottom part of the feet, use a foot file or a pumice stone. Make sure to use a gentle filing motion, and to never rub too hard.
- Cut your toenails straight across, as opposed to a curved shape, to prevent ingrown toenails from occurring. If you would really prefer a rounded shape instead of a straight square, use a nail file to smoothen the ridges and to give the edges a bit of a curve, so you would end up with a square shape with rounded edges. Ensure that the nails are cut and filed to just the right length -- short, but not too much that you end up hurting yourself.
- Remember to include your cuticles too. Apply cuticle oil to your toenails to soften and moisturize the hardened edges, and push the cuticles back with an orangewood stick to create a smooth, open area ready for your polish. Make sure that you do not push too hard, or you might risk cutting the cuticles and exposing your feet to possible fungal infection. Some people also prefer to skip this step completely and leave their cuticles untouched -- this is okay as well.
3. Moisturize your feet everyday. Put lotion or foot cream
on as a part of your routine. One way to achieve soft,
moisturized feet is to rub on some lotion or petroleum jelly
before bed, and slip on some socks. When you wake up in the
morning, you'll find that your feet are very soft and are free
from dryness!
Yes, in the website, they also recommend putting a nail polish, but then I won't do so since I don't know if it's legal from the religious side. Maybe I'll do some Googling about it then. Plus, it seems awkward for a guy to wear a nail polish. Hurmmmm.
Hopefully this will work as a reminder so that these pair of feet will deserve the same treatment as other parts of the body. Assalamualaikum.
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| Not my pic. BTW I wonder how does it feel to do this kind of treatment. It seems interesting. |
fish pedicure~ :)
ReplyDeletejum jum. heheh
wah wah. untung laahhh org tu da dpt payment :P
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