Making sure your family have healthy feet year-round will mean no painful foot problems or visits to the doctor later on. And it's probably up to you to make good foot care a family thing.
Make sure young children are drying their feet well, especially in between the toes.
Kids should wear cotton socks. They are absorbent and let air circulate around the feet.
The younger members of your family need their toe nails clipped straight across keeping them short and neatly trimmed.
Any signs of toe nail infections (for example redness, inflammation or hardness around the edge) should be checked out with your doctor as soon as possible. In the meantime at home a warm compress may work well if the area is painful.
Be sure to get your child's foot measured each season and check that they are not wearing shoes of the wrong size. Bad fitting shoes can do enormous damage to young growing feet and toes.
It's not a good idea to share the same shoes amongst different family members. Although you constantly seem to be buying shoes for your children's growing feet, each child moulds a shoe to the exact shape of their foot while wearing them. Shoes passed down in the family could potentially damage the next child's feet.
On the whole, men don't pay as much attention to their own foot care as women do. But that's not to say they shouldn't. Apart from using nail clippers, most men don't own their own set of pedicure tools. But it seems these days that men are opting for the occassional professional pedicure more than ever before.
The rules for foot care are the same for men as they are for woman: cleanse, file, exfoliate and moisturize. There is a fantastic range of good-looking products around such as seasponges and long-handled hard skin files that can be used on feet while in the shower.
Keep a basket of fun products by the side of the bath and shower for the family to use to promote family foot care. For example fresh natural scented moisturizes will appeal to men while colorful nail brushes and sponges with funny faces on will entice the youngsters.
Metal nail files work well on tough toe nails and can be cleaned thoroughly in hotsoapy water after use for another family member to use. Remember to keep sharp skin and nail tools away from young children at all times.
If you have a family member who suffers from diabeties, then remember to pay particular attention to their feet. For more diabetic footcare advise click here.
Foot care should be a family thing. Family foot care is an important part of a personal hygiene routine that will ensure your family enjoy good foot health for the rest of their lives.
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As seen in Oprah’s Magazine!