ON THE COVER Dr Sarah Jarvis
They pound the streets every day, carrying all our weight, so it’s hardly surprising that our feet complain sometimes. Your footwear options could be key to your foot health.
Bunions – unsightly Vshaped lumps at the base of your big toe – can cause pain, rubbing, inflammation and even infection over the skin. They can also make it hard to find shoes to fit.
Doctors used to think they were all down to wearing tight, pointy shoes. While these can make matters worse, it’s more often an inherited tendency to weakness in the joint, or arthritis, that triggers bunions. Roomy flat or lowheeled shoes that don’t squash your toes will reduce friction over the base of the toe and may be all you need. A podiatrist can advise on padding over the bunion.
In troublesome cases, your doctor may recommend surgery. This involves either trimming the joint or breaking and realigning the bones, but it does usually offer a permanent cure.
Do you cut your toenails down at the edges? Just don’t – ever! It’s the main cause of painful ingrowing toenails, which usually happen when the side of the nail grows into the tender flesh. Caught early, letting it grow out (soaking and teasing out the nail every evening with a cotton bud) may solve it. Otherwise, antibiotics and sometimes surgery to cut away the edge of your nail may be needed, usually done by a podiatrist or “podiatric surgeon”.
Plantar fasciitis is an inflammation of the tough
IF YOU HAVE DIABETES, IT’S ESSENTIAL TO CHECK YOUR FEET DAILY AND REPORT ANY SORE PATCHES OR ULCERS TO YOUR GP IMMEDIATELY
connective tissue under your heel. It’s often due to a sudden increase in exercise, especially in shoes without good cushioning, but being overweight makes you more prone. Rest, anti-inflammatory tablets and cushioned shoes may help. So can exercises to stretch the connective tissue of your foot and ankle – your GP can advise.
If these don’t help, physiotherapy or a steroid injection may be advised.
Athlete’s foot isn’t just for athletes – any shoes that make your feet hot and sweaty can make you prone to this fungal infection, which causes itching, scaling and painful splitting of skin between the toes. Antifungal creams and powder (to soak up sweat) should clear it, but you’ll need to keep using the cream for a week or two after the problem has gone (your pharmacist can advise). To prevent it coming back, wash feet daily; dry well between the toes; use cotton socks; change shoes every couple of days to let them dry out; and find time for bare feet at home.
Follow a few simple shoewise steps. Pumps are fine now and again but don’t support your arches, so can cause aching. They can also cause clawing of your toes. Tight shoes make you prone to ingrowing toenails, corns and calluses. Heels force your feet forward, squashing toes and making bunions more problematic.
Flip flops let feet breathe, reducing the risk of athlete’s foot. They don’t offer support, however, and are easy to trip on.
Leather shoes let your feet breathe in a way synthetic ones don’t. Well fitted trainers with sole padding cut risk of plantar fasciitis and corns, but don’t wear them too long, to avoid athlete’s foot.
Shop for shoes at the end of the day, when your feet are a bit bigger. Kitten heels with an ankle strap look smart – and happily they’re a smart choice for your feet, too. Next week: Lipoedema and lymphoedema
PODIATRISTS CAN HELP WITH CORNS, VERRUCAS, INGROWING TOENAILS, TOENAIL CLIPPING AND A HOST OF OTHER FOOT PROBLEMS – OFTEN ON THE NHS