HAVE YOU GOT TOOTSIE TROUBLE?
If it happens to the beautiful SamCam, it can happen to anyone. So how do you cure the mayhem caused by those high fashion shoes?
SHE may have impeccable dress sense, but it seems even Samantha Cameron can sometimes put a foot, or rather two feet, wrong. On a visit to a voter’s house in Hounslow, West London, this week the PM’s wife removed her loafers — £70 from High Street store Office — to reveal tootsies that looked every bit as hardened and battle-weary as her husband in the final stretches of the General Election campaign.
Sam, 44, has clearly paid the price for her lifelong devotion to fashionable footwear in the form of bunions, yellowing toenails, corns and red, flaky skin. But she is not alone. Only this week, in a survey carried out by the College of Podiatry, 20 per cent of women admitted they disliked their naked feet because of the damage done by wearing uncomfortable shoes.
Hard skin and corns were the most complained about conditions, while the hours of pain and discomfort an average woman feels as a result of wearing high heels totalled 23 days a year.
Here, experts give the low-down on Sam’s all-too-common foot afflictions and suggest what you can do to get your feet ready for those summer sandals.
BUNIONS
THE bony bump on the side of Sam’s left foot is called a bunionette or a ‘tailor’s bunion’ — named after the tailors who used to sit cross-legged for hours on end as they worked, pressing down on their little toes.
‘Bunionettes become more common with age and usually present themselves in women in their 40s,’ explains consultant surgical podiatrist Tracy Byrne.
But they are exacerbated by the style of shoes Sam Cam favours. Her beloved highheeled pumps — which she buys from High Street chains such as Zara and LK Bennett — may look elegant but they force the feet into an unnatural, pointed shape that crushes the foot.
‘Both bunionettes and bunions — larger lumps at the base of the big toe — are genetic but worsened by the choice of footwear,’ says Byrne. ‘Because women tend to wear shoes that are tapered to make them narrower than their foot, with prolonged wear their feet can take on the shape of the shoe.
‘The soft tissue changes shape, the tendons shorten and, as the bone becomes compressed, more bone is laid down on top to compensate.’
Unfortunately, bunionettes can be removed only through surgery. ‘You can prevent them worsening with a series of strengthening exercises, such as pulling your little toe to the side as far away from the foot as it will go, and releasing. Do three lots of ten repetitions a day to prevent further deviation,’ says Byrne. Surgery is performed under local anaesthetic — the operation usually takes no longer than an hour and normally entails a podiatric surgeon shaving off the outside of the bone. For two weeks afterwards sufferers will be sofa-bound. A total recovery time of six weeks is recommended.
DEVIATED TOE
CURLED inconspicuously underneath her left foot, Sam Cam’s little toe looks considerably more camera-shy than its owner.
In fact, she has what is known as a ‘deviated toe’ and — as with bunionettes — these are the consequence of continuously wearing constricting shoes.
‘It’s a very common condition caused by wearing narrow shoes that are often over half an inch narrower than the width of the foot,’ says Byrne. ‘The little toe has to go somewhere so “deviates” on top or underneath the toe next to it.’
Some podiatrists claim you can reverse a deviated toe by wearing rubber foam cushions in between your toes. But Byrne says: ‘It can only be realigned permanently through surgery. A surgeon makes a tiny incision at the end of the toe and inserts a pin that is kept in place for between two to six weeks until the bone heals.
‘Unfortunately, the perfect shoe for good foot health will never be aesthetically appealing. Even ballet flats don’t support the feet and in order to keep them on you have to scrunch your toe, which can lead to hammer toes.’
Glamorous they may not be, but the best shoes are wide-fitting with a deep toe and arch supports that ensure even weight distribution between the arch and the ball of the foot. Clarks stock a good variety.
CORNS
SAM CAM has the beginnings of a corn on the second smallest toe of her left foot. Corns are caused by either friction from rubbing against a shoe or constant pressure from the ground as we walk.
‘Corns can appear on toes but usually develop along the bottom of the foot or on the outside over a bony prominence,’ says Byrne. ‘They occur when the body builds up a layer of hard skin to protect the foot from external forces.
‘That hard skin develops into another layer of hard skin, until you develop a painful round, hard cluster of skin cells.’
They should only be removed by a podiatrist, with a scalpel, she says. ‘Corn pads you buy over the counter which contain salicylic acid don’t work — they simply soften the corn and the minute you take them off it becomes hard and painful again.’
Thankfully for Sam, she doesn’t appear to have calluses. These are caused by the same
friction as corns but are larger and tend to form beneath toes.
DRY, FLAKY SKIN
The skin on Sam’s feet looks dry and has a pale, blotchy hue.
‘She’s been walking her feet off campaigning and under those circumstances most of us would have feet like that,’ says Julie Speed, director of the International Beauty & holistic Academy (IBhA), a training school for beauticians.
‘It doesn’t help she’s not wearing anything inside her shoes to protect her feet. When feet perspire they lose moisture, making them prone to blisters. A sock would have protected Sam’s feet and been acceptable to wear indoors.’
YELLOW NAILS
YelloW, hard and unkempt, they look more like Nigel Farage’s nicotine-stained fingers than the toenails of an elegant first lady.
The yellowish tinge could be a warning sign that a fungal infection has taken hold, which causes the nail to become discoloured, thickened and distorted.
This, say experts, is becoming increasingly common among those with a penchant for regular professional pedicures.
Certain techniques can raise the risk of fungal infections; these include the use of acrylic tips in which nail technicians glue on a false nail tip and paint over it and the nail with an acrylic solution. If bacteria and fungus are allowed to enter the gap between the acrylic and natural nail, an infection can quickly take hold.
‘Fungal infections are also a common result of unsterilised manicure tools,’ says Speed. ‘Before you visit a salon, look out for the standard of hygiene. Make sure the nail salon is insured.’
Byrne says once you have caught a fungal infection in a toenail, it’s very difficult to treat.
‘The type of fungus that flourishes in a toenail seems to affect the root of the nail, which means it will keep growing,’ says Byrne. ‘There is no over-the-counter remedy I know of that can get rid of it.’
Anti-fungal medicines can be obtained from your GP but may have side-effects. Consult your GP first.
In Sam’s case, those yellowy tinged nails are more likely to be the result of nail varnish staining, when the pigment from darker varnish infiltrates the nail plate.
‘This is a typical consequence of wearing red or dark pink nail varnish without a base coat underneath,’ says Speed, adding: ‘her toenails also look like they could do with a tiny trim.’
leaving nails too long will put you at risk of developing an ingrown toenail, which, in severe cases, will have to be removed by a foot specialist under local anaesthetic.
BONY GROWTH
The lump at the bottom of Sam’s big toe on her right foot is most likely a condition called osteophytic lipping, which is an extra layer of bone built up after years of irritation caused by narrow shoes or high heels.
This can only be corrected with surgery to shave off the bone protrusion — and high heels are to blame. ‘No podiatrist worth their salt would say high heels are good for you,’ says Byrne. Shoes should have a small lift — between one to two inches — to help the foot absorb shock.
‘They put excess pressure and weight on knee joints, which can lead to osteoarthritis. They shorten the Achilles tendon and calf muscle. In extreme cases, I’ve seen women who find it hard to get their heel on the ground as the shortening’s so pronounced.’