The daily routine
Water running over your feet in the shower is not washing. Use soap, including between the toes, and then dry those gaps thoroughly, because fungus grows where skin stays damp. Rub a fragrance-free moisturizer into the heels and soles but not between the toes. A cream that contains urea softens cracked heels within a couple of weeks. Socks made of merino wool or a synthetic blend move sweat away from the skin, while cotton holds it there. Shoes need about 24 hours to dry out, so alternate pairs.
Toenails
Cut toenails straight across with a large clipper, leave them roughly even with the tip of the toe, and smooth the corners with a file instead of rounding them. Nails that are cut short and curved are the usual cause of an ingrown nail. Trim after a shower, when the nail is soft. An early ingrown nail often settles with warm soaks of fifteen minutes, two or three times a day, and roomy shoes. Redness that spreads, swelling or pus means a doctor or a podiatrist, not bathroom surgery. Anyone with diabetes should check both feet daily and leave every sore, corn and ingrown nail to a clinician.
Common problems
- Athlete's foot is an itchy, peeling rash that usually starts between the toes. Use a drugstore antifungal cream such as terbinafine or clotrimazole for the full period stated on the label, even after the skin looks normal, and wear sandals in gym showers.
- Toenail fungus turns nails thick, yellow and crumbly. Drugstore products rarely clear it, and prescription treatment takes many months because toenails grow slowly.
- A blister should be left intact as its own sterile dressing, and covered with a bandage or a ring of moleskin that takes the pressure off it.
- Corns and calluses are the skin's response to pressure. Soak, rub gently with a pumice stone, never cut them, and fix the shoe that causes them.
Shoes that fit
Shop for shoes late in the day, when your feet are at their largest, and have both feet measured, since feet keep spreading through adulthood. Fit the larger foot. Leave a thumb's width between your longest toe and the end of the shoe, and make sure your toes can spread. A shoe that hurts in the store will hurt at home. Running shoes lose their cushioning after 300 to 500 miles.
Tip If athlete's foot keeps returning, put your socks on before your underwear, which keeps the fungus from traveling to the groin.
