Foot Care Tips

Good foot care requires common sense and an understanding of what to look for.

• Every day wash your feet gently in lukewarm water to avoid injury to the skin.
• Check the temperature of the water with your wrist or elbow before putting your feet in. This can prevent burns from water that is too hot.
• Never soak your foot for more than 10 minutes to avoid excessive dryness of the skin.
• Pat, do not rub, your foot dry. Be especially careful to dry between and under the toes otherwise the skin may break down allowing bacteria to enter.
• Use a soft towel.
• For dry skin, use a lanolin cream sparingly. For moist skin, dust lightly with talcum powder. Remove excess lotion or powder from between the toes to avoid skin breakdown.
• Check around the nails, between and under the toes, and the bottom and top of the foot for cuts, cracks, swelling, bruises, blisters, temperature changes, i.e. hot spots, tenderness and color changes (red, white or blue).
• Use a hand mirror or have someone help you check your feet.
• Check feet daily in good light to control problems early.
• If you find a minor injury, wash it with soapy water and cover it with a dry dressing. Change the dressing and check the injury daily. Do not use Iodine or strong antiseptics. They can be irritating to the skin and the colour of the iodine may hide any signs of infection (redness) that may occur.
• Contact your doctor immediately if any part of your foot or leg turns dark blue or black in colour or in an injury does not heal or becomes infected. An injury that is infected may be painful, red, swollen, hot, and my ooze pus.
• If you develop corns or callouses, soften them by soaking your feet daily in lukewarm water for 10 minutes. Then rub your corns or callouses gently for a few minutes with a pumice stone to remove the dead skin.
• If your corns or callouses are a particular problem, or if you have thick, cracked, or deformed nails, consult your doctor or a foot doctor (podiatrist).
• If your toe-mails are thin and soft, cut them with a nail clipper or scissors, after a bath. The bath will help to soften your toe-nails.
• Make sure that there is plenty of light so that you can clearly see what you are doing.
• Always cut your toe-nails straight across and never shorter than the end of the toe.

Foot Care Tips

• File any rough edges of the nail with an emery board, not a metal nail file.
• Don’t walk barefoot.
• Wear comfortable well fitting shoes or slippers with a sole.
• Don’t wear shoes or slippers with torn or rough linings or bare seams.
• Wear clean socks and hose changing them daily.
• Wear only wool or cotton socks and make sure that they fit well.
• Don’t wear socks with holes or socks that have been darned. 

Dignity Home Care provides professional foot care/foot massage services to seniors in BC. Please contact us at 604-569-0505.