Simple Foot Care

Once upon a time, I had terrible feet! Not many people who know me today would believe it as I am a bit of a foot freak and take pride in my fantastically smooth feet!

My feet used to be disgusting!

For real, my feet were dry with a hard callus on each heel that had seriously deep cracks all over them. The skin under the calluses was red and so itchy. It was not only gross but extremely uncomfortable and sometimes even painful.

I tried everything I could think of; lotions, a pumice stone, a foot file, I even used to use razor blades to cut off layers of skin from my foot. Nothing worked and my torment went on for years. About fifteen years ago, I complained to a co-worker about my problem. She asked me if I walked around barefoot. Of course I did! I loved being barefoot and hated wearing shoes! Then she asked me if I walked around barefoot on carpet. Well yes, why would I wear shoes on my soft carpet?

She then explained to me that the fibers in the carpet were cutting my feet and causing all of my issues. I have not been able to find any information supporting this however, I am living proof that it might be true.

I stopped walking around my house barefoot, always wearing my shoes, slippers or socks. I also limited being barefoot in other situations as well. That combined with some special heel cream, and within a year my footsies were back to normal. I have over the past 15 years continued to be careful where I am barefoot at and especially keep my feet covered on carpet and my issues have not come back! It seems like a silly solution but, bare feet are not great for your carpet either as the oil from your skin will get into the carpet causing stain and wear to happen more quickly.

I only used the Profoot Heel Rescue Cream. It was the only product I found to heal that type of damage. It saddened me at first to not go barefoot as much as I wanted to however, now I am much more comfortable with protection on my feet.

So I went to the girl who was always barefoot to the girl who wore cool socks. It wasn't all that bad, I dedicated a twitter account to my socks and all sorts of people started sending me awesome free socks! I love fun socks but, I still miss the freedom of bare feet! You have to take the good with the bad I suppose.

I do not bathe in my shoes. I do not swim in my shoes either! (Unless of course I am at a beach with very sharp rocks!) Sand and grass feel great between the toes and there can be some good benefits to bare feet at the beach! The sand exfoliates your skin and walking barefoot in sand for a short amount of time is a great exercise to get your blood flowing.

I do not bathe in my shoes. I do not swim in my shoes either! (Unless of course I am at a beach with very sharp rocks!) Sand and grass feel great between the toes and there can be some good benefits to bare feet at the beach! The sand exfoliates your skin and walking barefoot in sand for a short amount of time is a great exercise to get your blood flowing.

If you want to get super depressed about the things that could happen to your feet from walking barefoot, check out this page... Walking Barefoot.

My best advice is to invest in some great slippers and fabulous socks. Go ahead and let your feet breathe as long as you check your surroundings as best as you can for critters and things that cut, but always check your entire foot afterwards. And finally try to stay off the carpet... for me, for your feet, and for your carpet!