Common Ill in Your Foot

American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA) wrote in their website that the human foot is a biological masterpiece. It  is complex, containing within its relatively small size 26 bones (the two feet contain a quarter of all the bones in the body), 33 joints, and a network of more than 100 tendons, muscles, and ligaments, to say nothing of blood vessels and nerves. However, many people ignore to take care of their foot even though there is an important relationship between foot health and overall health.

In order to keep your feet healthy, you should be familiar with the most common ills that affect them. Remember, though, that self-treatment can often turn a minor problem into a major one and is generally not advisable. It is suggested to see a podiatric physician when any of the following conditions occur or persist.


Athlete’s foot is a skin disease, usually starting between the toes or on the bottom of the feet, which can spread to other parts of the body. It is caused by a fungus that commonly attacks the feet, because the wearing of shoes and hosiery fosters fungus growth. The signs of athlete’s foot are dry scaly skin, itching, inflammation, and blisters. You can help prevent infection by washing your feet daily with soap and warm water; drying carefully, especially between the toes; and changing shoes and hose regularly to decrease moisture. Athlete’s foot is not the only infection, fungal or otherwise, which afflicts the foot, and other dry skin/dermatitis conditions can be good reasons to see a doctor of podiatric medicine if a suspicious condition persists.

Blisters are caused by skin friction. Don’t pop them. Apply moleskin or an adhesive bandage over a blister, and leave it on until it falls off naturally in the bath or shower. Keep your feet dry and always wear socks as a cushion between your feet and shoes. If a blister breaks on its own, wash the area, apply an antiseptic, and cover with a sterile bandage.

Bunions are misaligned big toe joints which can become swollen and tender. The deformity causes the first joint of the big toe to slant outward, and the big toe to angle toward the other toes. Bunions tend to run in families, but the tendency can be aggravated by shoes that are too narrow in the forefoot and toe. There are conservative and preventive steps that can minimize the discomfort of a bunion, but surgery is frequently recommended to correct the problem.

Corns and calluses are protective layers of compacted, dead skin cells. They are caused by repeated friction and pressure from skin rubbing against bony areas or against an irregularity in a shoe. Corns ordinarily form on the toes and calluses on the soles of the feet. The friction and pressure can burn or otherwise be painful and may be relieved by moleskin or padding on the affected areas. Never cut corns or calluses with any instrument, and never apply home remedies, except under a podiatrist’s instructions.

Foot odor results from excessive perspiration from the more than 250,000 sweat glands in the foot. Daily hygiene is essential. Change your shoes daily to let each pair air out, and change your socks, perhaps even more frequently than daily. Foot powders and antiperspirants, and soaking your feet in vinegar and water, can help lessen odor.

Hammertoe is a condition in which any of the toes are bent in a claw-like position. It occurs most frequently with the second toe, often when a bunion slants the big toe toward and under it, but any of the other three smaller toes can be affected. Although the condition usually stems from muscle imbalance, it is often aggravated by ill-fitting shoes or socks that cramp the toes. Avoid pressure on the toes as much as possible. Surgery may be necessary to realign the toes to their proper position.

Heel pain can generally be traced to faulty biomechanics which place too much stress on the heel bone, ligaments, or nerves in the area. Stress could result while walking or jumping on hard surfaces, or from poorly made footwear. Overweight is also a major contributing factor. Some general health conditions—arthritis, gout, and circulatory problems, for example—also cause heel pain.

Heel spurs are growths of bone on the underside of the heel bone. They can occur without pain; pain may result when inflammation develops at the point where the spur forms. Both heel pain and heel spurs are often associated with plantar fasciitis, an inflammation of the long band of connective tissue running from the heel to the ball of the foot. Treatments may range from exercise and custom-made orthotics to anti-inflammatory medication or cortisone injections.

Ingrown nails are nails whose corners or sides dig painfully into the skin, often causing infection. They are frequently caused by improper nail trimming but also by shoe pressure, injury, fungus infection, heredity, and poor foot structure. Toenails should be trimmed straight across, slightly longer than the end of the toe, with toenail clippers. If the ingrown portion of the nail is painful or infected, your podiatric physician may remove the affected portion; if the condition reoccurs frequently, your podiatrist may permanently remove the nail.

Neuromas are enlarged, benign growths of nerves, most commonly between the third and fourth toes. They are caused by bones and other tissue rubbing against and irritating the nerves. Abnormal bone structure or pressure from ill-fitting shoes also can create the condition, which can result in pain, burning, tingling, or numbness between the toes and in the ball of the foot. Conservative treatment can include padding, taping, orthotic devices, and cortisone injections, but surgical removal of the growth is sometimes necessary.

Warts are caused by a virus, which enters the skin through small cuts and infects the skin. Children, especially teenagers, tend to be more susceptible to warts than adults. Most warts are harmless and benign, even though painful and unsightly. Warts often come from walking barefooted on dirty surfaces or littered ground. There are several simple procedures which your podiatric physician might use to remove warts.

Source: APMA

Effect of Crossing Legs on Blood Pressure

A research in  Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands studied the effect of crossing of the legs at the knee or at the ankles in sitting position on blood pressure. The results published in Blood Pressure Monitoring in 2007 showed that:

• Leg crossing at the knee during blood pressure measurement increased systolic blood pressure significantly by 6.7 mmHg in the hypertensives and 7.9 mmHg in the treated diabetics. 
• Diastolic blood pressure increased by 2.3 mmHg in the hypertensives and 1.7 mmHg for the treated diabetics.
• Normotensive participants showed a smaller, though significant, increase of systolic blood pressure 2.7 mmHg, but not significant for diastolic blood pressure, -0.1 mmHg, respectively. 
• In all groups there was no effect of crossing the ankles on blood pressure. 
• No differences were found between men and women. 
• No significant correlation between the increase of the blood pressure when the knees were crossed and BMI, age or baseline blood pressure was present.

They summarized that blood pressure increased when legs were crossed at the knee in the sitting position. No significant increase of blood pressure was found when crossing the legs at the ankles. Leg position during measurement of blood pressure should be standardized and mentioned in publications.

This studied investigate one hundred and eleven patients, 60 women, mean age 52+/-17 years (19-80): 49 chronically treated hypertensives, 28 treated diabetics and 34 normotensives.

Source: Blood Pressure Monitoring, 2007 Jun;12(3):189-93.

Different Type of Shoes

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: makeupandbeauty

Women's International Shoe Size Conversion Chart

Source: palmershoes

Quick Exercise for Busy Moms

The importance of sport is no denying anymore. But for women with babies or small kids or even working mothers, finding time to exercise can be challenging. Instead of doing exercise, finding moment to relax is sometime difficult. In fact, every household activities can be a useful form of fitness training.

Break time exercises
Basically to get the maximum benefit in the exercise, you need a minimum of 30 minutes per day. However, the "quota" of this exercise can be done in three parts, each for 10 minutes. Begin the first exercise for 10 minutes upon awakening. Continue to the second session after lunch, and the final 10 minutes after dinner. You could involve kids and husband to do this.

You could try mini-circuit training routine to help you tighten up some common problem areas (i.e. the hips, thighs, buns, upper body and abdomen). The goal of this routine is to keep your heart rate elevated, which helps burn more calories and tones the whole body.

As published in thedietchannel, the busy mom routine consists of 4 exercises. Perform one set of 10-15 reps before moving on to the next exercise. After completing all four exercises once, repeat the circuit again two more times, totaling three circuits. This workout should approximately take no longer than 10 minutes to complete. To get started, march in place or go for a small walk with your little one around the park to ensure your body is warm before starting your circuit.

1.   Curtsy lunge with lateral lift stabilizes your standing posture
Stand with feet hip-width apart, knees relaxed, and hands on the hips. Pull abs in, spine in a neutral position with the shoulders pulled down and chest lifted. Extending right leg out to the side, supporting leg is slightly bent with foot pointing forward. Step right leg diagonally behind the body, hips and torso stay facing forward, right heel is lifted. Both knees are bent in a lunge position; weight is centered over the supporting thigh. Extend both legs and swing right leg out to the side, balancing on the left leg. The moving leg should be slightly internally rotated at the hip causing you to lead the motion with the heel.
Repeat this motion up to 15 times then proceed to the next leg. Muscle focus: targets glutes, quads, hamstrings and abs for standing stabilization

2.   Single leg lunge swings
Feet together, knees relaxed, abs pulled in with shoulders relaxed and chest lifted. Take a large step forward with the right leg. Bend both knees, keep right knee inline with ankle and left knee pointing down to the floor. Hold the lunge, contracting the abs for balance, maintaining a neutral spine and push the swing forward with your arms and chest. Push off right front foot and thigh and bring feet back together, repeat alternating legs. Muscle focus: targets glutes, quads, hamstrings, chest, arms, shoulders and abs

3. Flamingo pick ups
Stand tall with your right leg extended behind the body, arms on hips. Exhale as you contract your abs and hinge forward from the hips, maintaining pelvis square to the front. Simultaneously lift the back leg to a T-position body parallel to the floor. Hold this position for a count of 5, to make this exercise more challenging reach your left hand forward pretending to pick up something off the ground. Return back to T-position with both hands on hips. Contract the glutes and hamstrings; hinge the body back to start position. Muscle Focus: Targets glutes, hamstrings and abs. Modifications: hold a chair or the wall for support if you have poor balance.

4.   Ab planks work the whole body
Place your hands on top of a step or climbing frame, placing you on an incline. Your hands should be directly underneath the shoulders. Move feet back and extend the body into a plank position, abs are contracted to keep torso supported. Exhale; draw your right knee to chest without moving the upper body. Inhale swing the leg back maintaining the pelvis square to the floor, contracting the glutes and hamstrings. Muscle focus: Works the whole body all at the same time! Targets chest, shoulders, arms, abs, glutes and hamstrings. Tip: While performing this exercise imagine you’re pushing away from the floor contacting your lats and upper back muscles which stabilize your shoulder girdle. Your core is tight without any movement as you move the leg. Modifications: Lower supporting knee to the ground and gradually lift the knee off the floor as you get stronger. Eventually you can extend the body out in to full plank.

Source: thedietchannel

Washing Face at Night Decreases Damaging Skin

Make-up that stays on your face before going to bed will cause irritation to the skin because it can get into the skin pores and concentrated. A survey study by the British Skin Foundation has reported that 50% of people who wear make up in the UK are damaging their skin by not removing their make up before going to bed. The report revealed that 64% of non-washers are too tired to take it off, 43% have had too much to drink and 26% did not care. It certainly makes them look older than their age.


It's suggested to use a gentle, soap-free cleanser or makeup remover to reduce skin irritation. When washing, use warm or cool water or a tissue rather than a washcloth, which can be too harsh. Extreme water temperature can irritate skin further.



Facial wash should be your daily routine before going to bed. It won't take long time, but if you maintain to do this activity every night, you'll get the good result later. 


Sources: skininc, findarticles