Even though salons are back open in Houston, a lot of my patients are very wary about going to salons or anywhere because of their close proximity to the operators as well as the other clients. So they asked me…
How do they give themselves a healthy home pedicure?
And it's actually not that hard.
Soak Your Feet
You can start off by picking up a foot soak basin in your local pharmacy, some of them even vibrate and some of them heat it up the water. Fill it up with some nice warm water, add some Epsom salt or some bath salts to it and soak your feet for about 15 or 20 minutes or so.
Treat Your Calluses with a Pumice Stone
Then you want to take a pumice stone and work on any calluses you have. It's important not to use the sharper instruments that will actually go too deep into the callus and can start to cut into the healthy skin and draw blood. You want to stick with a nice pumice stone and you're pretty safe doing that.
Trim Your Nails Safely
After that, you can trim your nails. When you trim your nails, you want to ultimately trim them straight across. There are some exceptions. For instance, if you have a nail that's particularly curved, then you do want to round off the corners of the nail. But be careful not to cut too steeply into the side of the nail because that could lead to an ingrown toenail.
File Your Nails, But Don't Push Back Your Cuticles
Next you can file your nails and make sure they're not that sharp, very simply done with an emery board. What you don't want to do in a pedicure, unlike a manicure, is you don't want to push back the cuticles. I know they look better that way, but the cuticles are there to protect you and to protect you from fungus and bacteria and you want to keep them intact.
Moisturize Your Feet
Finally, you want to apply a good moisturizing cream. The over the counter moisturizing creams that I recommend are Cetaphil cream and Eucerin cream. We have creams here in the office that work great as well. But you want to use a cream more than you want a lotion, a cream is much more hydrating than a lotion.
And there you have it, those are your very simple steps to doing your own healthy home pedicure. I hope you enjoyed it. For more information visit our website at www.tanglewoodfootspecialists.com. If you're having any problem at all, give our office a call for an immediate appointment.
