Men! Look After Your Feet! No Discrimination Intended.
This is a post for all, but I’m probably aiming it more at men because women are already more likely to be doing this regularly than men, in general anyway. I myself wasn’t particularly open to the idea a year or so ago, but I am definitely a convert now. My partner / girlfriend has been going to the same lady for years to have her nails done (feet & hands) as well as facials and all sorts. I have gotten to know the lady and her husband quite well in recent years, and we all get on well. It never occurred to me that I might have any sort of pampering treatment myself. However, the act of trimming my own toenails has just been getting more and more difficult in recent years, and contorting myself into the required position to get both hands on the same foot at the same time often resulted in pain from my back as well as my toes if my aim with the clippers turned out to be less than good. In fact, I have made a right old mess of them on several occasions in the past. The thing is though, I am prediabetic as well. It’s not of a particular concern at the moment but the doctor / nurse at my GP Surgery always checks my feet whenever I’m there to make sure I haven’t lost any feeling in them, which apparently can happen and it’s a bad thing when it does. So, feet are particularly important for diabetics. My own feet, while so far not affected, could have been better looked after by me, especially my toe nails. So… I folded to a little bit of pressure and decided to have them done properly by the aforementioned lady. Her standard treatment was a proper good quality cut and shape, and obviously painted (nail varnish) for most ladies but I didn’t want them painted – surprise surprise – so instead of that I’m allowed a foot massage instead to make up for it, using proper foot lotion for the skin and everything, also including any removal of hard skin as well etc. After the whole thing was over, my feet looked pretty good, and felt a million dollars! In fact it felt as though I was walking on air!! I have stated this a few times since but my feet actually felt like they were the youngest bit of my whole body, and that’s after previously they were less than well cared for as I said. So now I go roughly every six weeks, give or take, and it’s worth every penny spent. To further highlight it, on my last visit to the GP Surgery when the nurse said she would check my feet as usual, she exclaimed “Your feet are in very good condition” as she started testing them, and she even repeated it again saying “They really are in good condition” which was nice to hear – and far far better than looking down at them and thinking that they could’ve been run over by the lawnmower! So… I would seriously recommend this to all the men out there who think that there’s no way they could see themselves having a pedicure. It’s totally worth it. I tell everyone now. Look after your feet.
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Excellent piece of writing @dj especially in the mention of being prediabetic. It’s essentially all such sufferers keep a close watch on their trotters ! I’m lucky in that my partner carefully clips them a couple of times a month but, if one doesn’t have a willing or able partner, its important for everyone to make regular visits to a chiropodist.
Really good blog. I get my nails done occasionally for vanity. Never thought of a healthy foot pamper. Way to go. 👏
dj, I am glad you finally got a foot treatment which is basic grooming for feet. It is also great that a nurse checks your feet. I have a pedicure kit and can do my own feet, but it is free on my senior medical plan to go to a foot doctor every 8 weeks so I went for a while and told everybody I knew that they could go for free, but nobody seemed to react in a positive way. I learned that foot doctors are in charge of feet below the knee and take blood flow and pressure to your feet. They cut toenails, grind away callouses and look for any growths or abnormalities on your feet. Cancer can appear on feet. Our doctors or nurses do not check my feet. Nobody has ever said that doctors or nurses check their feet. I do ask the medical helpers at my doctors office to check the blood pressure and blood flow to my feet. Spring is coming and I will make an appointment with the foot doctor which is an MD and very qualified to check my feet. Like you, some ingrown toenails got clipped and my feet felt totally free of a low level of pain which had become normal. Feet are prone to funguses especially for men who sweat and wear socks and closed shoes, so wearing sandals is a better idea and wearing gym shoes is even worse. My foot doctor has displays of shoes that can be purchased for free if the doctor thinks they are necessary. Wearing the ideal shoes is also very important for each person’t particular foot. So far my shoes and feet are okay and no special shoes are needed. Many people have arthritis in their feet and bunyons. I had arthritis that looked similar to a bunyon and I went to a foot surgeon who told me the best kind of shoes to wear and my feet arthritis has not progress and is okay. I see many women with feet gnarled and twisted in almost unreal ways, and probably got that way by wearing stylish shoes or the wrong size shoes, but I don’t know since I don’t feel it is right to ask, why are your feet so deformed. Since we are on the subject of feet, many people need to get really serious medical help here in the USA but usually do not. I will try to show some images. It seems that I don’t have an option here to post photos, so I will post photos in the Health and fitness group.If anything hurts or looks weird, get it checked by a doctor. If it is ugly, it is probably unhealthy. LOL on that.