Many diseases and foot problems can be prevented through healthy personal hygiene, combined with adequate and proper care of your feet.
Healthy foot hygiene practices include not only washing your feet but also cutting/trimming your toenails and wearing well-fitting, protective footwear.
The following are ways one can protect their feet:
- – Wash your feet every day and thoroughly dry them.
- – Cut and trim your toenails short and keep them clean always.
- – If you’re one that that uses sock everyday do not repeat a sock.
- – Check your feet regularly for cuts, sores, swelling, dryness, and infected toenails and apply treatment as needed.
- – When visiting a pedicurist, go for one that is hygienics and licensed by your state’s cosmetology board. Make sure the salon sterilizes instruments after each use (such as nail clippers, scissors, and other tools).
Foot hygiene is key to promoting good health. Believe it or not the feet is also as delicate at the armpit, if not properly taken care of brings about several discomfort and health challenge, leaving you with a stench.
Here are some foot-related conditions that are directly related to hygiene:
Athlete’s foot; also known as tinea pedis, is an infection of the skin and feet that can be caused by a variety of fungi that thrive in warm, dark, and moist environments.
It is a fungal skin infection that usually begins between the toes. It commonly occurs when one sweats in tight-fitted shoes.
Although tinea pedis can affect any part of the foot, the infection most often affects the space between the toes. Good hygiene practices, like keeping your feet and toes clean and dry, changing your shoes and socks regularly and keeping them clean and dry always can help prevent or control tinea pedis.
Fungal nail infections; also known as “onychomycosis are common infections of the fingernails or toenails that can cause the nail to become discolored, thick, and more likely to crack and break.
Small cracks in your nail or the surrounding skin can allow these germs to enter your nail and cause an infection.
Hookworm; is a parasitic worm also known as helminth. Globally, it is one of the most common roundworms found in humans. Hookworm infection is most common in resource-limited settings with poor access to water, sanitation, and proper hygiene.
The best way to avoid hookworm infection is to avoid walking barefoot in areas where hookworm is common and where the soil may be contaminated by human feces.
