Foot care

[Bluebells84]

I feel so embarrassed about this, but I’m sure I’m not alone! My feel are super dry and crack. I do file and moisturise them and bought an electric pedicure file which is amazing. I also have some nails which have fungal infections. I’ve been treating them for around a year on and off and there has been improvement in several nail, but not others.

Does anyone have any advice or experience on foot care? I don’t want to pay to see someone, I want to manage it myself. I don’t have any medical issues such as diabetes.

And also, how many people suffer from this? Please no judgement, I’ve been going through a very challenging time in life for the last few years but feel ready to tackle this issue now and not feel embarrassed about wearing sandals again!

For the cracking skin, I found Scholl Cracked Heel Repair Cream to be very good. Fairly slathered it on at night, then cotton socks on top to ensure I was treating my feet and not the sheets. No experience with fungal infections though, sorry.

What do you moisturise with? Best thing to get is a tub of petroleum jelly, use a generous amount on your feet and cover with cotton socks overnight. Just be warned that the petroleum jelly will build up in the socks and could be flammable near flames or tumble drier.

Proper cracked heel cream is the right stuff to use - scholl or flexitol. Something with urea in it. Not Vaseline or petroleum jelly etc. The urea is what works. It’s amazing.

I get the same thing OP. Also a couple of fungal nails. They tend to start looking better and I get complacent then they come back. Tbh I just use nail varnish over the top for the few weeks a year they are on show (on holiday somewhere when swimming) and keep closed toe shoes on nearly all the rest of the time. It’s miserable.

I've been using Aveeno cream on my feet every second day since a nasty bout of athlete's foot last year.
Aveeno is very gentle, it was all my mum could use on her skin in the last stages of her cancer, bless her.

Ureka footcare cream
Get the one with tea tree oil in it

Thanks all. I have eczema so moisturise frequently with aveeno - also the only thing I can use really, it’s the only thing that makes my skin feel comfortable and ‘normal’. I also use flexitol for the cracks which is really good and wear cotton socks when I’ve moisturised my feet.

I’ve probably made this sounds much worse than it is to be fair, it’s just getting me down a bit and like I’m the only person to struggle with rough, dry feet, but I know that’s rubbish! I’ve used the file this evening followed by a moisturising foot pack for an hour, so that’s made a huge difference. Just need to get something good to treat the nails now.

Scholl fungal nail treatment worked really well on my fungal toenail.

I have terrible nails since having my children and nothing seems to work so I have them filed away and have acrylic over them... my biggest secret 🙈

For dry skin, I use keefs dry feet cream 3 times a day- always put it on after a shower or bath and before bed!

But top tip- lansinoh nipple cream slathered on overnight is a quick fix!!

I heard vicks works well on nail fungal issues.

Do you get eczema elsewhere on your body? My elder son is a GP and says my hard skin on my feet is a manifestation of my eczema. We should be putting a steroid on it apparently.

Is this when you're wearing sandals that they become dry and cracked? Try to avoid wearing them all the time or else, your skin will need treating all the time. Mine get like this in the summer when my tootsies yearn for fresh air, but moisturising them every night and filing them alternate days seemed like too much effort for me.

I use the cracked heel cream from Home Bargains and it’s been just as good as the expensive equivalents.

Nails, though, 9 of my toenails are thick, dark yellow, ridged, twisted, and grow rather like a dog’s claw. I can only clip chunks off them when they’re soft after a soak. The nail on one big toe is ingrowing and it’s a matter of digging down the sides with small clippers.

I’m 68 and they’ve always been hideous. I’ve tried every product sold at Boots and Superdrug, tea tree and lemongrass oils, Vick’s vapour rub, hydrogen peroxide, over more than 20 years nothing has made the slightest difference. I can’t stand anyone touching my feet so it is what it is… ugly.

The middle nail on my right foot is, and always has been, entirely normal.

My routine - the podiatrist couldn't find any hard skin to remove

Every time I shower I use exfoliating gloves with soap, then twice a week a body/foot scrub all over them
About 1-2 times a week I will use a microplane foot file on hard skin before I shower
Every night I moisturise with a urea based foot cream just before bed