Help me sort my feet please.

[Lizthefizzy]

My feet are shameful and I don't want to spend another summer hiding them. I want to wear some pretty sandles instead of staying in ballet pumps.

I really, really hate people touching my feet and when I've braved pedicures in the past, the results haven't been any different to the results I get at home so they haven't been worth the discomfort. I'm also not sure anyone would touch them right now anyway because of the risk of contamination.

Issue 1: Half my toes have fungal nail infections. I've been trying to treat them unsuccessfully for years. I don't wear nail polish (I've had reactions in the past and don't want to risk even the less toxic "free from" ranges) so can't hide them.

Issue 2: I am prone to hard rough skin. I take care to look after my feet as the skin splits very easily. So I use a micro-pedi regularly and moisturise pretty much every night. However, even though my feet feel soft and smooth, they still look like hooves. They always have that white line that looks like calloused/rough skin on my heel and I often have it down the side of the ball of my foot. I always look like I need a pedicure. I wear socks/slippers in the house and vary my shoes.

What can I do to make my feet look like I do look after them? I guess the nails are tough but what about the hoof effect?

See a doctor or chiropodist about the fungal nails.
Hard skin can be initially dealt with by chiropodist then maintenance regular pedicures (once fungal is gone) with peels.
Use an aha lotion or socks regularly and a foot cream with a high percentage of urea in it. Buff feet in the bath weekly.

Have you seen a doctor for treatment of the fungal nail infection? I'd be pushing for more aggressive treatment if you've been attempting at address the problem for years with no luck.

With the hard skin, I've always found that slathering on Vaseline and wearing thick socks at bedtime has done the trick.

I'd also recommend a medical pedicure with a specialist chiropodist (rather than a normal pedicure)

Good luck.

Once you've got the fungal infections sorted use Footner. The peeling is disgustingly fascinating and the results are fab.

Is there any history of diabetes OP? The reason I ask is that a colleague had similar issues with her feet and she was later diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I don't mean to scare but perhaps a health check up with your GP?
Other than that, could it be related to the type of shoes you wear? Maybe avoid synthetic and go for breathable uppers in natural materials.

I cured my fungal nail with neat thyme essential oil.

You need to see a chiropodist for a medical pedicure. They will have seen much worse believe me. Also they will know exactly how to help you.

Like Ofthread I use essential oils for fungal nail infections. Tea tree oil in my case. You can soak your foot in a solution with water or apply in a poultice/solution for those oils you can't use neat.

Obviously you need to be super careful not to reinfect yourself - boil wash socks, separate foot towels and bath mats after each use. A massive pain but it works!

Medication for fungal nails. And use religiously.
For feet, I advise my clients to use good old vaseline. Every night, with socks.

See a podiatrist, although you will have to pay for this as most NHS trusts will no longer refer you unless you are old or have an underlying medical condition. I finally bit the bullet a few weeks ago and paid £50 for 45 minutes with a podiatrist - it was the best money I'd paid in a long time. She completely sorted a painful ingrown toenail which I had been self-treating unsuccessfully for several years, removed a number of corns and gave me really useful advice about ongoing foot maintenance and the right shoes for my kind of feet.

When you treat the nail infections are you continuing using moisturiser? Could you be reinfecting yourself through this?

I had horrific fungal nails and the skin on my feet was so rough I could have sanded my skirting boards with them!
I used to really suffer in summer, my feet would get so hot and itchy.
I used to exfoliate and moisturise every day, and tried every over the counter and home remedy going on my nails.
Eventually I went to my GP who prescribed terbinafor. My nails started growing healthily really quickly, but took about 4 months to grow the fungus out completely.
The unexpected side effect was that the dry scaley skin cleared up too, so I think that it's possible that was caused by fungus too.

Thanks everyone.

For the fungal nail infections: I've used various over the counter treatments like the scholl paint on stuff. I've used neem oil. I'm currently using tea tree again. I've used very strong dettol... The GP told me it's something I'll have to put up with as I was unwilling at the time to take the tablets. I don't think I can take them now because of other meds I'm on. They aren't getting any worse and I've been treating the uninfected nails as well to make sure they don't infected. Do you think that is sonething a chropodist would be able to give different advice to my GP on?

For my feet, I've managed to find a routine that (mostly) keeps them soft and smooth. They just look awful and like they are rough. They're not though.

Honestly, the neat thyme oil was the only thing that worked for me.

I've not tried thyme oil. Do you have to use a base oil or can ypu use it neat?

Sounds nuts, but my dad sorted out a fungal nail infection years ago by putting honey on it. Also ask your GP about an iodine solution. It worked for me.

This was what I used https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0096R3ZDW/ref=mpssa113aa_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1519428288&sr=8-3&keywords=betadine&dpPl=1&dpID=51G9MULWfqL&ref=plSrch

Are you 100% sure its fungal infections in your toe nails and not psoriasis? DH has it in his toes and i know what you mean when you say it's not the prettiest! If you leave a toe nail clipping into your gp they send it off and tell you whether it's an infection - in which case they can prescribe the right treatment - or indeed psoriasis.

www.emedicinehealth.com/nail_psoriasis/article_em.htm#

An interesting "is it infection or psoriasis" guide!

For your hard skin I would try Lush Volcano. You slap it on your feet and wrap them in cling film. It works for my husband's scaly hobbity infantry feet.

Ignore your GP and see a decent private chiropodist (not an NHS one) and I guarantee they will sort you out. They really know their stuff.

PS I love the NHS it's just that when it comes to feet they are lacking somewhat.

This is the best stuff going for horrible callusy feet. Recommended by a podiatrist

www.dermatonics.co.uk/innovations/heel-balm/

Footner from Groupon for the hard skin. Emery boards and Vicks for the fungus. Use the footner and then constantly keep filing and rubbing in the Vicks and all will be well by summer.

You can take sporanex pulse for fungal nails, it's as effective as terbinafine but you have a week break.

It's worth asking the GP anyway if it's getting you down.

Antibacterials like dettoll will not kill fungus. If you destroy bacteria fungus can proliferate because bacteria inhibit fungal growth.

I wouldn't use footner if you are prone to cracks. Do you use foot cream with 25% urea? Both my Mum and I do and it has transformed our feet from painful cracked thick dry skin to soft gorgeous feet. I can hardly beliebe how great the transformation has been. We use different brands, I use flexitol and she uses CCS (recommended by her chiropodist).

Agree about speaking to a chiropodist about your fungal nails.