Health & Beauty Tips For A Better Life

1. work the pumice-stone in circular movements around the damp heels and balls of your feet to slough away the dead, hard skin. Work lightly over any hard skin on tips of the toes, without scraping the nails themselves.

2. With an orange stick wrapped in damp cotton wool, ease back the cuticles and clean around the nails as with the manicure mentioned above. Rinse feet and dry briskly with the rough side of a towel. Message gently in between the toes, drying thoroughly.

3. Check the length of the nails every three weeks or so, They should be no longer-or shorter -than just covering the tip of the too beneath. Clip them straight across with the nail clippers. (Do not shape the sides as this encourages ingrowing toenails.) Smooth the edges with the fine side of an emery board so that there are no jagged edges to snag tights or cause tears.

4. Squeeze a walnut-sized blob of hand cream or body lotion into the palm of your hand then massage it over each foot, treating each toe individually. Firmly stroke the feet between both hands from toes up onto your ankles several times to boost circulation and soothe aches.

5. Remove grease from the toes with a cotton-wool bud soaked in water or polish remover, then apply nail polish, making sure the toes are well separated by firm pads of cotton wool.

Corns or callouses : A corn is a build-up of hard skin which forms a buffer against constant friction. It is not live, and the core is not a root-simply the hardest part of an area of hard skin. Corn plasters are not generally held to be a good idea. Although they soften the corn itself, they may also burn the healthy surrounding skin causing a painful infected area. A chiropodist is the best person to treat the corn. Meanwhile ease the friction by wearing a corn pad which will cushion the area. And leave off the shoes which caused the corn!

In-growing nails : These are sometimes caused by too small footwear forcing the nail into the fleshy padding of the toe itself, although sometimes, due to the natural shape of the nail in proportion to the toe, the flesh can overwhelm the nail. Never cut down sides of the nail, or cut the nail too near the ‘quick’.

You can relieve the pain and try to encourage the nail to grow straight by tucking a small amount of cotton wool under the nail at the sides. But again a chiropodist is the best person for expert treatment.