This is wonderful advice Terry. You are a gem!
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I also lube my entire feet and calves up to my knee. Doing so enables me to really check out the condition of my skin. The moisturizing CeraVe mentioned in the post is really good for me. The moisturizer -applying process forces me to check all places including between the toes. Before I started using moisturizer I was checking my feet quickly and missing areas since I wasnāt attempting to cover all areas. Now days, this nightly and sometime 2x per day ritual is something I look forward to doing. PS. despite the sign on my PCPās wall, I have to remind him to check my feet and he does so with little enthusiasm.
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Alright I just need some general life adviceā¦ and this category seems as fitting as any otherāā
Since I moved to the desert my feet have really been bothering me for the first time everā¦ calloused, dry, crackedā¦ skin painful in every wayā¦ (I donāt think itās diabetes related). Iāve been putting bag balm, Aquaphor, etc on them and itās helping very little. Whatās the protocol on a man getting a pedicure? Would that possibly be helpful? Iāve walked passed a couple shops that do that and surprisingly to me, around here it seems men are a large portion of their clienteleā¦ not to judge by appearances but in my estimation it seems men who I might assume are farm workers and therefore have a lot of wear and tearā¦
I would feel really weird calling a salon and scheduling a pedicureā¦ as a man thatās just not something thatās ever been in my vocabulary beforeā¦
Like you, I felt weird thinking about going to a shop for a pedicure. For many years, I visited a podiatrist regularly for a foot exam and clipping my toenails. When I moved, I booked an appointment with a new podiatrist and she declined to see me on a regular basis to examine my feet and clip my toenails.
I think Medicare (my current insurance) frowns on paying for clipping toenails. I decided to start clipping my own toenails but with my diminishing eyesight, I felt vulnerable to injuring myself.
I started to see a physical therapist for plantar fasciitis rehab and wanted my toenails groomed well. I decided to go to a salon for a pedicure. It involved a hot water foot soak along with trimming toenails. They also used some lotions to massage into my feet.
I canāt make much of a judgment of how well their lotion worked but a single application is hard to assess. I found the foot creme that includes salicylic acid (aspirin) softens the skin on my heels and big toes where I tend to build up calluses otherwise. I use this treatment every day and my skin stays soft and moistened.
With Covid-19 circulating I decided to cut out pedicures at a salon and returned to doing it myself. I donāt think that is ideal for me but will do for now. I will likely return for a pedicure at a salon when a vaccine arrives but mostly for toenail maintenance, not the moisturizing treatments.
Men using a pedicure salon does go against the cultural status quo but this is how cultures change over time. Good diabetes care demands that we pay regular attention to our feet. Using a pedicure salon for toenail clipping and other foot care seems a pragmatic choice for men, especially diabetic men.
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Thanks terryā¦ the thought of someone clipping my toenails seems offputting to me for some reasonā¦ it is my main hope that theyād be able to do a lot better job than I can shaving the callouses down to healthy tissue again to where I could have a chance at keeping them at bay at least for a whileā¦
What cream with saycilic acid do you use?
I use the CeraVe SA Cream. I had been using the Foot Cream, same brand, but for some reason it became unavailable. Yeah, callouses can develop into trouble.
Dr. Bernstein recommends a daily foot ointment. I think he advises mink oil.
Thanks again. Iāll pick up some of that product when I get chance to. Iād been using daily ointment (bag balm, aquaphor, or generic equivalents) and it is hard to maintainā¦ makes a greasy messā¦ donāt want to walk on carpet after using, etcā¦ I picked up some oākeefeās brand foot lotion today both their ādayā and ābedtimeā formulas and thus far they seem promising because less messy
Holy crap just looked up crave sa. $20+ on amazon. Do you really get what you pay for in this case?
The CeraVe creme with salicylic acid works for me when bag balm and a few others I tried did not. Iām not a very discriminating consumer these days based on price. The last tub of creme I bought looks like it will last six months to a year.
Dr. Bernstein also lists olive oil, emu oil, mink oil and coconut oil as foot lubricants. I used coconut oil for a few weeks recently as I ran out of the CeraVe product. It didnāt produce the same results so I resupplied with the salicylic cream.
Youāll find something suitable; the important thing is realizing that dry skin on the feet needs treatment as we age or we subject ourselves to a high risk of infection and a litany of woes.
I thought this information might be informative:
Salicylic acid as a medication is used most commonly to help remove the outer layer of the skin. I use Gold Bond, lucky my husband can cut my nails.nancy50
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I bought some gold bond rough and bumpy skin cream which contains SA and urea both of which are supposedly helpful for removing dead hardened skinā¦
@Terry4 do you put on socks after applying? Do you find itās harmful to floors or furniture? One of my nicest pieces of furniture is my coffee table which I always tend to put my feet up on so Iām concerned all these acidic creams might tend to damage the finishā¦
I wear slippers, I use a cloth hassock. No coffee table.
Nancy Matulis
ACBMaine
Member
My typical routine is to apply the foot creme after my shower and I usually then put on socks and shoes or slippers. I donāt know if it damages floors or furniture. I suppose you could apply some foot cream on an inconspicuous small surface to see what effect, if any, it might create. Good luck with your new regimen.
@Sam19, @Terry4 and all ā¦ my father had āhisā seat at the kitchen table. The home/kitchen I am speaking of, my parents lived in for about 30 years. We werenāt a family who regularly took their shoes off at the door or anything like that (side-bar says we should have!), but in the mornings, and sometimes in the evenings, my father would be bare-foot, in āhisā seat at the kitchen table.
It was about 15 or so years in, we noticed an irregular pattern where his feet would be; no one elses area appeared as his did, but we also werenāt bare-footed. The linoleum was discolored and obviously different from the rest of the floor. We tried to scrub it out, to no avail, even stripping and rewaxing didnāt help.
I wasnāt aware he did anything, lotion-wise, to his feet. It was his natural oils which did the not-so-much-magic, magic.
I think the best option, to protect the surface, would be to place a nice, but sturdy pad, on the coffee table, prior to putting your feet on it. You could keep the pad under a couch cushion or some place similar when it isnāt in use.
Or, as another resort, my parents had plate glass tops for nearly all of their furniture (end tables, coffee tables, dressers,ā¦)