Foot care - Tips and secrets
To do a pedicure at home, you will need:
- foot bath basin
- aromatic bath additives
- bath oils/salts
- nail scissors
- nail file
- pumice
- nail polish - optional
- creams/lotions
Foot care consists of 4 important steps:
- foot baths
- nail cutting
- removal of dead skin
- cosmetic foot skin care: peeling, masks, creams, lotions
Advice: Walk barefoot as often as possible!
Foot baths can have different effects:
- they relax, heal, refresh!
They improve well-being and even help with some diseases.
Find the right foot bath for you!
Cold or hot... with oils or with herbs... decide, choose!
I. Necessary items for a foot bath
- Aromatic bath additives
- Oils + emulsifier
- Bath
- Thermometer
II. What are the benefits of foot baths?
The benefits are not only for the legs, but rather for the whole body and even the state of mind.
Foot baths have an effect on the immune system, blood circulation, metabolism and nervous system.
III. What to pay attention to
1. Your goal— choose a bath based on your personal and physical needs.
If you have a medical reason to do a foot bath, you should follow your doctor's advice.
2. Check the water temperature.
Important:
– Warm foot bath between 36 and 38°C,
- hot between 39 and 41°C.
Depending on the duration of the bath and the temperature of the water, it will have different effects.
3. Use oils with emulsifiers for baths
Emulsifiers: milk, whey powder or cream.
The oils are mixed with an emulsifier, and essential oils can be added.
The oil and emulsifier mixture is then added to the foot bath.
4. Place for legs
Your legs need room.
When choosing a bath Make sure that both legs fit comfortably side by side. Only in this way can you completely relax.
5. After baths, feet should be thoroughly dried with a towel.
1. For care
For example, as preparation for a pedicure, since this way the skin softens and rough skin can be removed more easily.
To do this, the water temperature should not be too high (approx. 38°C).
Time: from 10 to 20 minutes.
2. Foot bath for medical reasons
Depending on the disease, foot baths with different temperatures water.
- Cold bath I am refreshing and then relaxing. It helps with vein disease.
- Against, warm foot baths increase general blood supply and warm.
- Baths with increasing temperature water warms the entire body and dilates blood vessels.
- Contrast baths train blood circulation and blood vessels.
At the same time a warm foot bath is repeatedly replaced by a cold one. This option helps against chronically cold feet and circulation problems. At the same time, the contrast bath strengthens the immune system.
Sage, lemon or salt? — What effect would you like to achieve with aromatic bath additives?
Depending on what products you use for a foot bath, its effect on the feet and the entire body is determined.
- Sage or oak bark help against foot sweat.
- Honey, milk or cream for foot skin care.
- Rosemary aromatic oil relieves muscle pain.
- Tired, overheated feet need a foot bath with sea salt. Salt cools and promotes secretion harmful substances through the soles of the feet.
V. When to avoid foot baths
If you have vein thrombosis, it is better to avoid foot baths.
Do not take any risks and consult your doctor.
VI. Choose foot baths
1. Foot baths for sweating
- with oak bark
Boil 2 liters of water. Add oak bark and boil until half the water has evaporated.
Let it cool and add a little thyme and a handful of eucalyptus leaves to the warm water. Mix everything well.
Leave for several hours, then strain.
Take baths in the morning and/or evening approximately 15 minutes each.
Products: 50 g oak bark, thyme, 20 g eucalyptus leaves, 2 l water
- with sage
Boil sage leaves with 1 liter of water.
Boil for about 5 minutes and let it brew.
Strain. Pour 2 tablespoons of vinegar into warm water.
Do baths 10 minutes.
Products: 30 g sage leaves, 1 liter of water, 1-2 tbsp. vinegar
- with mustard flour
Place mustard flour with cumin in cold water and boil. Cool to a pleasant temperature.
Do baths 15 minutes. Repeat regularly.
Note: This foot bath against foot sweat smells a little unpleasant. Nevertheless, it helps.
Products: 1 tbsp. mustard flour, 2 tbsp. cumin, 3 liters of water
This is a surefire miracle cure for foot odor and foot sweat.
Baking soda can be used against foot sweat in 2 different ways.
A/. Foot bath with baking soda:
- In the morning before putting on your shoes, or before playing sports, you can use a simple foot bath with baking soda.
Approximately 3 teaspoons powder baking soda mix with warm water.
Do baths 10 minutes.
Dry your feet, including between your toes, well.
b/. Baking soda powder in shoes:
- before putting on shoes, or also after wearing shoes, sprinkle baking soda powder into shoes.
It absorbs sweat and neutralizes odor.
Each time, shake out the old powder and use fresh one. Approximately 1 tsp soda for 1 sole.
- with olive oil
Pour warm water into a bowl.
Mix all products and add to water.
Do baths 15 minutes.
Then wash your feet with warm water and dry.
Products: 2 tbsp. olive oil, 1 cup lemon juice, 1/4 cup whole milk, 1 tbsp. honey
— with rosemary and lavender oils
Foot bath for stress: moisturizes the skin and improves blood circulation.
Mix all products and add to warm water.
No longer than 20 minutes.
Good to use before bed.
Products: 2 tbsp. whole milk, cream or whey powder, 3 drops each rosemary oil, juniper oil and lavender oil
— with thyme and sea salt
Helps against foot sweat.
Weigh the salt and mix with essential oils. Add the mixture to 3 liters of warm water.
Do baths from 10 to 15 minutes.
Products: 30 g sea salt, 3 drops oil tea tree, 2 drops juniper oil, 2 drops thyme oil
You can choose a foot bath for yourself, experimenting with additives like aloe juice, apple cider vinegar, aromatic oils etc.
for . Foot baths serve cleansing the feet, softening dead skin, preparing the feet for further procedures for such,
- — removal of dead skin (peeling)
- - cutting nails
- - foot skin care (masks, creams, compresses)
Follow the articles!
You should know that if you have fungus, ingrown toenails, warts and calluses, as well as people with diabetes, you should only use the services of a specialist!
It has long been proven that foot baths have beneficial effect for the entire human body. The temperature of our feet is several degrees lower than the temperature in armpit. In this regard, the water temperature during foot baths, close to 36°C, can work a miracle: it will restore microcirculation and metabolism in the tissues, give comfort to your feet and give a feeling of warmth and relaxation. This foot bath will relieve fatigue, pain and discomfort caused by long walking and tight shoes in 10-15 minutes.
Foot baths temperature conditions They can be warm and contrasting, in composition - simple or complex. A warm, warming foot bath, even used once, will help relieve headache and fatigue. IN winter time It will also be useful to do it during hypothermia. Pour water, the temperature of which is 36-37°C, into a deep basin and lower your legs into the prepared water up to 1/3 of the shin. To maintain the desired temperature, add hot water as the water cools. The duration is as follows medical procedure should be 15-20 minutes.
If your feet are very cold, sweaty, or you are familiar with the feeling of stiffness and heaviness in your lower limbs, Make a foot bath, gradually increasing its temperature. The legs should be in water up to half the shins, and additionally cover them with a blanket on top to give a thermal effect. Start with a temperature of about 37-38°C. Add hot water every 2-3 minutes. The final temperature should be no more than 42°C. This bath takes 10-12 minutes. Such a slow increase in water temperature contributes to the gradual expansion of not only small, but also large vessels. This leads to normalization of work cardiovascular system.
If you want to increase your vitality and immune system resistance, then you need to do contrasting foot baths. To carry them out you will need two containers: with hot and cool water. Alternately lower the legs for 50-60 seconds in hot water, and then for 20-30 seconds in cold water, and repeat this 4-5 times. It is important that contrast baths are used daily for 10 days, then take a break.
Foot baths bring the following healing effects to a person:
- refresh the skin of the feet, cleanse it of various microbes and fungal flora, thereby reducing the possibility of inflammatory diseases;
- improve the functioning of the circulatory system, relieve fatigue, cramps, painful sensations;
- increase the overall tone of the body, activate the work of the central nervous system, restore the tone of the autonomic nervous system.
When taking foot baths, it is necessary to immerse the feet up to the ankles, and sometimes gradually add water up to 1/3 of the shin.
Very high benefits for the body from baths with sea salt. Mineral-enriched sea salt draws out tissue excess liquid and stimulates the acceleration of metabolism, while cleansing the body of toxins. To prepare such a bath, you need to dilute 100-150 grams of sea salt in warm water and relax. After taking such a bath, you can shower your feet with a cold shower, while beneficial effect the procedure will intensify many times over.
In addition to pure salt baths, you can use baths at home with the addition of various herbs. At the same time, to thermal effect chemical exposure is also added. Modern direction in physiotherapy is the use of metals - metallotherapy. This direction is presented in the “Smart Salt” bath line with the addition of copper, iron, silver, gold and platinum metals. Each component of salt (salt itself, medicinal herb or metal) have certain healing effects on our body, and in combination with each other they have a calming, relaxing and restorative effect. By using foot baths, you will restore the normal state of the autonomic nervous system, local blood circulation, reflexively normalize the functioning of the cardiovascular system, and significantly improve the condition of the skin. Also get rid of the feeling of heaviness and fatigue. Using foot baths in courses, you will consolidate the results obtained for a long time.
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Hand and foot baths are used to affect the hands, feet and adjacent joints. For this purpose, at home they use an ordinary basin or bucket. The technique is very simple - the patient immerses the hand or foot in the prepared water, and, if necessary, the elbow joint or lower leg to the knee. Hand and foot baths are used hot (40-42°), warm (36-38°) and cold (10-12°); Their duration, depending on the indications, is from 5 to 30 minutes. To avoid muscle strain, you must follow correct position limbs, for example, when taking a foot bath, the leg should be immersed in water, slightly bent at the knee joint (for this, it is better to place a basin with water not on the floor, but on a small bench).
Indications for hand and foot baths very broad: hot and thermal baths are used for chronic diseases of small joints of the hands and feet, consequences of injuries and surgical interventions (stiffness of joints, scar changes). Warm baths are preferable to use in cases where a lighter, gentle effect is required (as determined by the doctor), and hot baths are preferable for older changes (scars, persistent stiffness of the joints), when a vigorous effect is needed.
Hot and warm baths usually used with long duration(20-30 min) in order to enhance blood circulation and absorbable effect.
Cold baths(10-12°) are indicated for acute inflammatory processes, fresh trauma (bruises, sprains, etc.) in the area of the hands and feet. Their duration is 5-10 minutes.
Hand and foot hot baths are also used for the purpose of distracting action: hand - for attacks of bronchial asthma, foot - for a rush of blood to the head, insomnia.
It is worthy of attention to use cool foot baths (30-28°) as a hardening agent, if you have a tendency to frequent colds(exacerbations chronic bronchitis, upper catarrh respiratory tract); for this purpose, the water temperature is gradually reduced to 20° during subsequent procedures.
The duration of hardening effects is 3-10 minutes, the course is 25-30 procedures.
Contrasting hand and foot baths can be successfully used to train peripheral blood circulation, in case of impaired vascular tone in the hands and feet (after frostbite, chills, accompanied by bluish discoloration of the skin) and in case of a tendency to vascular spasms, with pale skin and unpleasant sensations in the fingers.
To perform the procedure, pour into one bath hot water(40-42°), the other - cold (10-12°). First, the limb is immersed in hot water for 1-2 minutes (this results in dilation of the blood vessels with redness of the skin), then the same limb is transferred to a vessel with cold water for 15-20 sec. First, the blood vessels narrow and the skin turns pale, and then also becomes red (vasodilatation). This is repeated several times for 5-10 minutes.
The procedure ends with cold water. The course of treatment is 15-20 procedures.
Hand, especially foot, baths of contrasting temperature can also be used to harden the body.
Is it cold outside and pouring like buckets? Or did you walk in the wind for a long time and became very cold? A foot bath is an excellent way to prevent colds and some other diseases. Folk bath recipes have been successfully used for many years.
It is especially good to make baths with mustard for people suffering from pulmonary diseases - bronchitis or pneumonia. Moreover, mustard has a beneficial effect on blood pressure, reducing it, which is very good in the presence of a disease such as hypertension. At the same time, you can treat not only with dry mustard, but also dissolved in bath water - this is an excellent warming agent.
Remember: you cannot do this procedure if you have a high temperature.
So, for a bath with mustard you will need a container of sufficient size where you can comfortably place your feet and hold them for a long time. The water in the basin needs to be warm, not too hot; you should not burn yourself by putting your feet in it. A comfortable temperature of 40 degrees is quite enough.
Pour 4-5 glasses into a basin warm water and dilute 2-3 tsp in it. mustard. For the first time, soak your feet in the bath for three minutes, give your feet time to get used to the water, and you yourself should warm up well. Add hot water to the mustard bath to maintain the water temperature at the same level. Legs should be steamed for 15 minutes. 
After steaming with mustard, wash your feet and wipe dry terry towel. Before going to bed, put on warm wool socks and lie down under the blanket. Will give a good warming effect herbal teas with the addition of raspberry jam or honey.
Important: you should not warm your feet with mustard if you are allergic to the powder of this plant.
Baths with mustard are great for warming by improving blood flow in the legs. But there is no need to do such procedures more than once a day; it is best to carry them out not in the morning, but before going to bed.
You can read more about how to soar your feet with mustard!
Turpentine baths
Turpentine solutions are effective when alternating a white emulsion and a yellow solution, that is, first, white turpentine baths help open capillaries, and yellow ones remove toxins from the body. The only thing you should be careful about before making turpentine baths is blood pressure.
White baths increase its level, so you can’t do them in their pure form if your blood pressure is high. In this case, mixed type turpentine baths should be used.
Yellow baths are contraindicated for low blood pressure; they should also be replaced with mixed solutions. 
It is useful to take turpentine baths for diseases of the gallbladder, respiratory system, genitourinary system, kidneys, and cardiovascular system. And also for diabetes and even obesity!
Contraindicated during pregnancy, scabies and other skin diseases, exacerbations chronic diseases, heart failure and hypertension stages II and III, the appearance of malignant neoplasms, open form of tuberculosis.
Foot baths at home based on turpentine are indicated primarily for elderly and weakened people or if it is impossible to carry out the procedure with a full bath (for example, if the hot water is turned off, there is a shower instead of a bath, or you are in the country). So:
- Dilute 2-3 ml of solution per 10 liters of water, mix the mixture well. The water temperature should be comfortable for the body - about 36 degrees.
- Place your feet in a container with turpentine solution for a quarter of an hour. You can do additional wraps knee joints cloth soaked in water from the bath.
- When everything turpentine procedures finished, wrap your feet well in a warm blanket or put on good woolen socks. It will be useful to drink tea infused with herbs.
You may not feel a tingling sensation on your skin when taking such baths. Each time you can slightly increase the concentration of turpentine.
Contrast foot baths
Contrast foot baths bring great benefits to the body. The procedure has proven itself excellent for hardening, the problem of cold extremities, diseases and injuries of the musculoskeletal system and migraines.
Baths based on the principle of temperature contrast perfectly relieve fatigue, pain and swelling in the lower extremities, they help improve blood flow. But this procedure also has contraindications - it cannot be performed during an exacerbation of heart and kidney ailments. 
For such a bath you will need two containers with water, in one of them the water is hot (about 40-42 degrees), and in the other it is cold (only 10-12 degrees). Feet should be immersed to the ankles, not deeper. Keep your feet in a hot bath for 1-2 minutes, in a cold bath for no more than 20 seconds. Do this one at a time.
This “charging”, due to the alternation of sharp narrowing and dilation of blood vessels, strengthens them well. If the contrast is too much to begin with, start with comfortable temperatures and short immersion times. Immerse your feet in warm water (36 degrees) for only 15 seconds, and in cool water (22-23 degrees) for 5. Gradually increase the contrast and time. Such baths are done daily or alternating every other day in a course of a total of 12 to 20 times.
Cold bath
The procedure is good as a hardening, it helps improve blood flow. A cold bath will perfectly help relieve fatigue and have a beneficial effect on sleep, which makes it a good remedy in the fight against insomnia. This method will be good for those who constantly have cold feet or have abscesses from hypothermia.
To avoid freezing, this bath should be taken at a high (within healthy norm) body temperature. The process itself lasts a minute, no longer. If you have never done hardening before, start with cool temperature and gradually make the baths colder.
Warm foot bath with ash
This bath takes 10-15 minutes. Ash baths have a positive effect on blood circulation, relieve headaches, nervousness, and are useful for colds, especially when the throat is sore or irritated. Stir full handfuls of ash and salt in warm water in a ratio of 2 to 1. 
Bath with salt, pine needles and lemon juice
Dilute 3 tbsp in 3 liters of warm water. salt (you can use sea salt), 2 tbsp. natural pine needle extract and 2 tbsp. lemon juice. Soak your feet in the solution for 15 minutes. This procedure works well for pain and heaviness in the legs after a long day of work.
Warm herbal bath
Nettle, chamomile petals and flax seeds do an excellent job with various inflammations on the skin. Prepare a decoction of these herbs by infusing the herbs (in equal proportions) in a liter of just boiled water. Let the broth stand for half an hour, then strain and pour it into 2 liters of water in a basin. The temperature of the liquid should be comfortable for you personally. Optimal time procedures - 20-30 minutes.
Bath with hay dust
Pour boiling water over 5 bags of dust and let it all cool under the lid. As soon as the infusion has cooled to a comfortable temperature of 25-26 degrees, it can be filtered and poured into a basin. This infusion is useful for bruises, inflammation, joint pain, calluses and gout. Take a bath for 20 minutes.
Oat straw bath
If you have the opportunity to get oat straw, you can do this: boil the oat straw decoction for half an hour and cool it to a comfortable temperature. After straining, you can pour it into your foot bath. If there are calluses, abscesses on your feet, or you experience joint pain, this bath will good remedy. Do it for 20 minutes several times a day. 
Hot foot bath
A hot foot bath will successfully cure a cold. For convenience, this procedure is carried out not in a basin, but directly in the bathroom. Sit naked, wrapped in a warm blanket, on the side of the bathtub and dip your feet in a container with hot water, which can then be periodically poured from the tap.
To prevent the water from cooling so quickly, you can cover the bucket with the edge of your blanket. This procedure will become more effective with mustard added to the water. As soon as you feel like you are sweating, the bath is over.
Whatever foot baths you choose - with mustard, turpentine, herbs or simply contrasting ones, they are all - great way improve your health. You will get rid of fatigue and tension in the legs, joint pain, calluses and irritation, and also improve the functioning of the circulatory system and the quality of sleep.
A little more about baths and recipes in the video below!
