Monsoons are always welcoming relief from the blistering heat of the summer, but a lot of us dread monsoon because of the adverse affects the rain has on our regular lifestyle. Personally, the worst bit about monsoon is the effect it has on my feet, making me dread stepping out as much as possible. As much as we’d like to avoid stepping out sometimes we have no choice, but to do so.
Here are some dos and dont’s when it comes to your feet in monsoon:
- Avoid wearing heels in the rainy season. But, if you just cannot resist wearing heels then go for slip-resistant sandals of heels, not over 2 inches.
- While purchasing plastic footwear, make sure that the pair doesn’t have any sharp edges as those could give you shoe bites.
- For this season particularly, whether you are buying flat sandals or heels, look for footwear with good grip that hold feet in place and does not slip when the feet and shoes are wet.
- Don’t keep your shoes and sandals under the bed or inside the shoe rack when it is wet. This gives birth to bacteria’s. Let them dry under the sun to keep away the bacteria’s from breeding in your shoes.
- If your wet feet have a tendency to cause odour, mix 5 ml of peppermint oil in a tub of lukewarm water with a handful of neem leaves and soak your feet for 10 minutes. Dry and spray talcum powder on it. This will help in reducing the perspiration plus relieve you from odour-causing bacteria.
- Exfoliating your feet regularly while taking a bath is one of the best monsoon feet care tips. You can do it by soaking your feet in plain water or lukewarm water. If you don’t have foot soak , then mix up a normal hair shampoo enough to make foam. Then dip your feet for 5 – 10 minutes depending on the quality of your feet , whether it suffers from cracks or dryness. Then scrub up with a scrubbing material or foot scrub especially made for feet. You can also use a pumice stone for this.
- Avoid wearing leather footwear as much as possible since the material gets easily infected with fungus and bacteria. They have a tendency to support bacteria because of the moisture. If you have a passion for leather footwear, look out for Waterproof shoes. The waterproof range of well-known brands is quite stylish and perfect for a rainy day. Formal shoes made of waterproof leather and shoes with foam base that are odor-resistant are a huge hit with office-goers.
- Do not neglect the spaces between your toes and fingers. Dry them properly and sprinkle talcum powder between them. There are higher chances of fungal infection in the spaces.
- Applying petroleum jelly on feet after cleaning also helps to moisturize and prevent water contact directly with skin as it repels water.
- Do not wear closed, tight-fitting footwear. Avoid wearing boots and shoes as they hold water thereby making it sodden. Use slippers or sandals instead.
- Always keep a separate dry pair of work shoes at your office, college locker. So you can swap the wet footwear with dry ones when you reach your workplace. That way you avoid sitting uncomfortably in the wet footwear and invite fewer infections.
- Always wear clean and dry cotton socks. Do keep an extra pair of socks so that you can change them once you reach your destination after the travel.
