We cleanse, scrub and moisturise our face and body, we brush our hair and our teeth, but what about our feet?

The parts of our body that arguably do the most work often get the least love and attention – and sometimes none at all!

They’re normally hidden away in our shoes or underneath the hem of our clothing – out of sight, out of mind, right?

Proper footcare is essential since taking care of our feet can affect the rest of our entire selves. In fact, not doing so can actually impact our overall health and wellbeing.

Read more from a Perth podiatrist’s perspective on why taking care of our feet is so important.

Feet are the foundation of our body

Our feet are the foundation of our body with the rest of us literally stacked up on top of them. Think about that for a moment…

If our feet are out of alignment, it’ll cause the rest of our body to be as well, particularly, our knees, hips and lower back. This can be painful and make us subconsciously compensate by holding our bodies differently – leading to other problems like plantar fasciitis, shin splints or even arthritis in the long run.

Not taking care of our feet can impact our mobility, especially as we get older so it’s important to take care of our feet to protect the rest of our bodies from pain and discomfort.

Healthy feet impact our overall physical health

Do you run? Walk? Dance? Jump? Of course, you do!

Want to keep doing all these things?

Remember that healthy feet provide stability, balance, grip, and strength. They absorb the shock of even the smallest everyday movement so the rest of our bodies can continue without any jarring.

It’s no wonder then that when we have foot pain, we tend to put exercise on the back burner or alter the way we move to avoid the discomfort.

We need to take care of our feet so we can stay active and avoid physical health problems that can come from lack of exercise such as heart disease, reduced endurance and loss of muscle.

Feet can even impact our emotional wellbeing

We rely on our feet pretty much every day to go pretty much everywhere.

They’re the key to our self-sufficiency, so our soles can literally impact our souls too!

Without our feet to stand and walk on, we would need a lot more help getting around which would have a negative impact on our mental health.

When your feet feel good and look beautiful, so will you.

And when you look and feel your best, your mental state will be in a healthy frame.

Care can prevent or treat common problems

Sticking to a regular foot hygiene routine can help prevent or treat of some our common feet problems such as:

- Foot pain
- Blisters and calluses
- Ingrown nails
- Fungal infections, such as Athlete’s Foot or fungal toenails
- Cracked heels

A range of more serious health conditions can affect your feet and their health too, such as diabetes and arthritis, so it’s important to take extra good care of those feet of yours.

Keep your feet happy and healthy

By putting in just a bit more time and effort, we can avoid so many painful experiences, like ingrown toenails or fungal infections, and can keep ourselves healthy physically and emotionally.

Our feet really do give us something to stand on, so give them the big THANK YOU they deserve and start your own footcare routine.

If you’re not sure where to start, check out my guide as a podiatrist on how to care for your feet.