“TAKE CARE OF YOUR FEET AND THEY WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU”
As the decades have gone by, I find myself taking inventory of my body parts. How are they holding up? What can I do in my morning workouts to make improvements?
I find that arthritis has invaded my fingers, my right shoulder and my lower back. I have bone on bone knees and my skin shows the effects of many hours in the sun, whether playing tennis or walking near the surf at beaches.
But my feet have always withstood the rigors of running up and down basketball gyms or back and forth on tennis courts. I also would do 3-5 mile runs without incident. They get me where I need to go. Others have foot problems, but I don’t believe I have ever even been to a podiatrist for any reason. I do have an excellent foot massager with heat and strong vibration, but I often leave it in a closet.
So, why am I writing an article about caring for our feet? Read on.
FOOT SOAK BENEFITS
I have recently read and heard about the value of soaking our feet, especially before preparing to sleep. This seems to be a practice widely used in Asia, but not so much in the United States. This is documented to improve circulation, relax our muscles and calm our nervous systems.
I understand that this provides gentle relaxation that prepares us for sleep.
Here are the essential points:
- Water temperature needs to be 95-105 degrees F. Warm but not too hot.
- A 15-20 minute soak is advised
- Epsom salt is recommended, 1/2-1 cup. The magnesium sulfate may reduce soreness and soften thick skin.
- Baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate, 2-3 tablespoons, also softens rough or thick skin
- Apple cider vinegar, 1/2 cup, has antibacterial and antifungal properties. But it should not be used more than once or twice per week, since more use may dry the skin.
- Ginger, 1 or 2 spoonfuls, has a mild anti-inflammatory effect and may stimulate circulation.
- Essential oils – lavender oil, tea tree oil or peppermint oil – contribute to relaxation
All of the above was welcomed information, but none of it was really surprising. My feet and lower legs were not problem areas, though relaxation was at times a concern. What really interested me was the following:
- Relaxation of the nervous system. Warm water immersion of the feet may lower stress hormone levels and reduce muscle tension throughout the entire body. Better sleep will help those with osteoarthritis. It also helps us to repair tissues, regulate inflammation and reduce improve pain tolerance.
- Circulation and warming of the body. Warming our feet redistributes blood flow to the extremities, which includes hands, knees and shoulders (where I have arthritic issues).
- Pain modulation. The soles of our feet have over 200,000 nerve endings and stimulating this area will reduce how pain is perceived elseewhere in our body.
- Psychological and hormonal effects. A nightly foot soak can lower cortisol levels and reduce anxiety about pain or sleep.
This was fascinating to me and I was anxious to experiment with the process.
The remainder of this article will briefly describe affiliate marketing and my association with Amazon, then show relevant products that I use, have ordered or know about. Then I will summarize.
AFFILIATE MARKETING AND AMAZON
Affiliate marketing is an advertising model wherein a third party (or affiliate) promotes the products or services of a business and shares in the sale when unique links create the sale. Today, I am the affiliate and Amazon is the business. See my upper menu – BECOME AN AFFILIATE MARKETER – for full information.
Amazon is an ideal business to represent since they have a huge array of products to meet our needs and they specialize in fast service and customer care.
RELEVANT PRODUCTS AND THEIR LINKS
First, I am showing links to products I have personally ordered in the last couple of days. In every link, you will see pictures, prices, full information and acess to similar items.
Apple cider vinegar dietary supplement – this a 5 month supply of pertinent supplements
Foot massager I bought years ago – the best one I could find
FINAL THOUGHTS
I will continue this theme as soon as I am able to apply the foot soaks and determine if they efffectively lessen my arthritic pain in my fingers and right shoulder rotator cuff. I have no doubt that they will relax me and improve the depth of my sleep at night.
Practices done by Asians and others for centuries are worthy of our examination, as is reflexology. It is difficult for me to believe that our feet – with 200,000 nerve endings and 25% of all of our bones – are not responsible for our general health to a much greater degree than we (at least I) may understand.
I will post “Footnote Followup” when I am able to complete my experiment.
Please leave me any questions or comments below. Be well!
