My feet

Hi Leonardo,

I'm a reflexologist, and what you've mentioned suggests you may have some emotional issues you need to deal with or acknowledge. Hard skin usually means you are locking up and shutting out certain elements of yourself from the world or your friends/family. You also may have some worries or anxieties sitting on your shoulders, weighing you down. You may be aware of these issues, or you may be blind to them - we often are when we've shut things out for a long time. Maybe keep a diary of your thoughts and feelings, and ponder upon them. Or read a book such as The Barefoot Indian by Julia Heywood - very good for enabling you to let go of anything you need to that's holding you back. And I'd recommend some reflexology too, it will help your body to reset it's energy balance.

And make sure you drink plenty of water - hydration is important, seeing as your feet are constantly in detoxification.

I hope you find this useful.

Sending you love and positive energy,

Zoe

Feet-another view

Hi,

It's true that feet are important and often suffer when other parts of the body are out of tune. But with many things there can be lots of causes if we don't look after our feet.

If you are having pains in your feet and the symptoms persist, then you should see your GP and get them checked, and you may need a course of physio to sort the problem out.

As for the hard skin, it depends a lot what it means to you. For me, hard skin is important because I practice martial arts, and it's the foot's natural protection and therefore in my case not a problem.

But excessive or cracking hard skin can be a problem, and the first port of call should always be your GP. If things are ok medically, then it's possible to take the holistic route.

If it's to be treated holistically then your lifestyle, general health, etc needs to be known. I don't want you do that in an open forum because that's for you to share with your practitioner in confidence.

But you can deal with simple things with a daily routine, wash your feet several times a day and then moisturise, don't wear open shoes, especially if your feet a cracking. Wear shoes made from natural materials so your feet can breath and wear clean cotton rich socks everday.

Myarka.

You could try soaking the feet in warm water then rubbing the hard skin gently with a pumice stone, then finish with a moisturiser, that's what my mum does... probably best to check with your GP first though, in case it is a medical problem and not just a case of dry/hard skin.

I use a foot file to keep the hard skin at bay, you can getthem cheaply in Boots or other places like that. You can also get an electric version which is fantastic! My Mum has one and it does a really good job! Beware of the battery powered versions though, which dont really have enough power to file the skin off effectively.

I have also seen on QVC a cream which apparently get rids of hard skin, I think it has something in it which breaks the skin down, then you scrape the cream and hard skin off with a spatula. It sounds really good (if it works!) but is quite expensive, so I havnt tried it yet! I would be interested to hear of anyone has tried it though? I think it is called Pedikur or something like that.

Hi
When I was getting divorced and moving home my feet were dreadful all cracking and soooooooo painful. I used compede cream which was very good, and they have been fine since.
Love Orchid x