Its been a wonderul, warm summer and its time to welcome in Autumn. It has been said: Autumn, the year's last, loveliest smile. -- William Cullen Bryant. For us , here in the Bay of Plenty, not truer words have been said. The nights are starting to cool down as we all prepare for the oncoming winter. In the "foot world", this is normally the time that people start to move from their sandles or indeed bare-feet into enclosed shoes. This change in footwear brings with it all sorts of foot problems incuding corns and ingrown nails. Thankfully, The Foot Centre is no stranger to these types of foot disorders and thanks to the latest techniques, we are able to offer relief and in most cases, curative treatments to enable a normal pain-free return to the more ejoyable things in life like walking and running along the beach, experiencing our numeruous walkways and of course shopping! If you have a nasty, painful foot pain, you don't have to put up with it. Contact our rooms and we will do our best to help.

Do you suffer from smelly feet?

If so try pouring a warm foot bath, a bucket of water will be fine, add half a cap of Janola , yes that's right, bleach, its active ingredients are: Sodium Hypochlorite-NaOCL,  Chlorine-CL and Sodium Hydroxide-NaOH,  into the water to make a very dilute bleach solution and soak your feet in this for about 10 minutes. Do this once a day for 10 days and your feet should start to smell a little better. You will also need to wash and soak your foot wear in this same type solution. If you wear socks? Leave them out side in the bright sun, this will literally give the bugs in your sock a fatal dose of sun burn. If you symptoms continue, give me a ring, as I might need to have a look.

Do you keep getting athletes feet in-between your toes?

Sometimes employment rules demand we have to wear inclosed footwear, toe protective footwear that can create the perfect environment for bugs to grow onto your feet. In particular, Fungus can be a real pain to treat, (it's an incredibly tough type of bug). If you keep suffering from pain, redness, inching in-between your toes, (Tinea Pedis), and your treating it successfully with anti-fungal cream only to find that the problem returns? Go to your chemist and ask them to make you  up a solution of: Chlorhexidine Gluconate 0.5% w/v in Ethanol 70% w/v. It should be a cheap as chips and simply poor this into a little plant spray bottle and spray the solution in-between your toes after bathing. It will "push" away any moisture and evaporate dry thus reducing the ideal "fungus breading" environment in-between your toes. Used routinely during these hot months, (or if your go over seas), this should prevent, rather than treat, fungal skin infections in-between your toes.Again, if your symptoms don't go away, give me a ring and I'll have a look and hopefully be able to make other suggestions.I hope these little tips help you all enjoy your summer, if you have any other foot problems? Please give me ring and I'll do my best to help.

All the best

Stefan

Mr S R Edwards
PODIATRIC SURGEON