Every pair has its issues. Calluses. Grungy yellowed toenails under which screaming green bacterial creatures lurk. Flaky skin. Bunions. Odor that permeates through socks and shoes and envelopes small rooms.
And there are the secret troubles: Cramps. Flat feet. Heel spurs. Plantar fascitis. The result is that feet are often the last body part to be revealed in a budding relationship.
Feet play a huge role in our every day lives, carrying every pound of our bodies from place to place, often in high heels or sweaty, pointed leather boots. With 26 bones, 33 joints and more than 100 tendons, muscles and ligaments, there’s plenty to make your dogs bark. But despite their intricacy and importance, feet are an oft-ignored appendage.
Problem feet are easy enough to conceal from late fall through early spring, but when warm weather arrives those feet, hideous and pale though they may be, are aching for their day in the sun — and in the beach sand.
“Most people are very self conscious of their feet,” says Sara-Lee Franklin, manager of Soak Foot Sanctuary and Teahouse in Portland, “but some people will strip their shoes off and say rub my feet please.”
April’s here and it’s time to start stripping.
It’s also time to make sure the bases of your body are in shape to turn heads for all the right reasons. The place to start may be at Soak, or a similar boutique where you can get your piggies prettied up.
Soak has a botanist on staff who creates all of its soaks. They have more than 40 concoctions created from Chinese curative herbs, healing salts, seaweed and organic teas that are recommended for foot fungus, psoriasis, tendinitis, feet that need softening and feet that need to relax.
There’s no reason to be shy about getting a soak, massage or treatment. The clientele at Soak is equal parts men and women, ranging in age from 12 to 85. Don’t want anyone touching your toes? Just request a bowl and a soak, order tea and lunch, and do it yourself.
But once you turn your feet into sandal stunners, don’t think you can start ignoring them again. Additional treatments can keep them up to par and using heat and ice for aches and injuries has its benefits.
Always be aware of foot pain, which can trigger pain in the legs, hips and back.
Bottom line? The best thing for your feet is being aware what the issues are and making the corrections necessary to fix them. In other words, don’t bury the problem in a new pair of shoes and hope it will go away.
And if you need help, there are professionals who’d love to see your naked tootsies.
“It’s just another body part,” Franklin says.
They may never be perfect, but feet can be beautiful.