Foot care for people who exercise

Here you’ll find excellent advice and tips from Carola Richardson, a medical foot care therapist who is passionate about good foot health.

Athlete’s foot, ingrown toenails, and calluses. That might not sound like major issues, but for anyone who is affected, they’re extremely painful and impossible to ignore with every step. But it’s fairly easy to prevent and manage them.

– It’s so important to take care of your feet—they carry us through our entire lives, yet they’re easy to overlook. Once you develop problems, you need patience, the right interventions, and good products to get rid of them. There’s a huge benefit to doing things correctly from the start, for example to avoid using strong medications, says Carola Richardson, who also runs courses for foot care therapists on nail and skin fungus. In recent years, in her practice, she has seen an increase in foot and nail fungus, especially. – I think this could be because we exercise and do sports more. It’s also twice as common in men. The absolute biggest risk of transmission is in public showers and changing rooms. It’s warm and humid there, fungal spores thrive in that environment and spread easily.

How to get healthy, beautiful feet

Regular foot soaks, preferably using BIOpH Footcare, which treats and supports healthy foot care.
Moisturize with a high-quality foot salve.
Don’t over-file or buff your feet—this triggers the skin to form calluses.
Get regular professional foot care from a medical foot care therapist. The first step to healthy feet
The first step to healthy feet

Taking care of your feet has never been easier. Regular foot soaks with BIOpH lay the foundation for avoiding issues and deliver positive results for anyone dealing with problems like athlete’s foot, calluses, and dry, flaky skin.

It’s almost impossible to tell with the naked eye whether dry, flaky skin areas are actually fungus—symptoms mimic both eczema and psoriasis. A great first step is to use BIOpH Footcare. The foot soak relieves symptoms regardless of whether you have fungus or not. BIOpH is effective, biodegradable, and a safe product with no side effects, according to clinical studies. Many people who think they have fungus start treating their feet with over-the-counter medications. But this will be ineffective if it’s not actually fungus you’re dealing with, and the result is that you’ve used strong medications unnecessarily, with all the risks of side effects that come with them.

– I’m truly passionate about fungal foot care, says Carola Richardson, who also trains aspiring foot care therapists about athlete’s foot.

– It’s so important to act quickly so that problems don’t develop into moccasin foot fungus that covers the entire sole of the foot or spreads into the nails.
She explains that fungus is a parasite that significantly worsens skin quality and can also lead to cracks. With BIOpH’s medical-grade foot care products, you can relieve symptoms regardless of whether you have athlete’s foot or not. If you don’t get the desired effect after regular use, it’s a good idea to get a professional diagnosis. This is relatively simple, either with a so-called DNA test at a medical foot care therapist’s office or with a culture test at your local health center.

– My most important piece of advice is to keep the skin on your feet healthy, as well as your nails. Take therapeutic foot soaks, file your feet appropriately, and moisturize with a good foot salve—that’s the foundation. If you do develop problems, seek help from a medical foot care therapist.

Healthy feet for people who exercise

As an athlete or fitness enthusiast, you subject your feet to a lot of strain. Our feet are our real heroes, carrying us an average of four times around the globe over a lifetime. For feet that get a lot of exercise, the strain is even greater.

Of course, there are countless benefits to exercising—your health improves, you become more alert, happier, and have more energy. At the same time, your body wears down, and especially your feet take a lot of impact in many sports. To protect your feet as much as possible, the most basic rule is to wear the right shoes tailored to your activity.

– We subject our feet to huge amounts of stress when we go running training and participate in team sports, for example. In our practice, we see many overworked feet and blisters among athletes and people who exercise a lot, says Carola Richardson, a medical foot care therapist.

She notes that the most important thing by far is the shoes or whatever you have on your feet when you participate in your sport—rigid skates and ski boots can also cause issues. But the environment also plays a role.

– As an athlete, you expose yourself to a high risk of contracting things like athlete’s foot, because the number of spores is high in environments like gyms, sports halls, showers, and changing rooms.
Athlete’s foot is exactly what it’s called in English, and that’s a perfect description. Bacteria also build up in shoes and socks, and it’s important to wash your socks often and alternate between different pairs of shoes.

– BIOpH+ Washing powder is effective even at low temperatures. Since it kills bacteria, which also cause unpleasant odors, it’s perfect for socks and performance sportswear that can develop a persistent stench after repeated use. It’s also biodegradable in the natural environment.
Carola Richardson recommends that everyone regularly use medical foot care treatments, with the frequency depending on the condition of your feet. She emphasizes that you should not self-treat ingrown toenails and blue toenails, as these can cause long-term problems.

– If you don’t take care of your damaged nails, it’s easy to develop what’s called a claw nail, where the nail becomes thick and often discolored. This happens when the nail matrix is damaged, and it’s tricky to resolve, but a foot care therapist can buff the nail and complement this with at-home treatment using nail oil.

Excellent advice for feet used for sports and exercise

- Use shower mats in showers and changing rooms.

- Take care of your socks and shoes—wash and disinfect them with BIOpH Washing powder and sspray your shoes with BIOpH Shoe spray and alternate between different pairs of shoes.

- Unpleasant odors are caused by bacteria. With BIOpH Washing powder, you can wash your socks and sportswear at low temperatures and still kill the bacteria that cause bad odors.

- Do not self-treat ingrown toenails and blue toenails. Regularly visit a medical foot care therapist who can provide treatment and advice.

- Pressure and impacts can damage the nail matrix, which can lead to the development of a claw nail. When the nail matrix is damaged, it can be difficult to resolve. You’ll get the best help from a foot care therapist, complemented by at-home nail oil treatment.

- Take care of your feet with regular BIOpH foot soaks, moisturize them, and keep your skin and nails healthy.