Video
Body Check: Feet – Transcript.
Dr Christian:
As feet are usually hidden away in shoes it’s easy to forget how important they are. An average person walks 10,000 steps a day, which over a lifetime adds to a lot of wear and tear; so we should give our feet a lot more attention than we do.To give your feet the once over for any problems you can follow this simple check list.
First, check the skin for any changes. If you spot anything that resembles a verruca, athlete’s foot, blisters or corns then speak to your pharmacist about suitable treatments. And make sure to check for signs of in-growing nails as these can lead to discomfort and they may need to be removed. You should also look for differences in shape. Flat feet are common from birth, but if they develop it could be a sign of an underlying problem. Also check for bunions, which can be genetic but are often caused by ill fitting footwear.And it’s essential to include shoes in your check list. Crushed toes, bunions and ankle problems can all stem from footwear so make sure your shoes fit well and are changed regularly.
Dr Christian: Do you wear a lot of heels?
Girl 1: All the time I wouldn’t go out without them.
Dr Christian: How many pairs of heels do you own?
Girl 1: 45
Girl 2: They look like shoes
Dr Christian: Put your foot on there, What do you see?
Girl 2: Your feet
Girl 1: My foot in ten years
Dr Christian: Can you see a sort of… oh look
Girl 2: It’s your feet.
Dr Christian: Yeh
Girl 1: How embarrasssing
Dr Christian: You have to basically put a big chop in there cut that whole bit out, reset it straight again, big operation, very painful.
Girl 2: That is wrong
Dr Christian: Do you want to end up like that?
Dr Christian:
And note any pain, tingling sensation or numbness that can’t be accounted for, as this could signal something more serious like arthritis or diabetes.
You should also look out for swelling, as this could be a sign of circulation problems, which could stem from diabetes or even a heart condition.
Finally, smell. Stop your feet smelling terrible by keeping them clean and well ventilated, and this means not wearing the same pair of old trainers every day.
For this body check and others featured on the site we want to hear about your findings. So please come back to share your results and discuss them with other site users. If you have any kind of foot pain or persisting problems you should contact your GP or a podiatrist.
Body Check: Feet
In this video Dr Christian talks about the importance of checking your feet. As feet are always hidden away in shoes, it’s easy to forget just how important they are. To check your feet follow Dr Christian’s simple step by step guide.
Check the skin for any changes and look out for anything that resembles athlete’s foot, corns, or verrucas. Also check for ingrown nails as they may need to be removed.
Remember to keep track of any pain, numbness, tingling, swelling or changes in shape, as these could be signs of other underlying conditions.
Add shoes to your checklist as bunions, crushed toes or even ankle problems can all be caused by inappropriate shoes. To avoid smelly feet, change your shoes regularly and keep your feet well ventilated.
We want to hear about your findings, so please click the link below and add your results to our national survey.
+++UPDATE+++
From the 15th – 21st April 2009 we conducted a health survey to find out what were the most common problems that afflicted the nation’s feet.
Over 83% of our respondents were female and the vast majority of these were women under 30 years of age. Shockingly, 25% of people who shared their results with us reported suffering from bunions or hammertoes – conditions which can be genetic but are more often caused by ill-fitting footwear and high heals. Both these conditions require some hefty surgery to put right, so give your feet a night off once in a while, and wear flat footwear whenever possible.
20% of people reported suffering from smelly feet – which is normally nothing to worry about but can be combated by ensuring that you change your shoes and socks regularly.
Flat feet affected around 14% of users, with 7.1% reporting swollen feet. Flat feet are common from birth but if they develop suddenly then you should go to your GP as there may be an underlying problem. Swollen feet can be a sign of lymphatic problems but can also be indicative of problems elsewhere in the body – including the heart, so if they persist, get them checked out by your GP.
Tingling feet affected nearly 1 in 6 people, and if this persists then you should definitely get them checked out as it can be a sign of arthritis, or diabetes.
Other results from the survey revealed that:
10.7% of people suffered with corns
6.8% are suffering with athlete’s foot
11.8% are suffering with verrucas
8.5% have infected nails
11.3% suffer from bunions
14.3% have developed hammer toes
Yes
NoComments and Questions
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Please note: Unfortunately Channel 4 cannot respond to individual inquiries. If you have any concerns, you can check out NHS Choices, but ultimately it is always best to check with a health professional.
hey my toes are really curved and when i have p.e i get embarressed to take my shoes of. and another thing is that my feet click, and i can meake them click. should i go to my doctors? plz reply.
i no this has nothing 2 do with feet and is probaly gonna sound stupid but i was wondering if u can hear a baby cry frm inside the woom. i was watching stuff on yt (46 yr old pregnancy) and i came across a video where the baby is moving and "crying".
I have a really bad hammer toe, its bent and it sometimes hurts my feet but not often and im to embarrassed to tell anyone also the toe doesn't straighten when I pull it. what should i do?
iv a ganglion under flat mid o foot,av heard of on wrists,,is tis common as dont wear high shoes and if removed wot dus op involvd,ta
hello i have varicose veins on my ankle and on the other foot i have some kind of spots which puss leaks out and also my planter fascia ligament hurts when i get the pain it hurts really bad and sometimes i get tingling. why does it hurt and how come i am getting these pains? thankyou
I have a hard lump on the ball of my foot. Its like a small ball underneath the skin about the diameter of a penny. If anyone could help with identifying this i would be grateful ive looked everywhere :/
hi im ashleigh, my second toe on one foot is slightly longer than my big toe however on my other foot my second toe is slightly smaller than my big toe is that normal?
I'm 22and I have really dry hard skin on my feet. I have tried everything (OTC creams and prescribed creams etc.) and nothing works. Is there anything else I can do?
Im 29yrs old and ive suffered with big balls of hard skin on both sides of my feet, plus i have one right in the middle of my lefted foot on the bottom it hurts so much im crying my eyes out at night, the pain from just taking my shoes of is terrible. I have 4 children and it hurts me so much that i cnt go swimming i cnt run or walk far with them. Ive been the doctors a few times he sent me to a tharopatisted witch he razered them of but they grow back even harder. I went back to him the pain was so bad he couldnt do them. My doctor said they were varucas so he froze them (that didnt work)ive looked them up and i think there called callises,sorry about spellings.I just need to know what they are.
Have you tried soaking your feet in a bowl of warm salted water? Once the skin is soaked it'll become soft. Then you can use a pumice stone, or something similar, to rub on the problem areas to remove dead skin.
For the last 6 mnths whenever I wear heals, (doesn't matter what height as well as not often) after about 5-6 hrs when I take them off the joint on the ball of my foot at the 2nd toe swells so bad that my second toe looks broken its so swollen. Any idea why? I never used to have this problem.
