Keep Your Feet Warm In Winter

Some parts of the country have reported slight frost on the ground, as we have briefly discussed the topic of how to keep your feet warm on Bonfire night in our last blog post – should you wish to read it, please click here and we were recently amazed by some of the tips given in this article, that we simply had to return to the topic again. Our Podiatrists at Leyton Foot Clinic recommend Contrast Footbaths; a technique to improve blood flow around the muscles of the foot.

What are Contrast Footbaths?

Simplistically speaking, get two bowls of water. One with hot water, hot as you can withstand. The other bowl has cold water. Each bowl has the enough water to cover the foot upto the ankle. Take a seat, kick off your shoes and socks, place both bowls in front of you, do the following:

• Put both feet into the hot water for one minute.
• Swing them into the cold water for 30 seconds.
• Swing them back into hot water for one minute.
• Swing them back into the cold water for 30 seconds.
• Finally swing them back into hot water for one minute.
• Put on a pair of thin socks, followed by a pair of thick socks – your feet should be cosy.

Logical Rationale:

• in hot water, the blood vessels dilate (open up and let blood into the vessels)
• in cold water, the blood vessels constrict (close down and force the blood along the vessel)

Thus the blood flow improves by making the muscles around the blood vessels become more responsive to temperature changes making them dilate/constrict faster. If you do this daily, from October onwards – you shouldn’t have cold feet that winter.

Try it and let us know in the comments below; if you have have any problem in keeping your feet warm please contact Leyton Foot Clinic on 02085199447 for an assessment.