Why do your feet need specialized care?

If you’re anything like us, your dream bathroom is packed with every type of self care product imaginable—undereye serums, facial oils, lip balms, hair masks, body scrubs and more. Logically, we know that the products we use on one part of our body won’t be as effective on other areas, so we have specialized treatments for our face, hair and body, but we consistently forget about products for our feet. The feet often just get the cleanser that rinses down from the rest of your body, the leftover lotion from your legs or no extra treatment at all. Keep reading for the top five reasons why you should be treating your feet differently.

The skin on your feet is special

Body care products shouldn’t be used on your face, right? Well, the same goes for using regular body products on your feet. Because they have to support your body weight all day long, the skin on your feet is up to 8x thicker than the skin on the rest of your body. This tougher, more dense skin makes them especially vulnerable to dryness and also makes it almost impossible for regular products to penetrate deep enough to be effective.

Likewise, the skin on your feet loses moisture faster than anywhere else on the body. Partner that with tons of downward pressure from daily life and being trapped inside shoes where temperatures can soar to over 100° and you’ve got a recipe for constant moisture loss. That’s why we developed High Dive™ intensive hydration cream with the unique skin on your feet in mind. Fifteen of the world's best moisturizers work together to restore water content, retain hydration and promote cellular elasticity. Plus, High Dive™ is formulated with a unique delivery system that penetrates deep into your feet’s extra thick skin for sustained hydration.

Your feet face unique problems

Your feet are one of the hardest working parts of your body, containing 25% of the body’s bones¹, 18% of its joints and 6% of its muscles. And with every single step, we subject those complex structures to almost 1000 pounds of force!

When you really think about what your feet go through in a single day—walking, running, standing, working out and being crammed into shoes that are too small or rub back and forth—it’s crazy that most people don’t take the time to take care of them every day.

From calluses to blisters and infections to odor, the unique problems that affect our feet are often a direct result of the unique conditions that we put our feet through every day. Thankfully, our comprehensive line of foot care products was developed with all these foot-specific problems in mind, so it’s perfect to treat an existing issue or to prevent future problems from arising.

They’re incredibly sensitive

OK, so we know we said that your feet are thick-skinned and while that’s true, they’re also super sensitive. Our feet contain over 7000 nerve endings, which is why a foot rub feels like heaven but stepping on the smallest Lego feels like hell.

In short: stiffness, cramping or pain in your feet can feel incredibly intense. Daily stretches—either manually or with a specialized tool like Our Spaced Out toe stretchers—can help alleviate and prevent symptoms.² For more stubborn aches and pains, Sigh Of Relief™ warming pain relief cream quickly numbs pain, reduces swelling and calms inflammation for long-lasting comfort. While Sigh of Relief was formulated as an over-the counter (OTC) product for feet, it’s also incredibly effective for treating muscle and joint pain on the rest of the body, too. Hooray!

They’re masters at holding on to dirt

You might not be able to see them, but the microgrooves in the soles of your feet—as well as the cramped spaces between your toes and under the toenails—are constantly collecting millions of microscopic bits of dirt, bacteria, fungus, oil and viruses. To be precise, more than one billion bacteria and 100 types of fungus latch onto your feet every single day.³

Add in the fact that our feet often come into contact with materials and surfaces the rest of our body doesn’t—grass, soil, shower tiles and locker room floors to name a few—and that micro-ridged skin is basically a sponge soaking up all the nasties from every surface your feet touch. That’s why we designed Clean Slate™ towelettes with micro dot technology to disinfect and deep clean into the microgrooves on the soles of your feet, plus we infused them with essential oils, extracts and moisturizers to break down dirt, sweat and oil, leaving them refreshed, clean and relaxed.

Your feet get forgotten

Last but not least, we simply forget that our feet need skincare too. Because we might not pay as much attention to our feet on a daily basis, problems can go unnoticed for much longer (allowing them to get more and more serious). In addition, as we get older, our feet age just like the rest of our body does, making them more susceptible to issues like fallen arches, cracked heels, sores, fungus, ulcers and more.⁴ Treating your feet to the same daily, preventative care as the rest of your body helps ensure that your feet stay happy, healthy and beautiful for as long as possible.

Tell us all about your foot care journey @barefootscientist.

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Why do your feet need specialized care?