Get Yourself, and Your Feet Ready for Your Wedding
Fix Your Feet a Year in Advance, and Days Before the Big Day
Selecting a date, choosing a venue, finding the perfect dress, and attending countless pre-wedding events are stressful preparations for your nuptials. In addition, for getting yourself and your body ready for the big day, losing weight and getting fit is usually top priority. However, when the bride is shaping herself for marriage from head to toe, often she falls short on the latter.
A pedicure is usually the go-to remedy when getting feet prepared for the special occasion, but it may be too little, too late for the bride-to-be. There are so many details regarding feet that are neglected until they become obvious, close to, or on the wedding day. Foot corns and calluses, sweaty feet, ball-of-foot pain, ill-fitting shoes, and bunions and hammertoes should come to mind when considering preemptively securing one’s foundation for matrimony day.
Foot corns and calluses on the bottom of the feet can be temporarily resolved by a simple visit to a nail salon. However, by law, salons cannot use sharp instruments to pare the tough and thick skin. Nail technicians can use sanders, which are okay if the foot corny-callused afflictions are mild. Advisedly, scheduling an appointment with a Podiatrist, a few days before the wedding, is your best option. Consulting a podiatric professional permits a broader range, including cosmetic foot-treatment alternatives.
In the United states approximately 8 million people suffer with excessive sweating or hyperhidrosis. One of the most common areas of the body that is affected by hyperhidrosis is the sole of the foot. Extreme sweating on the feet can cultivate fungal and bacterial infection, produce unpleasant odors, ruin shoes, and make wearing heels very difficult. There are many over-the-counter solutions, including foot powders, sprays and gels. Topical therapy works well for mild cases. If the issue is moderate to severe, considering a visit to the foot doctor is suggested.
A Podiatrist can offer iontophoresis or botox injections to suppress overactive sweat glands. Iontophoresis is a system where the patient submerges their feet in a tray with a shallow solution, for 15 to 40 minutes, which delivers mild electrical currents. It is believed that the procedure blocks sweat from secreting out of the sweat glands. When considering iontophoresis treatment, booking an appointment with your Podiatrist several months in advance is required because numerous sessions may be needed to obtain a desired result. Botox is an agent that can stop nerve function. When used medicinally in low doses, and superficially, it blocks the nerves that activate sweat glands, prohibiting perspiration temporarily. The botox effect can yield excellent results within a few days of administration and can last up to 6 months.
Standing in high heels for a prolonged period time ultimately renders the ball of the foot aching or agonizing. The foot has a built-in shock absorption layer in the ball of the foot called a “fat-pad.” Years of donning high-heel fashion footwear can cause the fat-pad to wear down. This condition is referred to, podiatrically, as “fat-pad atrophy.” Lowering the heel height of shoe can decrease the pressure on the ball of the foot. Another conservative measure is inserting foot-insole shoe cushions. However, adding more material in a shoe, simply takes up more room from your shoe, cramming the toes, and can result in foot pain elsewhere. If the bride truly suffers fat-pad atrophy, an off-label approach to relieving ball-of-foot pain is available. Dermal fillers can be used to provide a pillow-like effect on the ball of the foot. The injection can be done in-office, with no downtime, and provide immediate relief lasting for months.
Sometimes, walking around in the store is just not enough time to truly know if the heel of choice will withstand the duration of the wedding. Having the shoe stretched by a shoe stretcher can help the shoe quickly gain more flexibility in a short period of time. The use of moleskin in the shoe can be applied to prevent rubbing and blistering of the feet. Also recommended is wearing the shoe at an indoor, pre-wedding event. For example, the bridal party could wear their pumps at the wedding rehearsal and dinner. This way, by the end of the events, the bride-to-be and her maids can make further adjustments to the shoe.
Having bunions and hammertoes can not only make wearing high-heel shoes unbearable, but suffering with these foot issues can be unattractive and embarrassing. If the bride-to-be has painful bunions or hammertoes, and is thinking of having the foot afflictions corrected before the date of union, scheduling a consultation with a Podiatrist a year before the wedding date is optimal. Although recovery from the procedure(s) and return to shoes is fairly a short period of time, postoperative swelling can be prolonged. To make sure the date of marriage goes without a hitch, from head to toe, equate it to selecting the date of the wedding - most couples pick a date at least a year in advance.
When preparing for wedded bliss, remember your feet may require a little more than just a pedicure the day before the big occasion. Secure your foundation - get your feet checked out and fix your feet by a female podiatrist who understands.