3 natural approaches to healing your feet

Too tight, too high, too pointed — bad footwear is one of the main causes of foot problems. Thankfully, there are many traditional remedies that help to heal the souls of our feet. There's nothing better than a foot rub if you can find a friend or partner to give your aching feet a treat. But if there's no one around to rub your sore tootsies, here are easy, tried-and-true ways to relieve most foot ailments or discomforts.

• Pour a little wine vinegar over a few slices of white bread in a bowl. Let stand for a few hours until it turns to mush.
• Spread the mush onto the painful area, cover with a cloth and hold in place with a gauze bandage. Let it work overnight.
• Repeat the application as many times as needed.

Ouch! Blisters occur when the two top layers of skin rub against one another until they separate, producing a hollow which fills with watery liquid.

• Prevent blisters from occurring by always wearing shoes with socks or stockings.
• Going for a hike? Opt for two pairs of thin socks instead of one pair of thick ones. The pairs of socks will rub against each other instead of rubbing against your foot.
• Before a long walk, rub some petroleum jelly into the sensitive skin of your feet.

Calluses sometimes develop over time where a shoe pinches your skin or crowds your toes together. Once the callus thickens and forms a hard core, it has turned into a corn.

• Soften the callus with a foot-bath of chamomile or tea tree oil before a corn develops. Then rub it off carefully with a pumice stone or special corn file.
• To soften calluses and corns, rub them daily with a little castor oil.
• Place a fresh thin slice of onion on your corn and hold it in place with a gauze bandage until the core of the corn dissolves.
• Take the pressure off. Put a piece of gauze between your toes to reduce friction, rubbing and to take pressure off the sore spot.
• Use a corn patch for stubborn cases. Pharmacies offer patches containing salicylic acid that soften the corn, so it can be pulled off along with the patch.