Disadvantages of too high water temperature for foot bath

Foot soaking is a very good way to maintain health. Soaking your feet before going to bed can help promote sleep and relieve physical fatigue. However, you should also be careful when soaking your feet. The water temperature should not be too high. If the water temperature is too high, it may cause the stratum corneum to dry out and even crack. It can also easily cause severe vasodilation, which can even cause certain harm to people with cardiovascular diseases.

Disadvantages of too high water temperature for foot bath

In life, some people are accustomed to soaking their feet in very hot water until they turn red, and they think that the higher the water temperature, the better the effect. In fact, the water for foot soaking should not be too hot, around 40℃ is appropriate. If the water temperature is too high, the blood vessels in the feet are prone to excessive dilation, and more blood in the human body flows to the lower limbs, which is tantamount to adding insult to injury for people with cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

Water temperature that is too high can easily damage the sebum film on the surface of the foot skin, causing the stratum corneum to dry out or even crack.

Precautions for hot water foot bath

1. Affect blood flow

When soaking your feet in hot water, the peripheral blood vessels in your legs and feet will dilate due to the increase in ambient temperature, and the blood flow to the skin of your feet will increase.

2. Cannot cure diseases

The short-term local circulation caused by soaking your feet in hot water will hardly have a big impact on the systemic circulation, and will not even affect the core body temperature like taking a bath or shower. Therefore, for healthy people, soaking your feet may not cause too much physical changes, so expecting to treat various diseases by soaking your feet will have no effect.

3. The sleep effect is average

For healthy people, a foot bath at a lower temperature and for a shorter time can aid sleep, but it has little effect on the elderly and those who already have poor sleep. Long-term foot bath at high temperature will increase both distal and core body temperature, which is not conducive to sleep.

4. Children will get flat feet

The arch of the foot begins to form in childhood. If children's feet are soaked in hot water frequently, it will have some effects on the function of the nerves and blood vessels in the feet. In particular, frequent soaking or scalding of the feet will cause the ligaments on the soles of children's feet to become loose, which is not conducive to the formation and maintenance of the arch of the foot. In the long run, it will increase the risk of flat feet.

5. Not everyone is suitable

For people with underlying vascular diseases, such as diabetes, varicose veins or thrombosis, and skin diseases such as tinea pedis, foot soaking still has certain health risks. Soaking feet for a long time or at too high a temperature can cause local blood vessel dilation, resulting in insufficient effective circulating blood volume throughout the body. Therefore, foot soaking is not suitable for everyone.

6. Tinea pedis can cause bacterial infection

After patients with skin diseases such as tinea pedis soak their feet in hot water, the affected area will not only become more itchy, but blisters may also appear, and may also lead to secondary bacterial infection.