Yogic remedy for skin of feet?

[Guest guest]

A rather odd question here, but I hope some of you might have an

answer: One of my students is asking me if there is a yogic remedy

for athlete's foot/unsightly dry-scaly skin on the bottoms of her

feet. She was treated successfully some years ago by a dermatologist

but now wants to avoid having to take the same sort of strong

prescription medicine. The last time, the prescription caused her

red (white? I don't recall which she told me) blood cell count to

drop dramatically, and she had to go in for weekly blood tests. She

is hoping there is a natural way to cure the problem.

 

I know that tea-tree oil is supposed to have antifungal properties,

but in its pure form it smells pretty bad. Would pure almond oil

help in any way?

 

What did the ancient yogis use? Thanks for any advice.

 

Blessings,

Jiwan Mukta Kaur

[Guest guest]

Sat Nam,

 

If you don't get an answer here keep asking other heath practioners. There

are other alternatives. Ask an accupunturist.

 

Sat Nam,

 

Gururattan Kaur

[Guest guest]

Dear Jiwan Mukta Kaur,

 

> A rather odd question here, but I hope some of you might have an

> answer: One of my students is asking me if there is a yogic remedy

> for athlete's foot/unsightly dry-scaly skin on the bottoms of her

> feet. She was treated successfully some years ago by a dermatologist

> but now wants to avoid having to take the same sort of strong

> prescription medicine.

 

Yes almond oil would help avoid the scaling. She could try massaging the

feet with almond oil and then taking a warm foot bath (a little salt in the

water might help as well). After than she should be careful to dry the feet

very well and then use a light antibacterial / antifungal lotion (the type

that can be used for the face as well, not very strong) or talc. If this

causes the feet to dry up too much, a little extra almond oil is in order.

 

One other thing is, she should use only natural fiber socks that allow the

foot skin to breathe. Silk would be the best. These might be hard to find in

our modern nylon-and-polyester culture, but they truly help. Open-weave

sandals are also preferable to regular shoes for the same reason, and

leather shoes are certainly preferable to anything synthetic. I live in

Japan and silk socks (they are called "tabi") are always recommended for

foot problems. If she can't find them at stores or online, please let me

know off-list and maybe I could send you some from here.

 

Another recommeded remedy in Eastern medicine (a preventive, actually) is

wearing gold or three-metal jewelry (brass, silver, copper). Herbs that help

(taken internally or made into ointments) include the following: cat's claw,

borage, pau d'arco, licorice, chaparral, echinacea, goldenseal, and also tea

tree oil as you mentioned. Tea tree oil may smell bad in concentrated form,

but there are a number of ointments and creams that contain it, and those

should help. The Body Shop for instance has a whole line of tea tree oil

products, including soap and creams.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Many blessings,

Satsang Kaur