The saddest fact : “If you own 1000 pairs of wrong shoes or heels, you must be ready for 2000 shoe bites”

Hello guys! I hope you are having an amazing monsoon. Well, you all know how much we stick to plastic jelly shoes in this particular season of rains. So the other day, I had this awful shoe bite when I was on my way to work wearing my newly purchased plastic jelly shoes. It hurt like hell and I found out some facts, tips and suggestions to avoid and treat shoe bites. Here I am , discussing them with you. Scroll down to know more!

Major causes for shoe bite :

• Tight or poorly fitting shoes and heels, especially pumps
• Ill quality shoes and sandals
• Footwear made of rough or hard material

The skin rubs against the tight shoes and the friction between them results in rashes, pain and inflammation. It often even leads to blisters and swelling as well. All the excitement we have for wearing the new shoes fades away on the very first day. Shoe bites hurt more when you stand and awfully most when you walk.

Five Tips to avoid shoe bites

1. BAND AIDS

If you know beforehand that your shoes are tight and are going to cause you discomfort. Take a band aid or duct tape and stick one to each of the shoes at the place where the contact between shoe and skin is more , apparently hind part in case of most of the shoes and pumps and below the belt or strap in case of sandals and some types of heels. This will help your skin from rubbing against the shoes. There are some special shoe bite saver pads and band aids available in market. You can use for them for better comfort.

2. VASELINE OR BABY OIL

The other way to avoid shoe bite is by making use of vaseline petroleum jelly , baby oil or any softening oil. Rub the jelly or oil to the parts of the shoe that cause shoe bite and leave it over night. You can also use wax instead of oil. The oil or wax softens the rough or hard area that is responsible for the bruise and the next morning you are ready to go!

3. DOUBLE SOCKS

Instead of wearing a single sock, you can layer it with another sock. This creates a thick buffer between the skin and the shoes and there is least chance of getting a shoe bite.

4. FREEZE

You can try to expand the size of the shoe to some extent by the freezing technique. In this , all you have to do is , take two ziplock bags fill them with water, place them one in each of the tight shoes to be expanded and freeze them in the refrigerator. This way you can increase the shoe size a little and avoid the painful shoe bite.

5. BLOW DRY

This is one other easy way to expand shoe size a little. Stuff some socks inside each of your shoes and blow dry them. The heat that gets trapped inside the socks gets transferred to the shoes which expand a little by size therefore casuing no shoe bite and rashes.

Tips to treat shoe bites

1. AVOID THE JEOPARDY 

After having a shoe bite , we usually suffer with two problems : one is the pain caused by the shoe bite and the other is the pain that we probably can’t wear the new shoes for a while. No matter what , stick hard to the second. Do not wear the shoes that caused the shoe bite atleast until the bruise is completely cured. If you break this in the heat of the moment, get ready for more pain and blisters. And you know what? You can apply this logic to everything in life. If something or someone hurts you, stay away from that until you heal.

2. COCONUT OIL

Coconut oil is one of the best remedies for shoe bite. It has moisturizing and anti inflammatory properties that help heal any wound quickly. Rub coconut oil on the affected area twice or thrice a day until the wound completely heals. You can also rub some amount of it to the area of the shoe that hurts. You can also use vaseline jelly,almond oil or olive oil which almost do the same job.

3. TURMERIC

Turmeric has numerous good properties that make it the first aid element. Its antibiotic, anti inflammatory and healing properties help heal the bruise and reduces pain. You can add neem leaves for better results. Grind the both into paste and apply it on the affected area every night and wash it off with cold water in the morning. Repeat the process until the wound disappears.

4. ALOE VERA

Aloe vera has soothing and pain releiving properties that are too helpful to treat a shoe bite. Rub some freshly extracted aloe vera gel on the effected area gently and allow it dry. Wash it off later. The anti microbial properties help prevent infection and the anti inflammatory properties reduce the burning sensation caused by the shoe bite.

5. ICE

Ice is a great remedy to reduce pain, swelling and inflammation. Take some pieces of ice in a piece of cloth and press it against the bruised area gently. This will help heal quickly and soothe the pain. Do this regularly until the wound heals!