I'm not sure where the best place is to post this, and didn't find an answer after a quick search, so here it is.

I've been having trouble with my feet for the last few years. My big toes and the balls of my feet are cracking and bleeding, especially when I'm performing kata on my brick patio. Lately, though, they've gotten bad from hitting the punching bag while working out on a foam-padded floor.

There ARE issues with technique involved— my toes are huge and it's difficult for me to curl them back enough to fully expose the balls of my feet as focal points, but then again the balls of my feet are cracking and bleeding, not just my toes. And my feet are fairly well calloused— I've been doing this for twenty-five years— so it's not a matter of conditioning. In fact, it's the callouses that are splitting open.

Anyway, I was looking for some advice. I've tried band-aids and blister pads, but neither adhere well to the bottoms of the feet during training. Liquid skin works slightly better, but it too wears off after a few minutes. I haven't found shoes appropriate for a long karate workout. So I'm hoping someone has a suggestion to prevent or fix this problem, short of expensive podiatry.

One person I know has successfully tried this: put a lot of hypoallergenic hand lotion into a pair of socks, and wear them at night.

They do make "martial arts shoes" that you can buy, or you can go with something like the vibram five finger shoes.

http://www.martialartsmart.com/shoes-martial-art-shoes.html
http://www.martialartshut.com/shoes.html

http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/


or stop working out barefoot on brick

Psoriasis?

I wish I had an alternative to the brick patio— the house is just too small for kata, especially weapons kata. But it's been too cold to work out on the patio since November, so this is coming from a firm, foam surface. I doubt it's psoriasis— I think this is mainly from the grinding that comes from pivoting when I turn or kick.

Has anyone tried any of those shoes? When I've tried working out with regular tennis shoes, I find they quickly start to wear on my knees (I don't know how those old-school guys train in Army boots!). Any footwear would need to be really light. The kung fu shoes look good weight-wise, but without some sort of laces I think they'd probably fly off. That was the problem I had with Crocs— they're the perfect weight but there's no way to really secure them to the feet for a martial-arts-style workout.

A lot of people think that callouses are enough alone to protect the feet/knuckles, but the truth is that if they build up too much, they can become a problem in themselves. They are too dry, too unyielding, and so forces placed upon them (dragging/sliding) merely make them grip the ground, and from there rip open from their 'root' in the soft epidermis.

You need to undergo a regime of moisturising your feet, including the callouses, every day, combined with some gentle exfoliation of the hard build ups with a pummice stone.

Obviously you dont want to go back to 'baby soft', but reducing the areas to a hrad functional pad, combined with the flexibility imbued by moisturising will sort your feet out in under less than 2 months.

Psoriasis is something you pick up. It is one of the reasons gyms "suggest" you wear flip-flops in the dressing rooms. You have been tramping around barefoot for 25 years.

Callouses cracking and bleeding sure sounds like what my Ma had on her hands. Check it out to be sure one way or the other.

psoariasis ans eczema are NOT contagious. They are genetic conditions where the skin (an organ) replicates cells too quickly, causing build up if plaques, not callouses.

Whoah dude, read what Cord says and please stop spreading misinformation like this, people with psoriasis deal with enough social stigma already without someone believing what they have is contagious, which it most definitely is not.

Psoriasis plaques look scary but they are not in the least bit contagious, psoriasis is an auto-immune disorder. I do manual therapy/massage on people with psoriasis, it's important for the general public to undersand it is IMPOSSIBLE to catch this from someone.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psoriasis

Yeah I know it's Wikipedia, but read the first line, you'll find the same info at pretty much any medical site.

Anyway, I have similar problems. Most gp's can test some of your dead foot skin (mmmm yummy huh) for various funguses...beyond this it might be related to humidity or dryness, is it worse during the winter, what is your climate like?

The best luck i've had it liberally applying a serious lotion (Eucirin or similar) and putting on socks before bed, you need to do it regularly for this to be effective though. One treatement I was given which was effective (but unfun) was heavy lotion, and wrapping my feet in plastic bags underneath the socks overnight.

See a podiatrist if all else fails.

I've tried the ATA style shoes, they work great for me, as for any other brand or type I don't think I could help you there.