7. Skip the salon and see a podiatrist. A doctor's office doesn't exude the pampered feel of a salon. But that may be changing. Podiatrists are increasingly offering medical pedicures, which include paraffin wax for dunking and softening feet along with chemical-free, anti-fungal nail polish, Brenner says. These treatments come with a cost—anywhere from $80 to $150, says Brenner, who notes an alternative could be a simple callous removal. Inspired by the results of her own facial peels, Brenner has begun offering her patients chemical foot peels, which shed the top layer of skin to reveal smooth feet.
[See: 9 Footwear Do's and Don'ts]
8. Do it yourself. For an at-home pedicure treatment, Brenner advises soaking your feet for 10 to 15 minutes two to three times a week in an Epsom salt solution, made of two cups of Epsom salt per gallon of tepid water. Follow that with a foot scrub (Brenner likes the apricot scrub by St. Ives) and a thick coating of moisturizer like shea butter. At that point, you've done most of the leg work, so to speak, and you can leave the polish to the professionals.
Warning signs. Infections from the nail salon can often look like bug bites, which worsen and enlarge and can cause pus and scarring, according to the EPA and CDC. Yellowed nails or scaling skin around the base of the foot indicate fungal infections, while anything "red and angry looking" is likely a bacterial infection, Brenner says. Determining the existence of hepatitis requires a blood test.
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