Medical Pedicure in East Yorkshire: What You Actually Get

A medical pedicure is a foot treatment that puts foot health first and appearance second. If you are looking for a medical pedicure in East Yorkshire, what you should expect is sterilised instruments, nails cut and reduced properly, hard skin and corns dealt with by hand, and someone actually looking at the condition of your skin and nails rather than covering them with polish. At East Yorkshire Foot Health an appointment is £32, with home visits an extra £5.

It is sometimes called a medi-pedi. The name is a bit of marketing shorthand, but the treatment behind it is straightforward and genuinely useful, particularly if bending down to your own feet has become awkward.

What a medical pedicure involves

The treatment is carried out by a Foot Health Practitioner. In this practice that is Deon Bowman, who holds a Level 4 Diploma in Foot Health from The College of Foot Health and is a member of the MCFH. You can read more about Deon and her training if you like to know who is working on your feet.

A typical appointment covers:

• A look at both feet, including between the toes and around the nail edges
• Toenails cut to a sensible length and shape, then filed smooth
• Thickened nails reduced so they sit more comfortably in your shoes
• Hard skin and callus carefully reduced with a scalpel and file
• Corns removed where they are present
• Dry, rough or cracked heels smoothed and treated
• A short chat about what is causing any problem and what helps at home

No dry instruments are shared between clients. Everything used on skin and nails is sterilised or single use. That is one of the practical differences between this and a beauty treatment, and it matters if you are prone to fungal nails or have skin that heals slowly.

How it differs from a salon pedicure

A salon pedicure is a lovely thing and there is nothing wrong with it. It is designed to make feet look and feel nice: soaking, scrubbing, massage, polish. It is not designed to remove a corn that is pressing on a nerve, or to thin down a nail that has become too thick to cut with clippers.

A medical pedicure works the other way round. Comfort and appearance improve as a by-product of dealing with the underlying issue. Polish is generally left off, partly because it hides the nail plate and partly because covering a discoloured nail does nothing for it. If you want the full explanation of the difference, there is a longer piece here on what a medical pedicure is, and a dedicated medical pedicure treatment page.

Who tends to book one

Plenty of people book simply because they cannot reach their feet comfortably any more, or because their eyesight makes nail cutting risky. Others come with a specific complaint. Common reasons include:

• Nails that have thickened, yellowed or lifted, which may be fungal or thickened nails
• Painful pressure spots that turn out to be corns or built-up callus
• Splits in the skin around the heel, where cracked heel treatment helps
• A nail edge that curves and digs in, needing care for an ingrowing or involuted nail
• Diabetes, where regular checks matter and diabetic foot care is done with extra caution

What causes the problems a medi-pedi sorts out

Most of it comes down to pressure, moisture and time. Hard skin and corns build where a shoe rubs or where your weight lands unevenly, so a narrow toe box, a worn insole or a dropped arch will show up on the skin sooner or later. Cracks in the heel usually start with dry skin that loses its flexibility and then splits under load.

Nails thicken for several reasons. A knock to the toe, years of pressure from footwear, a fungal infection, or simply slower nail growth with age can all leave the nail plate coarse and hard to cut. Circulation and certain medications play a part too.

None of this is a personal failing. Feet carry you around for decades and they show it.

What you can do between appointments

• Moisturise daily. A urea-based foot cream works better on thick skin than a general body lotion. Use it on the heels and soles, but not between the toes.
• Cut nails straight across and no shorter than the end of the toe, then file the corners smooth rather than digging them out.
• Dry between your toes properly after washing. Trapped moisture is what athlete's foot thrives on.
• Leave corn plasters alone if you have diabetes or poor circulation. Medicated pads can damage healthy skin around the corn.
• Check your shoes. A shoe that presses on one spot will keep rebuilding the same callus, however well it is removed.

When to see a GP or podiatrist instead

A medical pedicure is routine care. Some things need medical attention rather than a maintenance appointment. Contact your GP, or ask for a referral to a podiatrist, if you notice:

• Spreading redness, heat, swelling or discharge, which can suggest infection
• A wound, ulcer or blister that is not healing, especially with diabetes
• New numbness, pins and needles or loss of feeling in your feet
• Sudden severe pain, or a foot that changes shape or colour

If something like this turns up during an appointment, you will be told plainly and pointed towards the right person. Nothing here is a substitute for medical care.

Booking a medical pedicure locally

The practice is based in Hessle and covers Hull, Beverley, Cottingham, Anlaby, Willerby, Kirk Ella and Brough. You can be seen at the clinic or at home, which suits people who no longer drive or who find getting out difficult. There are area pages with more detail for foot care in Hessle, Beverley and Hull.

If you are not sure whether a medical pedicure or straightforward routine foot care is what you need, just describe the problem when you get in touch and it can be sorted out from there. To book, contact the practice by phone on 07450 239894 or by email.

Common questions