Spa employees, including massage therapists, nail technicians and reflexologists come into regular contact with customers’ feet. It’s helpful to know what feet can tell you about health.

Know the signs of underlying conditions

Do the therapists at your spa know how to spot signs of underlying illness on someone’s feet, and when to refer that person to a medical professional? We asked Jane Andersen, a North Carolina-based podiatrist and Chair of the American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA) Communications Committee, to share with us some of the indicators in a person’s feet that a guest should seek medical attention.

What feet can tell you about health

Andersen told Spa Executive that some of the signs a spa customer might need to see a doctor include “Any significant pain, a mass that is not normal anatomy, redness, swelling and/or warmth, or open sores.” She also said that she has seen patients referred by spa therapists.

“We periodically do have patients referred from massage therapists, especially for painful conditions such as plantar fasciitis. Massage therapy can be a very helpful tool for these patients, but they often need to be seen by their podiatrist.”

Here is a list of 8 signs that a guest might have an existing health condition and should be referred to a medical professional, such as a podiatrist or MD, if they haven’t already seen one.

Numbness, tingling and open sores that don’t heal

Numbness, tingling and open sores can be indicators of diabetes, a disease in which the body does not properly process food and blood glucose is too high.

Cold feet and lack of hair on the feet and toes

Cold feet and toe baldness can be signs of peripheral arterial disease, a common circulatory issue in which narrowing of the arteries restricts blood flow to the limbs.

Red, hot, swollen big toe joint

Heat, swelling and pain the in big toe joint may be a sign of gout. Gout is a form of arthritis caused by a buildup of uric acid in the blood that then crystallizes in joints, most often in the toe.

Deformity and pain with the toes drifting outward

Outward drifting of the toes with pain and deformity is indicative of rheumatoid arthritis. This painful condition is the most common type of autoimmune arthritis. It occurs when the immune system is not working properly.

Moles that are large, asymmetrical, have irregular borders and/or are irregular in color

Large, asymmetrical, and irregular moles can all be indicators of skin cancer. So can a black or brown line under the toenail. Also watch for bleeding.

Xanthoma (nodule often found on achilles tendon)

Xanthoma are fatty deposits under the skin caused by hyperlipidemia. “Hyperlipidemia” is the medical term for high cholesterol, which can lead to arterial blockage and heart disease.

Red, white or blue toes

Red, white or blue toes are a sign of Raynaud’s disease or phenomenon, a condition in which changes in temperature trigger an abnormal spasm of the blood vessels, causing a diminished blood supply to the tissues.

White pitted toenails

Pitting in the toenails (holes in the nail that can be shallow or deep) can be an indicator of psoriasis, as can nails pulling away from the nail beds. Pitting can also be a sign of other conditions.

What to do now?

Some of these are indicators of more serious illnesses, but it’s important not to terrify the guest. As we’ve discussed before, we should always leave the diagnosing to medical professionals.

The therapists should suggest to the guest that they see a podiatrist or their family doctor, stressing that what they are seeing is out of the ordinary but they are not  qualified to make a diagnosis.

Do speak up if you see something, and encourage your colleagues to do the same. You can make a big difference in someone’s life, and maybe even save it.

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Spa Executive magazine is published by Book4Time, the world’s most innovative spa, salon, wellness, and activity management software. Learn more at Book4Time.com.

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We already have evidence that social media and internet addiction may have a detrimental effects on mental health. Now, if you’re in need of more backing to show merit to the spa and wellness industry’s push for digital detox, you’re in luck.

A recent study out of the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin has found that just being in the same room as your smart phone significantly reduces cognitive capacity. In other words, smart phones make you dumb – and you don’t even have to be using one for that to happen. (Just as you suspected, right?)

According to a media release, McCombs Assistant Professor Adrian Ward and co-authors conducted two experiments with nearly 800 smartphone users.

In one, participants were told to turn their phones to silent and randomly assigned to place the phones either on the desk face down, in their pocket or personal bag, or in another room, They then took a series of tests designed to measure available cognitive capacity — which is our ability to retain and process information.

The results? Researchers found that participants with their phones on the desk performed significantly worse that those with their phones in another room, and slightly worse than those with their phones in a pocket or bag.

In another experiment, participants took the same tests as the first group, but were first asked to gauge their own smartphone dependence. This group was randomly assigned to keep their phones either in sight on the desk face up, in a pocket or bag, or in another room. Some were also instructed to turn off their phones.

This time, the most smart-phone dependent participants performed worse than less-dependent ones, but only when they kept their smartphones on the desk or in their pocket or bag.

All this, they say, suggests that having a smartphone within sight or within easy reach reduces a person’s ability to focus and perform tasks.

“It’s not that participants were distracted because they were getting notifications on their phones,” said Ward. “The mere presence of their smartphone was enough to reduce their cognitive capacity.”

Read more here.

It’s not the first study to suggest smart phones and misuse of technology area making us dumber.

• A Kent State study found that cell phone use/texting was negatively related to GPA and positively related to anxiety.
• A 2011 study published in the journal Science, suggested that reliance on Google is inhibiting our capacity to store and access information.
• A study in the Journal of Experimental Psychology found that simply receiving a cell phone notification significantly disrupted performance on an attention-demanding task, even when participants did not directly interact with a mobile device during the task.

Regarding other effects on the brain and mental health:

According to a study at Leeds University, internet addicts are significantly more likely to suffer from depression than non addicts.

Research has found heavy social media use to be correlated with depression and low self esteem.

A University of Derby study found higher scores of narcissism and levels of neuroticism were linked to smartphone addiction.

Spa Executive magazine is published by Book4Time, the world’s most innovative spa, salon, wellness, and activity management software. Learn more at Book4Time.com

(Image: Copyright: stockbroker / 123RF Stock Photo)

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Frequent sauna bathing can reduce the risk of dementia in men, according to a recent study at the University of Eastern Finland.

The study, led by Jari Laukkanen, a professor of clinical medicine, followed more than 2,300 middle-aged Finnish men (aged 42-60) for more than 20 years and found that the most frequent sauna users had the lowest risk of dementia.

Men who went to the sauna four to seven times a week were 66% less likely to be diagnosed with dementia, and 65% less likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, than those taking a sauna once a week.

This is the first time the effects of sauna bathing on the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia have been studied.

“We have taken into account other lifestyle factors, like physical activity and socioeconomic factors … There is an independent effect of sauna on these outcomes,” Laukkanen reportedly said. He also noted that more research is required on different age groups, other nationalities, and women.

Previously released results from the same study suggested that men who take frequent saunas also have a lower risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD) and all-cause mortality.

For fatal coronary heart disease the risk was 48% lower for 4 to 7 sauna sessions per week compared to once a week. And for all-cause mortality, 4 to 7 times per week was associated with a 40% reduction in risk compared to once per week.

“Further studies are warranted to establish the potential mechanism that links sauna bathing and cardiovascular health,” the study said.

Reuters quotes Laukkonen as saying, “In the sauna, the heart rate increases and we start to sweat. This is a bit like physical exercise.

“After sauna, you may have lower blood pressure, and blood pressure is an important risk factor in cardiovascular and memory diseases. This may be one possible explanation for our findings.”

In Finland, sauna is part of the national culture. There are an estimated two million saunas in Finland, for a population of 5.3 million.

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