We would like you to come in every fortnight. We would also like to be honest: what you do on the other thirteen evenings matters more than what we do on the fourteenth.
Here is the routine our therapists give when guests ask. It takes five minutes, needs nothing you do not already own, and works best done badly every night rather than perfectly once a week.
The five minutes
Minute one — warm. A basin of comfortably hot water, ankle deep. A handful of salt if you have it; plain water is fine. Sit down. Do not scroll.
Minutes two and three — roll. Dry the feet. Put a tennis ball under one arch and roll slowly, heel to the base of the toes. Slowly. When you find a spot that objects, stop there and rest your weight into it for a few breaths rather than rolling past it. Ninety seconds per foot.
Minute four — stretch. Three things, ten seconds each per foot. Pull each toe gently away from the foot. Take the ball of the foot in one hand and flex it upward until the arch lengthens. Then, standing, drop one heel off a step and let gravity take the calf.
Minute five — moisturise, then cover. Any plain cream, worked in with your thumbs rather than dabbed on. Focus on the heel and the outer edge. Then put on cotton socks — the cream stays where you put it instead of on the bedsheet.
Four habits worth more than the routine
Rotate your shoes. Wearing the same pair daily means the same pressure on the same points, and it never lets the lining dry. Two pairs alternated will do more for your feet than any cream.
Cut nails straight across. Curved corners are how ingrown nails begin. Straight, then file the edges smooth.
Do not shave the callus off. A callus is a response to pressure. Remove it entirely and the body rebuilds it thicker. File it down gradually and fix the shoe that caused it.
Look at your feet once a week. Properly, in good light. Cracks, colour changes, a nail that has thickened, numbness that has become normal — all of it is easier to address early. If something has changed and stayed changed, see a doctor rather than a spa.
What we can do that you cannot
Two things, honestly. Sustained pressure at a depth and duration that is difficult to reach on your own foot — and the parasympathetic drop that comes from being worked on by someone else while you are responsible for nothing.
Everything else on this page is yours. Five minutes. Tonight.
