After dinner, boil a pot of water, watch TV while soaking feet, and warm for an hour or two before going to bed-after winter, many old people like to soak their feet before going to bed. However, Min Xiaolan, a professor at Shanghai Famous Medical Hall, believes that the foot is the "second heart" of the human body, and we should pay attention to science when protecting it. There are three mistakes in the above-mentioned foot soaking procedure, which need to attract the attention of the elderly. As the saying goes, "Old people should live a long life, and their heads are cold and their feet are hot." Professor Min pointed out that the foot bath time should not be too long, at most half an hour, otherwise the local blood circulation will be too fast for a long time, which will cause relative ischemia in other parts of the body, and the elderly may faint due to insufficient blood supply to the brain. Secondly, we should pay attention to soaking feet within half an hour after meals, which will affect the blood supply to the stomach, and in the long run, it will make the elderly malnourished. In addition, you can't sleep immediately after soaking your feet. Rub your feet when your feet are hot, and wear socks to keep warm in time. It is best to go to bed after the whole body heat gradually decreases. Professor Min said that it is best for the elderly to soak their feet in a deep wooden bucket with a large bottom area, so that they can lay their feet comfortably flat and let the water soak all the way to their calves. The water temperature is about 40 degrees Celsius, so hot water should be replenished at any time. It is more effective to soak feet with traditional Chinese medicine. Professor Min mentioned that while soaking feet in hot water, if Chinese medicine can be added to hot water, it can also play a multiplier role in strengthening the body and protecting health for some elderly patients with chronic diseases. Professor Min recommended several foot-soaking prescriptions with simple preparation methods: the elderly with qi deficiency can choose air-invigorating drugs such as Codonopsis pilosula, Astragalus membranaceus and Atractylodes macrocephala. Patients with hypertension should soak their feet with chrysanthemum, medlar, mulberry branch, salvia miltiorrhiza and borneol. Some elderly people need to promote blood circulation and tonify the kidney in winter, so they can choose Angelica sinensis, Radix Paeoniae Rubra, Carthami Flos and Radix Dipsaci. Some elderly people have dry skin and are prone to chapping in winter. You can choose cassia twig, honeysuckle and safflower. Take each 15-20g of the above traditional Chinese medicines, put them in a casserole and decoct them, then pour the decocted liquid into a bucket, add hot water and soak them for 30 minutes every day. Professor Min reminded that Chinese medicine must not use metal and plastic pots to soak feet, otherwise some effective components of the liquid medicine will be lost. When the skin is broken or cut, stop soaking the medicine (except in the case of broken skin and chapped skin). Traditional Chinese medicine foot bath can only play the role of adjuvant therapy, and elderly friends should never regard it as a method of treating diseases, so as not to delay the illness. Use massage footbath with caution. Nowadays, many old people still like to soak their feet with health massage footbath. As long as it is electrified, it can keep the water temperature and spray different water currents to massage the soles of the feet. Many young people give it as a gift to their elders. Professor Min reminded everyone that the footbath should be used with caution. Because traditional Chinese medicine massage mainly achieves therapeutic effect by stimulating local acupoints through massage, the water flow in the foot bath tub is not strong enough and the stimulation area is large, so it is difficult to achieve the effect. In addition, the material of massage footbath is complicated, and I don't know what will happen after adding Chinese medicine. For the elderly, it is better to choose a wooden foot bath.