February Articles 2014







Foot Rehabilitation for Athletes






Keeping Children's Feet Healthy






Arthritic Foot Care

The average person walks about 75,000 miles during their lifetime, which puts a lot of pressure and stress on your feet. As you age, you lose flexibility and elasticity in the 26 bones and 30 different joints located in your feet, as well as weakening your shock absorbers. Adding arthritis to this mix makes things worse, with inflammation and distorted joints, which is why arthritic foot care is a crucial part of your daily routine at this stage of your life.

The last thing you need if you suffer from arthritis in your feet is for additional, painful conditions to arise, such as bunions, neuroma, or hammertoe. Buying well-fitting shoes, shoes with a lower heel and more room, and shoes that have better arch support are good places to start. Because arthritis will cause you to lose the arch in your foot, it is highly recommended to buy shoes that can support your arch.

On top of getting enough arch support, you need to have a comfortable fit as well. Leaving a finger width between the back of the shoe and your foot is an easy way to measure and gauge the proper size, and having a square or rounded toe box in the front will help even more. It is also recommended to use shoes that have a rubber sole, as this provides a cushion and acts as a shock absorber. It also provides flexibility for the ball of your foot when you push off your heel to walk.

Shoes are not the only way to get proper arthritic foot care though. Exercise helps a lot and will not only strengthen your muscles and joints, but help prevent further injury and pain. For example, stretching the Achilles tendon in the back of your heel will give your foot added mobility, reducing pain because a lack of mobility causes stress in this area. Another good example is massaging the ball of your foot and your toes from top to bottom.

As previously mentioned, one of the best exercises to do is stretching your Achilles tendon. To do this, simply lean against a wall with your palms flat, place one foot forward and one foot back, making sure both feet are flat on the floor, then lean forward, bending your forward knee towards the wall but keeping your back knee straight and unbent. You will feel your Achilles tendon and calf muscles stretch. Another great exercise is the big toe stretch that alleviates stiffness. Place a rubber band around your big toes, keep your feet together, and pull your toes away from each other. You can also place a rubber band around all the toes of one foot and then try to separate them, stretching them out.

Aside from stretching and exercise, pain can be alleviated with non-steroid, anti-inflammatory drugs, heat, and ultrasounds. Topical medicines with capsaicin can also help. So far, there is no completely pain free remedy for arthritic feet, but following some of this advice can go a long way in helping you stay as pain free as possible.

January - February
