Do your feet hurt when you walk? Do you get cramps in your feet or lower legs? Feel tight and achy after a long day of work? There are many reasons why the feet can be painful, but there are also easy solutions that you can implement into your day to keep your feet happy and healthy.
Often times, we find ourselves coming home from a long day of being on our feet and have pain in the arch of the foot, heel, and/or cramping into the calf and toes. There are many causes of foot pain that can be from more serious issues such as back dysfunction, nerve pain, and structural damage to name a few. But what about the seemingly random stiffness and pain we get in the feet? Below are a number of ways we can address pain and tightness in the feet on a day to day basis.
Check out your shoes: Do you often wear flip flops? How about high heels? Do you like minimalist shoes that don’t have much arch support? All of these things can play a role in how your foot makes contact with the ground. If you have been wearing the same shoes every day, try a different type of shoe with different support. Need to wear heels to work? Try wedges instead which offer a greater surface area of contact as opposed to a stiletto. Wear big clunky work boots? Try to add an over the counter orthotic or gel insole to create more comfort. All of these are things that you can try at home to make your feet happier.
Do you sit a lot at work? Find that the stiffness and cramping in your feet wake you at night? This is a common one we see with patients that are required to sit throughout their work day. Try this: set an alarm on your phone or computer to remind you to stand up every hour and move around- grab a drink of water or take a restroom break. This allows for you to change positions and helps to stretch your muscles out of the position they are in when in a prolonged seated position. Don’t have time during the day to leave the desk? Try and stand up to do a gentle calf stretch to get your muscles moving. Its amazing what a little motion can do to make things feel better – and you can still be at your desk to answer calls and stay on task!
Remember, these are small recommendations that you can implement into your daily life, even with a busy schedule. As always, talk to your Physical Therapist about your foot pain and ask about a screening for other conditions.