5 Tips to decrease foot pain
1. Ensure you wear comfortable shoes
– This may sound like commonsense, but you’d be suprised at the number of foot problems that are caused by wearing shoes that do not fit properly, do not support the feet, or put pressure on areas of the foot that are commonly injured.
Different foot types will have different shoe requirements, for example, people with flat feet may need shoes with some arch support. However, as a general rule, avoid shoes that a too narrow, too high, or don’t have any cushioning on the sole!
2. Flooring/mats
If you’re standing all day, especially at work, make sure you have something soft underfoot. Carpet is preferable to hard floor, and investing in a rubber mat near a workstation for example will make a huge difference to how your feet feel at the end of the day
3. Easy exercises.
Calf stretches are particularly useful for taking pressure off the foot. Tight calf muscles will cause you to put more pressure on the heel of the foot in particular. So give them a 30 second strectch a few times throughout the day to keep your calf muscles flexible.
4. Hot foot bath at night
Soaking your feet in the a bath of warm water for 10 minutes at the end of the day is a great way to restore circulation and loosen tight muscles and joints around the feet and ankles. Follow this with some gentle stretches for best results.
5. Get your feet checked
In some cases the problems may be coming from the alignment of your ffet and you may need to get them checked to see if you need an orthotic or similar intervention to fix your foot pain for the long-term.