Love your Feet: Foot Care and Health

Your feet are responsible for bearing your weight and getting you anywhere you need to go. Needless to say, you should give them always make sure you look after them as they are often neglected. Let’s talk about how to keep your feet healthy.

Comfortable Footwear And Good Fit

Don’t abuse your feet by forcing them into shoes that are too small or badly-structured. Footwear that does not fit well can result in pressure spots that create callus or bony growths, and can even result in bruised toe nails.

Most people have one foot larger than the other, ensure you are fitting to the larger foot. And since feet swell throughout the day, it is best to try on shoes in the afternoon. It is also important to know it is normal to have our feet increase in size as we age, so you should ask a Fitting Expert to take a measurement for you.

However, every brand makes their shoes off a different last, so being a size 8 in a specific brand does not mean you are a size 8 in another. A measurement just gives you a guideline to go off on.

READ MORE: Foot Problems Associated with Tight Footwear

How do you fit for shoes then? When doing so, it is best to make sure there is about ⅜” – ½” of space between your longest toe and the front of the shoes. This allows room for the foot to splay, and to provide some wiggle room.

Buy shoes to the shape of your foot, as shoes are made of three main lasts:

Wear Socks And Keep Your Feet Clean

There are 250,000 sweat glands in a pair of feet. At the end of the way, this may result in some soggy socks. If your feet tend to sweat, make sure you have a spare pair of socks to wear. This helps prevent your wet socks from creating odour causing bacteria and creating an environment that fungus can grow in.

What material should you look for? Wool socks provide the best moisture wicking and temperature properties. You may be thinking of the itchy-scratchy types, but I am talking about merino wool varieties, such as Smartwool, which also come in thinner and thicker cushioning depending on your activity.

READ MORE: Why Cotton is Rotten

Technical socks are made with a blend of synthetic materials, which also have the moisture wicking properties, but may heat up. Cotton is not a good option despite being able to absorb quickly, as they saturate fast and take a while to dry out.

Otherwise, keep your feet clean by washing them every day and moisturizing. This helps to remove bacteria and soften up any calluses that may have been building up.

Address Pain & Prevent

I always tell my patients that your feet are your foundation. And, if they are hurting, the rest of you starts hurting too. Did you know that there are 26 bones in your feet and ankle? That is almost ¼ of the bones in the human body, which goes to show how important your feet are. If you cannot walk, you lose a lot of mobility and independence.

There are many conditions which afflict our feet, such as plantar fasciitis, metatarsalgia, heel pain, Achilles tendonitis — which could be read up on in different brochures that Kintec provides.

Many of those conditions can be helped with and prevented with conservative treatments, such as custom orthotics, proper footwear and other necessary bracing products. So do not hesitate to seek help or to get more information from your nearest Kintec location.