This years Foot Health Awareness Week is all about the problems that are associated with standing for long periods of time.
For people who work on their feet all day, there are a number of problems that can arise. Some examples are:
- Pain in the balls of the feet
- Heel pain
- Leg pain
- Ingrown toenails
- Fungal nail infections
- Corns and calluses
- Lower back pain
Carry on reading for some top tips on how to prevent and manage these problems!
Well-fitting footwear is key
One of the key things you can do to prevent developing problems is to ensure you have well-fitting footwear. You need to focus on the length, width and depth, allowing your feet to spread naturally throughout the day. You don’t want your shoe to be too tight and compress the structure of your foot.
If the shoe is ill-fitting, it can lead to friction, which in turn can cause callus build up around the toes and balls of the feet.
Over a prolonged period, if the toenails are getting squashed and compacted, severe pain can occur, as well as the toenail piercing the skin which can cause an infection.
As we age, our feet lengthen, and as children we regularly get our feet measured, but as adults? Less so. It’s important that you have at least a finger width distance between the end of your longest toe and the edge of the shoe. If you are in your shoes all day, it’s imperative that they have fastenings, either laces, straps, velcro or buckles. These enable you to tighten or loosen your shoes throughout the day, depending on your temperature.
It is also important that your footwear fits snugly around your foot, so no friction can occur. The foot should also not shift sideways, or forward in the shoe as this can cause increased stress, resulting in corns and calluses.
Don’t forget the soles!
Another thing to consider is the sole of the shoe. It’s important to have a non-slip sole when you are standing on hard surfaces, this will cushion your foot as well as ensuring you don’t fall.
The sole should be a similar width to that of the foot, the more contact the sole has with the ground, the more stable you will be, and the more evenly the pressure will be distributed. You will also need to keep an eye on the condition of the soles, any cracks or thinning can affect the stability of the shoe.
Below are our top tips for shoes when you are standing or walking all day:
Every 3-4 hours, change into a different pair of shoes so that the standing height and comfort of your feet can change. This allows the blood flow to change and improves the muscle’s function, as well as preventing foot fatigue and leg aches.
Wear support socks or stockings. The elastic nature of the stockings can improve the venous return of the blood, therefore keeping your feet and legs slimmer (if they tend to swell) and less achy. This can also help with varicose veins.
Avoid loose fitting or slip on shoes. If your shoe is loose, you need to use your toes to grip onto the shoe, which can lead to pain in the balls of the feet, calluses, and corns on the tips and in-between the toes.
Change your socks more often throughout the day if you need to. Excessive sweat can lead to athlete’s foot and fungal infections.