Do your feet hurt? If you’re like most Americans, the answer is yes. Don’t let foot aches stop you from your daily activities. Practice daily foot care. No matter what’s wrong, you can ease foot pain and feel better.
Eight in ten Americans experience foot problems. Foot pain is especially common for older adults because your skin becomes thinner and less elastic as you age. There are a wide array of treatments targeting different types of foot pain, depending when you feel pain and its location.
Treating foot issues is particularly important because it can decrease your risk of falling. As it is, one in three older adults fall each year. And, more than 1.5 million older adults are hospitalized each year as a result of a fall.
Where’s the pain? And, when do you feel it?
Fungal infections between the toes causing redness, blisters or itching: This is typically called athlete’s foot because the infection develops from sweat and moisture build-up in your feet as a result of exercise. Make sure you wash your feet, including the area between the toes, after exercise and then dry then to prevent infections. Use an over-the- counter fungal spray or cream to treat the infection. And, talk to your doctor.
Toenail fungus is very common among older adults. It results from brittle and dry nails and reduced circulation to the feet as you age. Your toenail becomes discolored and thick. If it doesn’t hurt, you don’t really have to worry about it. But, it could spread to other toes.
Ingrown toenails: To prevent them, cut toenails straight across. Do not round them at the edges.
Blisters: Blisters happen to everyone. You can pop a blister with a clean tool. But don’t take the top off. Simply put an antiseptic cream on with a bandaid until it heals.
If you have spent a lot of time wearing poor-fitting shoes, you might have bunions, hammertoes, corns or calluses. More than one in three older adults have bunions. They appear on the inside of your feet at the base of the big toe. Hammertoes are protrusions on the top of your toe that keep your toe from sitting straight and flat.
Calluses and corns are also common. With calluses and corns, there’s a thickening of your skin. Corns might also have some fluid.
One in ten adults over 50 suffer from plantar fasciitis. It causes a pain on the bottom of your feet, which can be debilitating. It is an inflammation of the tissue on the bottom of your feet and across its full length.
It might not be possible to prevent plantar fasciitis. It often results from exercise, when the muscles in your legs and feet are tight. And, you don’t want to stop exercising!!!!! But, you should be sure to take time to stretch your muscles, particularly your calves, before and after exercising.
Good foot hygiene:
- Do not wear shoes that are tight. Do not polish your toenails if they are discolored. Do not get callus shavers or foot peels. Avoid high heels!!!
- Do exercise your feet. You can roll a tennis ball underneath them. Get a foot massage and do legs up the wall exercises. Soak your feet in water with vinegar. Wash and moisturize your feet every day.
- If foot pain persists, see a podiatrist.
Warding off bunions, hammertoes, corns and calluses and easing pain:
- Keep your toenails clipped.
- Wear shoes that support your feet and do not pinch your feet
- Do foot exercises to develop the muscles in your feet.
- Wear padded bandaids or moleskins over the affected areas of your feet
- Soak your feet regularly and then moisturize them with a lotion containing urea.
- If the pain is preventing you from doing what you want to do, talk to a doctor about the costs and benefits of surgery.
- Use a pumice stone on calluses.
Treating plantar fasciitis and osteoarthritis:
- Ice your foot where it hurts early and often!
- Make sure you wear shoes that do not bend.
- Walk a little, even if it hurts.
- Stick to bicycling, swimming and other exercises that are not high-impact; take a break from activity that’s hard on your feet.
- See a physical therapist.
- Get a shoe insert tailored to your foot.
Here’s more from Just Care:
- Five ways to ease your fear of falling
- Five exercises to improve balance for safety and health
- Caregiving: Keeping Parents Healthy – Water, Walking, Watch out for Delirium
- Aerobic exercise may be best medicine for your brain and body
- New study finds no benefits to Vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acid supplements
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