JustCare

Tag: Plantar fasciitis

  • The benefits of walking barefoot at home

    The benefits of walking barefoot at home

    Believe it or not, there are benefits to walking barefoot at home. Walking barefoot actually helps build muscular strength in your feet reports Anna Rahmanan for the Huffington Post. Walking barefoot can also help the skin beneath your feet.

    Barefoot is defined as wearing neither shoes nor socks. Once you’re wearing socks, your movements change. Your foot muscles do not react as they do when you are barefoot.

    Walking barefoot strengthens your foot muscles. These muscles deteriorate as we age and when we wear shoes. More important, these muscles improve our movement.

    When older people struggle to move, it’s often because they can’t use their foot muscles.

    When you walk barefoot at home, both the soles and tops of your feet can breathe. That keeps them from sweating and reduces the likelihood of getting fungal infections.

    In addition, walking barefoot allows you to feel the bottoms of your feet and the textures below them, improving your sensory skills and well-being. It can help you to be mindful.

    Should you walk barefoot at home as much as possible? Not necessarily. One risk is that you will expose your feet to dirt or allergens or chemicals. If you have sensitive skin, walking barefoot at home can lead to eczema or contact dermatitis. Though, if you wash, dry and moisturize your feet regularly, the risks of walking barefoot at home should be small. It’s all about proper foot care.

    Walking barefoot could also cause you to slip if you’re not careful or to step on something harmful to your feet.

    And if you have diabetes or bad circulation, walking barefoot at home could have severe health consequences.

    Moreover, if you walk barefoot too much on hard floors, you could tire out your feet or develop plantar fasciitis. Plantar fasciitis causes inflammation of the tissue that links your toes to your heel bone. You can also hurt your joints.

    When should you wear socks and shoes at home? It’s important to support your feet when you are standing a lot, such as when you cook. Unlike when you’re barefoot, with shoes, you balance your weight over your whole foot.

    You can also simply wear socks. With socks, you lose the value of going barefoot. But, you protect your feet from dirt and other irritants on the floor.

    Here’s more from Just Care:

  • Watch your feet!

    Watch your feet!

    Do your feet hurt? For eight in ten Americans, the answer is yes. Don’t let foot aches stop you from your daily activities. Check your feet every day.

    Jancee Dunn reports for the New York Times that your feet can alert you to issues with your overall health. For example, if your feet are swollen, it could mean you have high blood pressure, gout or kidney problems. If your feet are tingling, you might have diabetes.

    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. No matter what’s wrong, you can ease foot pain and feel better.

    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.

    What to do? Study both the tips and bottoms of your feet as well as the space between your toes. If your skin is cracked, red or you have sores that won’t heal, talk to your doctor.

    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: 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.
    • 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. With calluses and corns, there’s a thickening of your skin. Corns might also have some fluid.
    • Plantar fasciitis: 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. But, avoid wearing flip flops, which can aggravate foot issues, including arch pain and plantar fasciitis.
    • 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.
    • Do use suntan lotion on your feet to avoid sunburn and skin cancer on the tops and soles of your feet.

    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!
    • 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 feet

    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