Like accountants, they’re indispensable, yet nobody takes much notice of them until something goes wrong. Your feet are important, so pay them some respect before they do an Enron on your body.
Each one has 28 bones and 35 joints. They walk thousands of kilometers each year. Yet you might give them no more than a cursory glance while you soap them in the shower. If you’re a runner, you’ll accumulate literally tons of pressure on them during training.
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So don’t you think they deserve a little respect? We’re not saying you should start wearing open-toed sandals to the stock exchange or whipping off your brogues in board meetings. But there are things you can do to ease the plight of your feet.
Go barefoot. Shoes make your feet weak, so at the end of the day, slip off those clodhoppers that you prowl the corridors of power in. This could benefit the whole body, as it’s been suggested that sitting motor vehicles and offices surrounded by electrical fields messes up the polarity of the human body. Walking on damp grass is thought to short-circuit that and reset your body’s polarity. Makes sense, right? Walking on sand or grass feels good anyway, as long as there are no nasty surprises left by the dog. It also provides your feet with the kind of support sports-shoe manufacturers aim for.
Low rolling for high rollers. Say you’re stuck in a budget hotel near Frankfurt airport, nowhere near a beach or a lawn. Take a couple of golf balls or even those little bottles from the mini-bar and roll them underfoot while you sit on the edge of your bed. The bottles won’t break if you don’t put too much weight on them.
Keep your toes happy. Remember in Die Hard, how Bruce Willis was advised to stand barefoot on a carpet and wiggle his toes? It was the director’s way of ensuring that he spent the entire movie barefoot. The muscles in your toes also need exercise, which they don't get if your feet are in shoes all the time. Wiggling your toes will give it to them. So does bathing them in warm water with Epsom salts, then cool water, then a moisturizing cream like aqueous cream.
Keep your nails trimmed. But don’t cut them too short, especially at the edges, where they might dig into the skin and become ingrown. If you’re concerned that you might get ingrown toenails you can cut a notch in the middle of the nail. This can help pull the grain of the nail straight if it’s been veering to one side. Another way is to gently pull the exposed part of the nail straight, then to wrap some sticking plaster over the nail, which ought to keep it clear of the skin. If that doesn’t provide relief, see a doctor.
Ease off the hard stuff. Not tequila, although that’s also a good idea. Use a pumice stone to rub off hardened skin on the sides of your heels. Not because you want feet that are soft as a baby’s bottom, but because the hardened skin will eventually crack, which can bleed.
Banish bunions. That’s those hard lumps, usually on the outside of your big toe. Apparently they can be inherited, but they’re also aggravated by wearing shoes that are too narrow. So have a good, objective look at your feet and see a shoe-shop attendant, if not a podiatrist.
Feel their pain. If your feet could talk, they would. Pain is a symptom that all is not well, so watch the signs. Pain in the ball of the foot is probably caused by something called metatarsalgia. Your metatarsals are a set of bones that run the length of your foot, from your toes to the base of your ankles. Generally they’re aligned, but when one drops out of line, the head – that’s the big bit near the toes – can become inflamed, and you’ll experience a sharp pain like you’ve stood on a final demand letter from your dentist. Other reasons for the pain under the ball of the foot include nerves being pinched between the metatarsals and even arthritis. There are little pads of fat (Yes, even on you with the rippling six-pack) that protect the balls of the feet. If the fat pads are compressed, you’ll feel pain. Spending some time with your shoes off ought to help ease the pain.
Remedies for aching feet. If walking barefoot for a while makes no difference, see a podiatrist about some custom-made shoe inserts, or try some shoes with extra padding. Barker Softreds are good, as are shoes in the Green Cross range. Luckily, both brands make shoes that can also be worn safely in daylight. Another common sort of pain is felt in the heel, usually when you put weight on the foot after sitting or lying down. But if you look down and there’s no drawing pin in your foot, it’s probably plantar fasciatis. Visualise a ribbon of ligament running from your down your heel to the ball of your foot. That’s called the plantar fascia. If it’s too tight – and your Achilles heel’s tightness will contribute to this, you’ll experience pain. Some ice will work, followed by an anti-inflammatory and the thing with the mini-bar bottle. Regular use of the bottle – on the foot, not the mouth – should help keep the tendon loose and the pain away.
Finally, here’s an exercise to ease stiffness all the way from your toes to the backs of your knees. Stand on the edge of a stair, with just your metatarsals on it. Holding on to something for balance, relax until you sink, then push back up gently. Repeat several times. (William Smook)
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