Foot function
Those 26 bones are worth £300 million if you're Lionel Messi! The foot is just amazing! We say this because once things go wrong, that's when you miss having that big toe that you thought was ugly!
In 2011 Belgian scientists used lasers to measure Bolt’s performance in the different stages of a 100-meter race held in September that year. They found that, 67.13 meters into the race, Bolt reached a top speed of 43.99 kilometers per hour (27.33 miles per hour). He finished with a time of 9.76 seconds in that race, but research has suggested that, with his body type, he probably shouldn’t even be competitive at that distance (https://www.britannica.com/story/how-fast-is-the-worlds-fastest-human)
Ballet if famous for its practitioners going on point! The truth is long term effects in dancers are no ttoo good. Research indicates injuries are common in dancers (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22381195/; https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23672333/;https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10740764/; https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27080110/ ).
The foot can indeed do a lot but misuse, overuse and the state of your overall heatlh can have significant effcts on it!
The first warning is foot pain (unless your nerves are affected by disease like diabetes, osteoarthritis, neurological diseases etc). This should make you stop. If not and your skin is fragile (caused by poor skin vascular supply-diabetes, smoking, vascular disease) you may get foot ulcers!
Causes of foot problems-external
It's the shoes stupid! Too narrow at the front; Too high at the back; hard leather ( beloved of the over 70's!); shoes simply not fitting your foot shape.
If your foot looks like a spade, why put shoes on that are parabolic in shape at the front?
Place your foot on a sheet of A4 or card. Trace the shape of your foot. Cut out the cardboard to show you the shape of your foot. Now try fitting this in your shoe without bending the template!
Misuse or overuse in physical activities can lead to fracture, rapture or sprain of ligaments.
When you're older and less active, it's the floor stupid! Elevate your feet to avoid trauma to your deliacte foot. That foot pain is warning you to get off them feet. Get a recliner chair, a lot of us are wont to leave them on the floor. Deduct the cost from the kids inheritance, they won't mind, plus you reduce the risk of foot ulcers forming. Elevation, elevation elevation...so the saying goes...prevents a thousand ankle ulcers.
Causes of foot problems-Internal
- Poor circulation such as in long term smokers; in diabetic angiopathy...(means when skin is damaged-foot ulcers-it won't repair well)
- Poor sensation such as in Diabetic neuropathy, Ankylosing Spondylitis...(you don't feel foot pain as much; sometimes you don't feel much at all!)
- Deformity such as in Rheumatoid Arthritis ; long term use of incorect footwear;
- Age- cells just cannot cope with routine trauma as we age...
- https://www.diabetes.org.uk/about_us/news/more-than-a-third-unaware-of-diabetes-foot-related-dangers
- https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/peripheral-neuropathy/complications/
Foot ulcers
The balance between repair and injury unseen inthe healthy young foot becomes more apparent with age ad disease takes it's toll. Diabetes with concomitant cicrlulatory and neurological effects is by far the commonest encountered cause of ulceration. Long term smoking and it's effects on circulation is also another major ulcer cause. Kidney disease, Rheumatoid arthritis, Ankylosing Spodylitis etc can all cause ulceration in the foot. Poor diabetic control can seriously undermine the body's ability to repair itself. A deformity such as a hammer toe or a plantar flexed first ray can also lead to overload on toe joints causing persistent ulceration. Ingrowing toe nails are another cause. Leg and foot oedema can lead to ulcers too.
Foot amputation
Lack of foot pain can lead to foot ulcers especially if the circulation is poor or the perons has another disease that disrupts production of fresh cells. When ulcers cannot heal, bone gets involved, eventually and this can escalate to the blood getting infected. If bone doesn't heal, it may have to be removed-amputated.
How to keep your feet healthy
See your podiatrist first before you see anyone else!
Staffordshire has plenty of podiatrists and chiropodists to choose from including Softfeet podiatry provide services in Staffordshire.
It's been known for people for example to receive several doses of antibiotics for an ingrowing toe nail that requires one visit to the podiatrist to diagnose and offer appropriate remedy!
It's also important to remember a lot of adverse events happen because we don't take illnesses seriously in the first place. Poor mental health, social status, living conditions, lifestyle choices and poor disease management may be a potential cause of adverse foot health as we get older.
Use a good emollient!
Flexitol (see more here: https://flexitol.co.uk/), CCS cream ( see more here: https://ccsfootcare.co.uk/)stand out traditionally but others with similar effects have since emerged.
Avoid being barefooted or using open back shoes to lessen the need for emollient use. use padded shoes too.
Use padded footwear
This helps to reduce plantar pressures and thus the natural defence the body has of creating callus to protect pressure areas. At Softfeet, we love our skechers (For mens broad feet we like this one: https://www.skechers.com/en-gb/style/204178/skechers-arch-fit-motley-rolens/TAN)
Ladies it's hard to tell you what's good but we like this range (https://www.skechers.com/en-gb/women/all?category=%2Fshoes%2Fcasual-shoes&genders=W), especially the Lulu, Fabulous, Queeny, Isla, Marvista, Playa, Elation, Easygoing...take look and you'll hopefully get our gist.
Using socks also helps if your skin is starting to dry out with time.
We also like Cosyfeet shoes and Pavers (by Awin) for those clients with swollen feet and legs and requiring more room and comfort. Nowadays they do make some pretty good looking and sturdy footwear.
Look after your health
So if your heart is unwell, it'll impact your feet.As will things like arthritis, diabetes, cancer etc. It's thus essential that you engage with your podiatristto see what the effect on your feet could be and how t ameliorate for this.
Lifestyle
So you enjoy your cigs; your drink; your food; your chill out time. Don't we all! Just moderate it or else you may reap some unwanted results in older age. This is what we commonly see in podiatry clinics:
Smoking- poor circulation in all your body including feet; intermittent claudication; rest pain; amputation; gangrene, dementia, poverty... Cigarettes really are not good at all for the body! They harm your entire body because they harm the road network of your body-the circulation. It's awful to see these in older patients.
Alcohol-alcoholics can get neuropathy where they have no feeling the the legs and feet. Not all but some unfortunate ones may end up this way.
Obesity-foot deformity; osteoarthritic pain in the ankles; due to excess weight and inactivity, oedema may result and then ankle ulcers if not elevating or managing the oedema.
Wear padded roomy shoes; keep as busy as your mom/wife! that why they live long! They always keep busy our women do!