Correctly fitted footwear is vital for comfort as well as preventing and alleviating foot problems – prevention is better than cure.
Wearing shoes that are not long enough, wide enough or deep enough can exacerbate foot problems. In addition, problem feet can lead to other issues such as problematic or painful knees, hips and backs.
Plantar Fasciitis
This is one of the most common forms of heel and arch pain. It is where the thick band of tissue (plantar fascia) that connects your heel bone to your toes becomes inflamed. The inflammation can be caused by repetitive strain injury through excessive running or walking, wearing inadequate footwear and jumping injury from landing heavily. The pain (usually a stabbing pain when you place your weight on your foot to walk), is usually worse first thing in the morning, when standing for any length of time or after periods of rest.
Over time, untreated plantar fasciitis and heel pain can lead to unexpected hip, back, and knee pain. The arches of the feet work in tandem with the tendons, ligaments, and muscles throughout the lower body. When the plantar fascia is compromised, other muscles, ligaments, and tendons must work harder to compensate.
What can help
Correctly fitting footwear that takes the pressure from the heel area, and or arch support. In addition, foot stretches, rest and massage can also help.
Morton’s Neuroma
This is a painful condition that affects the ball of the foot. It’s usually located in the ball of the foot between your 3rd and 4th toes, but it can appear between the 2nd and 3rd toes also. It happens when the tissue around a nerve, that leads to a toe, thickens from irritation or compression – such as wearing shoes that are the wrong size or shape for your foot for example. It generally feels like a stabbing, burning or shooting pain or as if you have a stone in your shoe. It often gets worse over time. Unfortunately, once you have a Morton’s neuroma, unless you have surgery to remove it, it is there to stay. However, even after surgery there is no guarantee that it will be a cure, as it is quite common for the neuroma to return.
What can help
There are numerous things you can do to help but wearing correctly fitted, wider shoes that offer arch support and take the pressure off the front of the foot are a couple of the best ways to relieve the pain.
Arthritis
There are two main forms of arthritis – rheumatoid and osteoarthritis.
Rheumatoid arthritis
This form of arthritis is a long-term condition that causes pain, swelling and stiffness in the joints. The condition usually affects the hands, feet and wrists. Sufferers experience a throbbing and aching pain and a stiffness in the joints.
Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis is a condition that causes joints to become painful and stiff. It’s the most common type of arthritis in the UK. Sufferers experience symptoms such as swelling, tenderness or a grating or crackling sound when moving the affected joints.
Many people suffer from arthritis in the big toe. This can be either hallux rigidus – where the big toe has no movement and causes pain while walking or hallux limitus where the big toe has some limited movement but again causes pain when walking. Sometimes mistaken for a bunion.
What can help: Footwear designed to give arch support and to take the pressure off the forefoot and heel, the joints in your feet, knees, hips and back, and realign your posture to create a much more natural heel to toe walking gait.
Bunions
A bunion is a bony bump that forms on the joint at the base of your big toe. It occurs when some of the bones in the front part of your foot move out of place. This causes the tip of your big toe to get pulled toward the smaller toes and forces the joint at the base of your big toe to stick out. If you suffer from bunions blame someone in your family as they are hereditary! Unfortunately, they often become painful, and the problem is often exacerbated by wearing inappropriate footwear for example high heels or shoes that are too narrow at the toe.
What can help: Being measured and fitted for footwear that accommodates your bunion. Shoes that take pressure off the front of the foot and or insoles can often help take some (if not all) of the pain away.
Hammer Toes
A hammer toe is a toe that has an abnormal bend in its middle joint, making the toe bend downward to look like a hammer. It can affect any toe. This painful condition forms due to an imbalance in the surrounding muscles, tendons, or ligaments that normally keep the toe straight. The type of shoes you wear, foot structure, trauma and certain disease processes can contribute to the development of these deformities.
What can help
Being measured and fitted for footwear that accommodates your hammer toes. Shoes that are deeper and take pressure off the front of the foot can often help take some (if not all) of the pain away.
Corns
A corn is a build-up of hard skin on your toes or sometimes the balls of your feet. Corns are quite often caused by pressure from shoes that rub against the toes or cause friction between them. Left untreated they can become extremely painful and take a while to treat.
What can help: To avoid developing corns, ensure you wear correctly fitting shoes which are wide, deep and long enough and don’t rub your feet.
Diabetes
A diabetic has two main causes for concern in their general health and they are their feet and eyes.
If you know you have diabetes it is important that you let the shoe fitter know as they will take extra care when fitting and offer advice when helping you choose your footwear. As diabetes effects your nerve endings it can lead to neuropathy which is a loss of feeling in your feet. Some diabetics loose feeling from the knee downwards. This means that problems with the feet such as blisters and corns can go undetected and lead to nasty infections, ulcers and even gangrene. Wearing ill-fitting footwear is a common cause of foot problems for diabetics ie wearing shoes that are too tight, too short, or shoes that have seams and stitching in the wrong place.
At Fitright Footwear we provide a personal one to one measuring and fitting service and have a fabulous range of footwear for both men and women, that will help alleviate pain and discomfort for a variety of foot problems.