04 Jul Taking Steps to Relieve Foot Pain
Chiropractic treatments promote overall wellness by improving the health and stability of your spine. For stability, you also need healthy, pain-free feet. Your chiropractor can help you with that, too!
You have a lot of options for treating and preventing foot pain. Read on for some foot facts from our team at Eastern Oklahoma Chiropractic.
Common Causes and Types of Foot Pain
One of the biggest risk factors for aching feet is simply getting older, as problems become magnified by wear and tear on your foot structures. Other common sources of pain include:
- Old or poorly fitting shoes that distort your feet, leading to problems such as bunions
- Exercising on hard surfaces or using poor form, causing painful muscle strains and injuries
- Structural foot problems such as flat feet and hammer toes
- Plantar fasciitis, involving heel pain due to strains in the foot-supporting ligaments
- Arthritis, which causes pain and swelling in toes
- Diabetes, resulting in conditions like nerve damage and slow injury healing
- Injuries, such as sprains and tendinitis
The Foot-Spine Relationship
Your feet, with their complex structure of 26 bones and 30 joints, play a crucial role in your body’s overall stability. All of the joints above your feet need a stable base to help you maintain an aligned spine and center of gravity, with weight distributed evenly.
When you walk, run or simply stand, your body engages in a process known as the kinetic chain. This means that each joint helping you move—such as ankles, knees, hips, and spinal joints—is part of a chain of events that affects other segments of the chain.
When your feet hurt, they may rotate inward or outward, and you can imagine what that does to the position of your knees, hips and spine. Then your muscles have to compensate to maintain balance–a domino effect leading to muscle strain, fatigue, and misalignment.
Tips to Prevent Foot Problems
Be proactive about your foot health:
Watch your weight. Excess pounds place stress on your feet and can also cause diabetes.
Trim nails straight across to avoid ingrown nails.
Perform stretches to keep calf muscles flexible and avoid foot strain.
Start new exercises gradually to avoid injury.
Vary your activities. Try to alternate sitting and standing to limit pressure on your feet.
Drink plenty of water to ward off foot cramps caused by dehydration.
Use good shoe sense. With age, our feet get larger and change shape–make sure shoes fit properly.
Avoid:
- High heels—a cause of back pain, shortened calves, blisters, and bunions
- Flip flops, which provide little arch support
Don’t delay treatment for painful feet.
Chiropractic Care for Your Feet
Chiropractors treat your whole musculoskeletal system, without surgery or drugs. They’ll evaluate your stability, strength, flexibility, and mobility, determine the cause of your foot pain, plus find any problems it’s creating in other parts of your body.
Natural treatment options for your feet include chiropractic manipulation, exercises, orthotics, and other therapies.
Chiropractic care helps your feet and your whole body function as they’re meant to–with good mobility and comfort.
Contact our Broken Arrow Office to Schedule Your Free Consultation
Call Eastern Oklahoma Chiropractic at 918-940-4630 to start feeling better today.