We want to help you start 2020 out on the right foot (pun intended), so we’re going to share some tips in today’s blog for how you can care for your feet in the new year. Below, we take a look at some changes and additions you can make to your daily schedule to give your feet the best chance to stay strong and healthy throughout the new year.
Caring For Your Feet In 2020
Here are some ways you can care for your feet in 2020.
1. More Exercise – A lot of people probably want to exercise more in the new year for various reasons, but being mindful about your exercise habits is especially important for your feet. Exercise will help challenge your foot muscles and ligaments and keep them strong, and it can help us avoid gaining weight. Excess weight means your feet will be handling more stress with each step you take, so keeping that weight off takes repetitive stress off your feet. Just be careful about how you exercise, because if you jump headfirst into a new routine and don’t slowly increase your work load, you can overstress your feet and develop shin splints or stress fractures. It’s great that you want to exercise more, but make sure you take your time increasing your intensity or duration.
2. Regular Checks – It’s a good idea to give your feet a quick examination at least once a week. You can look for signs of ingrown toenails, infections, new growths or gradual changes in your natural foot shape. Early intervention yields better results, but oftentimes we don’t pay much attention to our feet until pain develops. By performing regular foot checks, we can notice a problem at an earlier stage. Pick a day of the week and check your feet for a minute or two, or better yet, get in the habit of performing foot checks every time you take a shower.
3. Good Grooming Habits – Some people have poor foot care habits simply because they don’t know the best ways to care for their feet. For example, when cutting your toenails, cut straight across instead of rounding the edges of your nails, because that can increase your risk of ingrown toenails. Other habits to keep in mind include:
- Scrub your feet every time you’re in the shower.
- Use sunscreen on your feet when wearing sandals or going barefoot in the summer.
- Clean out any wounds as soon as possible.
- Clean and disinfect toenail clippers and other grooming tools.
- Care for ingrown toenails as soon as they begin to develop.
- Ask your doctor about any other care tips you have questions about.
4. Don’t Let Issues Snowball – Finally, it’s important to take care of small issues when you first notice them. We can tell you about patients who we were able to help heal with conservative care methods because they spoke up at the first sign of a problem, and we can tell you stories about patients we had to treat with surgery or more invasive methods because they let a problem get worse until it was too late. Actively treat foot issues at the first sign of trouble for best results.
For more tips, or for any foot care needs in the new year, reach out to Dr. Silverman and the team at Silverman Ankle & Foot.