Why Foot Health is Important

Your feet were made for walking, and sometimes we can take their function for granted.  Because of their distance, sometimes they are out-of-sight and out-of-mind. It is important to remember, however, that the health of your feet impacts your overall health. Activities that we don’t think twice about when our feet are in great health, like walking to the mailbox, walking around a shopping center, taking a quick jog around the block, and even using our feet for balance, can become extremely difficult once poor foot health begins to get in the way. 

In this blog, we are going to talk about the importance of foot health and how it impacts your overall health. To keep your feet and shoes clean from bacteria that love living in your shoes, try SteriShoe, a podiatrist-recommended UV shoe sanitizer. SteriShoe is a shoe insert that kills 99.9% of the bacteria that causes foot and shoe odor, foot infections like Athlete’s Foot, and toenail fungus. Try SteriShoe today and discover just how easy it can be to keep your shoes clean.

Your Foot is Complex, and A Vital Body Part

The American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA) considers your feet a marvel of engineering. Together, your two feet contain more than 50 bones, accounting for about one-fourth of all the bones in your body. Somehow, they also make room for more than 60 joints and 200 muscles, tendons, and ligaments that hold them together and help them move. With so many important bones and joints in your feet, it is no wonder why so many problems can affect your feet. For starters, they have a tough job — over the course of your life, they endure wear and tear, not to mention, simply the act of everyday walking pounds them with hundreds of tons of force. 

Plus, if you think of all the activities that stress your feet, you start to realize just how important they are to your everyday life. Not only does your lifestyle come into play, but also the kind of shoes you wear. It is crucial to listen and understand what your feet are telling you when they are sore, tired, or in pain, and it is more important to understand when it is necessary to seek professional help. 

How Foot Conditions Impact Other Parts of Your Body

It is important to be aware of some of the ways that a foot condition, injury, or illness can affect the health of other parts of your body. 

• Back and knee pain could result from a foot disorder, disease, or a sports-related foot injury. Conditions such as plantar fasciitis, tendonitis, or stress fractures may cause you to adjust your walking pattern to avoid hurting your feet even more. This can affect your posture and balance, putting stress on other parts of your body.
• Joint pain may result from flat feet, a condition in which feet don’t have enough arch to absorb the shock of routine activities like walking, running, and standing. 
• Leg pain, stiff legs, and muscle weakness in legs can result from foot pain traveling to your legs.
• Poor posture can be the result of imbalance due to foot problems. When feet aren’t aligned with the rest of the body, this can cause you to be off balance, making you more prone to accidental falls and other injuries. 

What Your Feet Say About Your Health

There are a number of health conditions that are sometimes first detected in the feet. Paying attention to foot problems that could indicate a serious condition may warrant a visit to your doctor.

• Foot Cramps – could be a sign of dehydration
• Swollen Feet – may signal hypertension or diabetes
• Tingling in Feet – May be a sign of a pinched nerve somewhere else in the body
• Cold Feet – may indicate a thyroid condition

Why Preventative Foot Care is Important

Prevention is better than cure. There are three important reasons to take care of your feet, including quality of life, productive work, and regular physical activity. Your quality of life is directly linked to your ability to be self-sufficient, so it only makes sense that when you are unable to function at your best because of poor foot health, it negatively impacts your quality of life. A painful foot or leg can be completely debilitating, and because our feet are so essential for keeping us mobile and independent, when something goes wrong, it can be a psychological strain too. 

Furthermore, poor foot health can impede on work performance and can even result in lost time from work. If your feet are in pain, you are distracted from work, or even unable to work depending on your job. Lastly, but equally as important, poor foot health directly impacts your ability to exercise or engage in physical activity. This results in a higher risk of diseases, such as heart disease and diabetes, reduced endurance, and loss of muscle mass. If you already have a chronic condition, your limited ability to engage in physical activity is only exacerbated. Preventative foot care is what keeps you on your toes and helps lessen the need for foot surgery.

Keep your feet, and shoes, clean and healthy with SteriShoe today!