This time of year everyone is going to put their feet through a grueling ritual of beach walking, shopping, and sightseeing on holidays. This happens because we dramatically increase our activity this time of year without thought to what we are doing to our feet and legs. The pain comes from multiple factors: muscle fatigue in those small muscles of the foot, arch strain from wearing inappropriate shoes while walking for hours, shin splints, increasing walking time from 30 minutes a day to 5 hours in one weekend! And let’s not forget those 4-inch shoes that look great with that holiday outfit, but cause all your toes to go numb 30 minutes after wearing them!
The most common things we see during this season are heel pain or plantar fasciitis, neuromas, shin splints, and Achilles tendonitis. All are due to fatigue and overuse. Pain can occur in the arches and heels as well as along the front of the legs. With neuromas, there is a pain in the ball of the foot with a sensation of walking on a rock or a rolled up sock. Usually, the pain described will subside once the walking event is over and you can get off your feet and rest.

Follow these helpful tips for a pain-free holiday experience:

1- Wear a good supportive shoe for long walking, standing or increased activity. A really good runner is just the thing to keep those feet comfortable and reduce foot and leg muscle fatigue.
2- Take frequent breaks during the activity and get off those feet. Give them a rest!
3- Stretching reduces muscle pain after a long day of walking. Good calf and arch stretches will keep you from walking with a limp the next day.
4- Roll, baby, Roll! When you are done with your day, roll your feet across a frozen bottle of water. Not only does this feel great, but it decreases the swelling along the arches and heels.
Wear those nice heels out at night, but don’t stand all night! Wear comfortable shoes on your way to the party, then switch right before making your grand entrance. If you like dancing and want to wear heels, expect pain!

If you find that your foot, ankle or leg pain is not going away with rest, ice and a simple shoe gear change, then there may be something more serious going on that needs to be treated.
Book in the relief chartered Physiotherapy 0877097178 and let our chartered physiotherapists take care of you.