6 Easy but Important Ways that You Can Protect Your Feet

If you have to wear work boots on your job then chances are you are usually standing up and walking around. You need to protect your feet by wearing comfortable boots. Steel toe boots are designed to protect your feet if something heavy falls on them but there are certain things that you can do at home in order to make sure that your feet are taken care of properly. There are also certain things that you can do that actually work the opposite. You can mess up your feet by not taking care of them they way that they should be. Here are a few things that you might be doing that could be messing up your feet.

Following for Fads
Not every shoe that claims to protect your feet really does. A company could make all kinds of claims about the health benefits that a certain shoe will have and they turn out to be completely false. They will probably end up having to pay out in court after they are sued for it but not before a few people are hurt by the shoes. Do not buy a shoe simply because you saw a commercial with a person that was happy to use them. If you do decide to try out a new shoe, make sure you do the research and find out exactly how they work and how you should use them.

Gaining Weight
Having extra weight can really wreak havoc on your knees as well as your feet. A recent study found that approximately 41% of people who had gained weight began to feel foot pain. Even just a weight gain of 10 to 12 pounds cause you to have foot problems. The more weight that you gain, the worse stress is going to be placed on your bones, ligaments and tendons. If you want to protect your feet, maintain a healthy diet and exercise regime so that you can keep within a healthy BMI or boy mass index range.

Not Wearing Socks
Wearing shoes without socks actually increases the risk of getting an infection. Many fungi like athlete’s foot is caused because it likes warm, dark and moist environment. That’s pretty much exactly what you find inside a shoe. However, if you wear socks, while they are still warm and dark, they do soak some of the moisture up. Cotton does a pretty terrible job of getting moisture so try and find socks that are made from synthetic materials more than cotton.

Being Fashionable
There’s nothing wrong with caring about how you look and trying to be stylish. However, when you are making that the priority, it can cause you problems. This is especially true when you are buying sneakers. Running shoes need to fit properly so you will want to try and buy them from a store that will help you figure out the right fit for your feet. All feet are different so it is important that you do not get a generic shoe online or somewhere that does not help you to get shoes that provide the proper support. Even if you don’t run, you still need shoes that are conducive to the activities that you do.

Squeezing Shoes On
Squishing shoes on is never a good idea. This could be because the shoe is too small or it could also be when shoes come to a point and squeeze your toes into the front of the shoe. Pointed stilettos for women and traditional wingtip shoes for men are among the worst types of shoes for your feet. Bunions are most commonly caused by people who where shoes that are too tight over a long period of time. Not only can squeezing your shoes on cause bunions and pain but they can all lead to ingrown toenails because of the pressure of your toes pressing in to one another.

Wearing the Same Shoes
If you rely on one pair of shoes all the time this can make the shoe wear out too soon as well as form your foot to that shoe. Instead, try alternating between two pairs of shoes. Make sure you are replacing them between 300 and 500 miles of use.