Do You Spend Long Hours Working on Your Feet?

How Are Feet Affected?
The foot has dozens of bones, joints, muscles, nerves, blood vessels, tendons and layers of fascia (connective tissue). When the body tissues are sufficiently stressed, they become swollen and/or inflamed. Chronic inflammation may create scar tissue and changes to bony structures. The "it is" behind the words such as "Achilles tendonitis" means "inflammation of the Achilles tendon".
The bones of the foot form arches that are supported by ligaments and muscles. These arches contribute to the strength, stability, mobility, and resilience of the foot. During standing, walking, running or jumping, the arches serve as shock absorbers, spreading energy before it is transferred higher up the leg.

If the arches are lost (for example through conditions of flat foot, overpronation, or simple overuse), the shock-absorbing quality of the arches disappears. This affects the feet, knees, hips and spine. Losing the arch in your feet also changes the position of the knee and hip, which makes them more vulnerable to injury from working on your feet.

Besides the stress of prolonged standing and walking on the foot, the architecture of the foot can also increase the symptoms from pre-existing conditions:

• Plantar fasciitis refers to the inflammation of the fascia under the heel. Flat or tilted feet (from heel pronation) and bony spurs in the base of the ankle may make the condition worse.


• Achilles tendonitis results from overstretching of the Achilles tendon.


• Bunions at the side of the big toe may arise because of heel pronation and may be aggravated by narrow shoe boxes (the area in front of the shoe) and prolonged standing/walking.


• Corns on top of the toes may be aggravated by scraping against the inside of your shoe.

What Are Possible Health Symptoms From Working On Your Feet?
The most common symptom from working on your feet, and usually the first to occur, is discomfort and fatigue in the legs.

The closer the body part is to the ground, the more likely it will be affected by prolonged standing (i.e. the feet are most often affected, followed by the shins and calves, followed by the knees, thighs, hips and low back). However, symptoms from working on your feet may reach to the top of your body. In some studies neck symptoms have been related to prolonged standing work!

Beyond simple fatigue and discomfort, more serious health effects can result from working on your feet. In lab experiments people could not distinguish fatigue in their legs from whole-body fatigue. Therefore, that whole-body fatigue feeling could be related to working on your feet.
Some of these are:

• Low Back Pain (Drewczynski, Hansen, et al., Redfern & Chaffin)


• Painful feet and other foot problems (Drewczynski, Hansen, et al., Redfern & Chaffin)


• Plantar Fasciitis and Heel Spurs (Cailliet)


• Orthopedic changes in the feet (e.g. flat feet) (Redfern & Chaffin)


• Restricted blood flow (from standing only) (Hansen, et al.)


• Swelling in the feet and legs (Drewczynski, Hansen, et al.)


• Varicose veins (Drewczynski)


• Increased chance of arthritis in the knees and hips (Croft, et al.)
  

Initial symptoms can start within minutes into a standing task. Health effects have been shown to accumulate within days (no studies have assessed longer time periods).

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Preventative Care for Common Foot Problems

In a recent survey for the American Podiatric Medical Association, 53 percent of respondents reported foot pain so severe that it hampered their daily function. On average, people develop pain in their 60s, but it can start as early as the 20s and 30s.

Yet, even armed with this knowledge, most people do not take preventative measures to care for their feet.

I was recently reading a very informative article by L. Tarkan from The New York Times. In it she discusses the most common foot problems that are associated with aging and whether you should take actions now to prevent them. Here are just a few:

Are you overweight?
The force on your feet is about 120% of your weight. “Obesity puts a great amount of stress on all the supporting structures of the foot,” said Dr. Bart Gastwirth, a podiatrist at the University of Chicago. It can lead to plantar fasciitis and heel pain and can worsen hammertoes and bunions. It’s also a risk factor for diabetes, leading to the next question.

Are you diabetic?
Being farthest from the heart, the feet can be the first part of the body to manifest complications like poor circulation and loss of feeling, both of which can lead to poor wound healing and amputation. Diabetics should have their feet examined annually by a doctor and avoid shoes that cause abrasions and pressure.

Do you have flat feet or high arches?
Either puts feet at risk. A flat foot is squishy, causing muscles and tendons to stretch and weaken, leading to tendonitis and arthritis. A high arch is rigid and has little shock absorption, putting more pressure on the ball and heel of the foot, as well as on the knees, hips and back. Shoes or orthotics that support the arch and heel can help flat feet. People with high arches should look for roomy shoes and softer padding to absorb the shock. Isometric exercises also strengthen muscles supporting the foot.

Do your shoes fit?
In the podiatric association’s survey, more than 34 percent of men said they could not remember the last time their feet were measured. Twenty percent of women said that once a week they wore shoes that hurt, and 8 percent wore painful shoes daily. Feet flatten and lengthen with age, so if you are clinging to the shoe size you wore at age 21, get your feet measured (especially mothers — pregnancy expands feet).

Do you wear high heels?
“The high heel concentrates the force on the heel and the forefoot,” Dr. Gastwirth said. Heels contribute to hammertoes, neuromas (pinched nerves near the ball of the foot), bunions and “pump bump” (a painful bump on the back of the heel), as well as toenail problems. Most of the time, wear heels that are less than two and a half inches high.

When reading the article, I noticed that all five of these questions focused on wearing better shoes to prevent future foot pain and ailments, which of course, is right in-line with Z-CoiL® footwear. In fact, our shoes are specifically engineered for foot, leg and back pain relief and can be adjusted in many ways by a trained, authorized Z-CoiL® Distributor to accommodate your individual needs. Z-CoiL wearers have reported relief from the pain of many medically-diagnosed conditions, including:

• Arthritis and other common joint pains
• Lower back pain and sciatica
• Heel spurs, plantar fasciitis, and metatarsal pain

You can check out many of their testimonials here: http://www.zcoil.com/testimonials