How to Treat Foot Injuries: Feet are nature’s gifts to us. Our whole body depends on the feet to carry and move the weight from place to place, even if the motion varies from flat groundsto steep mountain tops. There is a quarter of the entire skeletal system with about three dozen joints plastered with more than 100 muscles, tendons, and ligaments that make up your feet.
Our wonderful feet are equipped with Herculean powers. How? If you’ve ever gone through some strenuous training sessions, you might be aware that during those exercises, your body exerts excess pressure on your feet and legs. You can exert as much pressure as 20 times your own body weight, which sometimes leaves the feet prone to stress and damage.
Regardless of your age, if you’re a fitness training enthusiast or an avid sportsperson, then foot injuries aren’t a news to you. From all types of training sessions to all kinds of sporting activities, you can hurt your feet. The injuries arise from a variety of reasons and occur suddenly.
Without further ado, below are the injuries and the ways they should be treated. Make sure you don’t miss out on any of these.
1. Plantar Fasciitis
If you feel a painful sensation that reduces as the day progresses and later return the other day, you may be suffering from plantar fasciitis.
It is caused by the inflammation of the fascia – a thick connective tissue that extends from your heel to your toes – causes a stinging and painful sensation at the base of the foot. However, the cause of the plantar fasciitis is excess pressure on the heel due to some high-impact exercise and or sporting activity that pressurize your feet. The lack of stretching your leg muscles is also another reason for plantar fasciitis.
Since the excruciating pain is caused by the lack of muscle flexibility, it’s recommended that you stretch your legs daily and apply ice treatment regularly for 10 minutes. Try to rest your feet as much as you can and avoid effortful training sessions.
2. Achilles Tendonitis
As the name indicates, it involves the inflammation of the Achilles tendon – the tendons that connect your calf muscles to your heels. The pain can be experienced at the back of the lower leg over the area just above the heel. It is highly common among yogis and runners.
The most common cause for the development of Achilles tendonitis is the application of sudden pressure on the tight calve muscles. Take a runner for example; he’s going to suffer from Achilles tendonitis if he increases his running mileage without a warm-up.
This foot injury can be treated by icing the pain point and avoiding wearing uncomfortable or high heeled shoes. Plus, regular stretching is highly recommended. If the case is serious enough, you must immediately consult a podiatrist to alleviate your discomfort.
3. Shin Splints
Shin splints refer to the area of pain in the shin area and cover multiple ailments. The improper treatment and unattended pain can lead to stress fractures in the tibia in severe cases, but usually, tenderness and inflammation are experienced.
This, also like the Achilles tendonitis, results from the implementation of intense exercises and training. The young athletes come across this type of pain during their training sessions as their leg muscles are not flexible enough to handle sudden stress. Improper training experience along with worn-out or inappropriate footwear can result in stressful tension in your leg, hence leading to shin splints.
To remedy this type of foot injury, you need to rest, ice the painful area, and use anti-inflammatory medication to reduce the painful sensation and swelling. Make sure you increase your training pace slowly so to avoid applying sudden pressure on your affected foot. Always choose a smooth area for training and pay attention to your running shoes.
4. Stress Fractures
A stress fracture isn’t as serious as a fracture in general but is as painful much. It appears in the form of tiny cracks in the bones and makes the bones prone to breakage. The affected area feels swollen and painful. The reason why stress fractures occur is the striking or landing motion in the individuals practicing running.
If you’re wondering how stress fractures can be treated, they heal by rest and on their own pace. If the tenderness is affected by your activity, you may wear a medical boot to save the affected area from excess stress.
5. Hallux Limitus aka The Yoga Killer
When we walk, our bigger toe makes an angle of 30° with the surface. In Yoga, the joint stretches up to an angle of 45°.But sometimes, the joint loses its flexibility and a bony bump arises on the top of the joint. This kind of deformity is different from bunions, in which the bigger toe is inclined towards the second toe.
As the joint keeps receiving more pressure, the bump keeps growing and there comes a point when the joint stops moving completely. And there’s no therapy or stretching exercise that can restore the greater toe back to its original position.
This type of situation can only be avoided if you keep modifying your poses smoothly in your yoga class. If you protect the motion, there are chances that the life of your joint will be extended. Plus, wearing footwear that brings comfort to your toe and saves it from stress is also a good option to avoid the Hallux Limitus.
Wrapping It Up
Whenever you’re training, make sure you take better care of your feet because they’re as much important as any other part of your body. Fitness training might seem to be the only way to maintain your body health, but it is also necessary that you keep track of all the power foods in your diet.
And before you start training, you must gain the first-hand knowledge of the exercise you’re going to perform. And don’t forget to take precautionary measures that can help you help your feet.
Train all you want, but treasure your feet all too well.