Foot Pain

While your spine and legs must be healthy to hold you upright, it is your feet that bear the weight of your entire body and enable you to move deftly, while maintaining balance. If your feet are deformed or are rendered temporarily inactive, it affects your gait and your ability to walk or move about, and eventually results in pain.

Listed below are 4 of the most common causes of foot pain:

1. Foot drop

When a person is unable to lift his toes and has to drag them to walk, he is said to have foot drop. It is usually caused in the spine with either a nerve being pressed by a cyst or an overgrown bone. To treat foot drop in Liverpool, you would need to visit the podiatry clinic. You will probably be recommended to use splints or braces, undergo physical therapy or in some cases, surgery, depending on your symptoms and case history.

2. Flat feet

A flat foot is characterized by the lack of an arch when it bears the body’s weight (when a person is in a standing position). Often seen in children and becoming worse through adulthood, flat feet is a genetic condition. If there is no accompanying foot pain, you don’t have to bother about flat feet. If there is pain, you are advised to visit podiatry in Liverpool for flat feet treatment. The podiatrist may suggest using customized orthotics in Liverpool, insoles, braces, and recommend regular feet exercises.

3. Ill-fitting footwear

The first thing that a podiatry service provider will ask is to see your footwear before they check your feet! Many people tend to wear closed shoes that are too tight with hardly any space for the toes to move. Prolonged use of such footwear, as well as pointy-heeled shoes, can cause foot pain. Make sure your footwear is comfortable and have a strong, wide base for its heel.

4. Ingrown toenails

Poor foot hygiene can cause ingrown toenails, eventually resulting in infection and severe foot pain. During showers, take care to wash your feet and in between the toes with soap and dry them well too.

Even if you have no foot pain, pay attention to your feet and toenails and get to a podiatry clinic if you see any signs of discoloration or infection.