Health Wise: Lutheran Woman Today

Your feet are a miracle of engineering. With 26 bones, 33 joints, 19 muscles, and 107 ligaments — each — they’re made to run, dance, leap, even cartwheel. They’re built to get you through this summer’s hiking — and through enough walking to circle the globe four times. But fail to treat your feet right, and you could wind up hobbled for life.

"Foot health is especially important for women, who report four times as many foot problems as men," says Dr. Glenn Gastwirth, executive director of the American Podiatric Medical Association.

Why are women especially prone to corns, calluses, and blisters? Why do they account for 80 percent of foot surgeries at a reported cost of $3.5 billion per year? In a word, shoes. Forty percent of women wear high heels daily — a choice that can ruin their foot health.

Wear two-inch heels, and it changes how you walk. Wear three-inch ones, and it puts seven times more stress than normal on your feet. High heels shift all the body’s weight to a single joint behind the big toe, and over time, this strain — and the cramped, contorted position of the arch and toes in these shoes — can cause irreparable damage.

High heels can cause bunions (bony bumps at the base of the big toe), hammertoes (so bent they look like upsidedown Vs), tight heel cords (shortening of the Achilles tendon), "pump bump" (a bony enlargement at the back of the heel), Morton’s neuroma (pain caused by pinched nerves between the toes), and stress fractures in foot bones. Though these problems are treatable, none are easy to cope with, and some may necessitate surgery.

The good news is that you don’t have to sacrifice style in the name of better foot care. If you love heels, it’s usually safe to wear them every other day. If you choose ones that are more than three inches high, don them for no more than three hours, and do simple foot stretches to relieve strain afterward. Alternate your shoes from day to day, and wear comfortable low-heeled ones whenever you’re strolling or commuting.

Besides shunning round-the-clock stilettos, there are other simple "foot musts" to follow. To avoid athlete’s foot and toenail infections, dry between your toes after bathing. To prevent plantar warts (caused by a virus), avoid walking barefoot in public places. To remove corns and calluses, reach for exfoliating cream. To prevent ingrown toenails, trim nails straight across. To avoid infection, make sure spa pedicure equipment is sterilized, and forgo scraping razors.

If you have foot pain, don’t trudge through it, but instead see your regular physician or a podiatrist (foot doctor). One common complaint? Plantar fasciitis, inflammation of the tissue along the sole of the foot from heel to toe. Triggered by everything from flat feet to weight gain, plantar fasciitis causes a stabbing ache on the bottom of the heel, but can be treated with professionally prescribed insoles, corticosteroid injections, and shock wave therapy.

Just as foot pain reflects your general foot care, it can also reflect your general health. Foot sores can be a sign of diabetes (problems processing the energy in food), and arthritis (painful, stiff joints) often strikes the feet first — all the more reason to seek medical help if you suffer from persistent foot problems.

Note that regular running can damage and flatten feet, so get exercise shoes that are built for the shape of your foot and to balance any tendency to overpronate (walk pigeon-toed) or underpronate (walk duck-footed).

Remember that your feet expand as time goes on, as the natural padding under your heel and forefoot thins. After pregnancy or in your later decades, you may need shoes that are wider and a half to full size larger.

Buy shoes later in the day, when tissues are swollen and feet are at their largest. Since your feet may not be the same size, buy shoes to fit the larger foot.

Look for shoes with a rounded toe box, sole cushioning, and arch and heel support. Test-walk them before buying, making sure they grip your heel firmly, bend easily where your foot bends, and don’t twist or pinch. Though you can have the store stretch new shoes in tight spots, note that there’s no such thing as a break-in period, and that shoes should feel comfortable from the moment you start wearing them.

Don’t spend the whole summer wearing flip-flops, as they provide no arch support and the repeated process of lifting the heel can cause muscle tension and exacerbate plantar fasciitis.

Know that socks made of wool or cotton, not synthetic fibers, are best. Ditto leather shoes versus plastic ones. Natural materials allow your feet to "breathe," and don’t overwork their 250,000 sweat glands, which can excrete as much as a half-pint of moisture a day.

A quarter of your bones are in your feet, which bear a force equal to several hundred tons per day. Although 75 percent of Americans experience foot problems at some point, you don’t have of them. Put your feet first, and you can continue strolling — and dancing, and yes, even cartwheeling — through today and all the decades to come.

Molly M. Ginty lives in New York. Her work has appeared in Ms., Marie Claire, Redbook, and Women’s eNews.

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