Protect Your Feet

A SOUND APPROACH TO FOOT PROBLEMS

 If you think your feet are not normal, don't buy any kind of remedial shoes or get arch supports without consulting a physician. You may be "correcting" the wrong thing, or your troubles may be due to something entirely apart from the shoes you are wearing. Your socks or stockings may not fit properly, thus bending or cramping the toes or causing calluses and blisters. Your feet may be swelling because garters restrict circulation. 

You may be putting too much of a burden on the feet because of overweight. If you have foot problems, consider whether you have to stand too much on hard surfaces. Walking around a little helps to relieve the strain of standing, and getting your feet up on a couch orfootstool for even a few minutes' rest at a time often does wonders. You may not be standing or walking properly. When you stand, your feet should be parallel with each other, not toeing out.

When you walk, your footprints should make tracks that would almost touch a straight line drawn between them, with the heels just a trifle farther away from the line than the toes. This is not walking pigeon-toed but it certainly is not toeing out. Whether or not your foot trouble traces to flat feet or fallen arches is something only a doctor can really determine and cure. 

By all means, don't leave the diagnosis up to a shoe salesman. Flat feet may be inherited or be caused by overweight or by wearing improper shoes in childhood. If you believe you have flat feet or fallen arches, the following exercises, done in moderation, will not hurt if your diagnosis is wrong and, if right, may help: With shoes off, sit in a chair and pretend there is sand on the floor and that you are heaping it into a pile between your feet by drawing them together in a scooping motion. Put some marbles on the rug in front of you. Pick one up with your toes and throw it forward. Repeat these exercises but stop if your feet become tired.