For many of us, going to work each day is a big part of our lives.
Unfortunately, so is getting sore feet from standing at work.
Spending more time on your feet at work can increase the load on your muscles and joints, leading to the development of over-use injuries and musculoskeletal disorders. This usually presents itself as pain and excess fatigue in your feet, knees, legs, and lower back.
You may feel that this is ‘normal’ and just a part of life, but it doesn’t have to be!
Here are some strategies to help you reduce pain and minimize fatigue throughout your day.
1. Choose Appropriate Footwear
Your shoes need to match the demands of your work, but they also need to match the unique biomechanics of your feet and gait. Understanding the needs of your foot mechanics first will help you select footwear that works well for your feet and your work.
A Walking Mobility Clinics specialist can help you identify what you should be looking for when choosing footwear. Shoe features such as the forefoot flex point, heel counter support, pitch height, and torsional stability all play a role in the overall comfort and support of the shoe.
2. Support Your Feet
The mechanics of your feet may warrant the need for additional support. This may come in the form of over-the-counter arch supports or custom foot orthotics depending on your needs.
Custom foot orthotics can be effective at relieving pain from conditions including plantar fasciitis, shin splints, and metatarsalgia (forefoot pain), which all can result from being on your feet for long hours.
3. Consider Compression Socks
When you stand for long periods, blood pools in your feet and ankles. This causes them to swell and become uncomfortable. Compression socks are specifically designed to help push blood up the legs, towards the heart and back into circulation. This helps increase the efficiency of blood circulation in your feet and legs.
PRO-TIP: You can easily swap men’s dress socks for dark or black compression socks without any visible difference!
4. Alternate Your Footwear
Over time, our shoes lose their ability to absorb shock as well as they once did when they were new. This means that our feet and joints must instead take on the shock that our new shoes used to provide.
If possible, avoid wearing the same pair of shoes to work each day. By alternating footwear every day, you will increase the amount of cushioning recovery in the midsoles of your shoes and lengthen their overall lifespan.
5. Practice Stretches Throughout The Day
Use a massage ball to perform performing foot and leg stretches throughout the day. They are great for massaging the tissue in your feet throughout the day, which can help reduce fatigue and promotes circulation.
Roll the ball under your feet back and forth along the arches. This will help to alleviate tension in the muscles and fascia. You can use your coffee breaks and lunch breaks to stretch your feet and calves.
Talk To A Specialist!
Remember, sore feet from standing aren’t healthy in any situation. The longer you suffer from a variety of foot and leg ailments, the more difficult it becomes to recover from it fully.
Come to Walking Mobility Clinics and see one of our specialists to learn how you can take better care of your feet. You only have two of them, and they need to last a lifetime!