Posts for tag: exercise
Being trapped in a tiny airplane seat in an enclosed area without much room to move can lead to swollen feet. The same can be said for long car rides. The easiest way to prevent swollen feet during travel, is to move around to get your blood flowing. When you’re sitting, the muscles that help pump fluid out of your legs are not active. This can lead to blood pooling in your feet and uncomfortable swelling. The low cabin pressure, combined with dry air circulating in a plane, can also slow blood circulation. This is because when you are dehydrated, your blood gets a bit thicker and circulation is slowed. Poor circulation can allow dangerous blood clots to form in the legs, which can travel to the lungs or brain, causing very serious health complications.
When traveling, it is important to keep normal blood flow. Below is a list of some tips to promote blood circulation to your feet during holiday travel.
Watch your diet. Taking precautions to avoid salt the day of and before travel will help maintain normal fluid levels. Salt can cause you to retain fluid, which can make your feet swell even more.
Drink water. Drink plenty of water the day before and day of your trip. Drinking water will help you prevent dehydration and encourage you to walk to the bathroom.
Walk around. When flying, get up several times during the flight to get your blood flowing. This is especially important on flights over two hours. While walking around is not encouraged in a car, take an extra five minutes to walk around the gas station or rest stop.
Leave plenty of room for your feet. If your feet are fighting for space with bags, they will be more restricted and may be placed into positions that cut off the blood supply. Asking for an aisle seat on a plane, will make it easier for you to move around and give more room.
Exercise your legs. When you can’t get up and walk around, you can still use the muscles in your feet. Point your toes up and down and side to side to get your feet moving. Also, try spreading your toes or using them to pick an item off the ground.
Don’t cross your feet. Your circulation is already slow when you are sitting for hours; don’t make the mistake of cutting it off even more by crossing your legs.
Wear proper footwear. Compression socks or hose will help bring blood back to your heart. Slip-on shoes are great because they can be easily removed and allow you to massage or exercise your feet.
Bunions occur at the base of the big toe, when the boney bump forms on the inside of the foot. Bunions can cause intense foot pain and may require surgery. Fortunately, the majority of bunions can be managed without surgery. Non-surgical strategies can help slow the development of a bunion. These exercises are meant to help relieve the pain, not fix the actual bone deformity. With any medical condition, it is best to explore conservative therapy before jumping into surgery. These foot exercises can help keep the joint at the base of the big toe mobile, maintain flexibility, and strengthen muscles. They are a great starting point for treatment and should be conducted every day, ideally in the morning and at night. A podiatrist has undergone extensive training in the causes and treatments for bunions, and should be consulted if the deformity gets worse or continues to cause pain.
Toe Stretches. This stretch will help keep your toes limber and offset foot pain. To stretch, point your toes straight ahead for 5 seconds and then curl them under for 5 seconds. Repeat this stretch 10 times.
Toe Flexing and Contracting. This is conducted by pressing your toes against a hard surface (such as a wall) to flex and stretch them. It is important to flex your toes in the opposite direction too. Each stretch should be held for 10 seconds and be repeated three to four times.
Stretching the Big Toe. Using your fingers, gently pull your big toe into proper alignment. Hold this position for 10 sec and repeat three to four times.
Resistance Exercise. Wrap either a towel or belt around your big toe and use it to pull you big toe toward you while simultaneously pushing forward, against the towel with your big toe.
Towel Curls. Strengthen your toes by spreading out a small towel on the floor, curling your toes around it, and pulling it toward you. Repeat five times.
Picking up Marbles. Place 20 marbles on the floor in front of you and use your foot to pick the marbles up one by one and place them in a bowl. Gripping objects with your toes like this can help keep your foot flexible.
Walking along the Beach. Walking on the sand will give a gentle foot massage and help strengthen your toes.
Stress fractures are small cracks in bone often developing for over doing activities such as distance running or basketball. They usually occur when the length, how often or the level of exertion is increased in a high-impact activity. People who do not exercise can also develop a stress fracture when osteoporosis or other disease has weakened their bones. This is called bone insufficiency and a stress fracture can result from normal day-to-day activities. Other risk factors for stress fractures include doing too much too soon, improper sports equipment, a change in activity surface, poor diet, being overweight, and errors in training or technique.
Except in cases of bone shortage, a stress fracture is an overuse injury. When muscles are overtired, they lose their ability to lessen the shock of repeated impacts. As muscles lose their ability to absorb the shock of the foot hitting the ground, they transfer the stress to bones. Over a period of time, this can create small cracks or fractures in the bone. Those suffering from stress fractures generally feel pain that starts slowly, increases with weight-bearing activity, and diminishes with rest. This pain may become more severe and occur during normal, daily activities. Swelling and bruising may occur on the top of the foot or outside of the ankle. Pain may also occur when the fracture is touched.
To treat a stress fracture rest is the key. It typically takes six to eight weeks for a stress fracture to heal. In addition to rest, normal treatment includes ice and elevation of the foot along with anti-inflammatory medicines. To reduce the stress of foot and ankle, a podiatrist may recommend wearing protective footwear or if severe enough a cast or surgery may be needed. After a stress fracture has healed it is important to resume activity at a slow pace until full muscle strength has returned.