You may realize how your daily habits can impact your feet. As your body’s foundation, what you do, and don’t do regularly, could be causing long-term damage to the structure and function of your lower extremities. While your podiatrist may commonly tell you all the things you should be doing to keep your feet happy and healthy, here are some surprising bad foot habits they wish you’d give up.
Wearing the Same Shoe Size
If someone asks you what your shoe size is, you likely say the same thing every time. Most people assume their shoe size never changes, but that actually isn’t the case. Your shoe size may change due to aging or normal wear and tear, especially if you’re a woman. This is because overtime the tendons and ligaments in your feet loosen the height of your foot arch decreases and your foot is likely to grow up to half a shoe size every 10 years after age 40. If you’re wearing shoes that aren’t the proper fit, you risk getting bunions, ingrown toenails and calluses, in addition to a number of other ailments.
Going Barefoot in Communal Areas
While it may be convenient to shower at your gym after a workout, it is easy to pick up funguses and viruses in communal spaces like these. To avoid these bad foot habits, and the problems they cause like warts and infections, be sure you always wear flip-flops in the shower and while walking around the locker room.
Running in New Shoes
If you are a runner, it is never a good idea to run in new shoes. Even if you replaced your old pair with the exact same model, type and size, running in a new pair of shoes could result in a number of problems including shin splints, blisters and sprains because they aren’t broken in yet.
Wearing Flats Regularly IS A BAD FOOT HABIT
While the flats you wear on a daily basis may be cute or comfortable, they could be causing long-term damage to your feet. Not only do they not support your feet arches, flats also don’t offer enough shock absorption and put too much pressure on the heel or ball of your foot. Though they are a popular footwear option, you should avoid wearing them regularly or you may end up with tendonitis, stress fractures or pain in your forefoot and heel.
Not Tossing Your Worn out Footwear
While you may be holding on to your favorite pair of worn out shoes it is one of the top bad foot habits. You’re doing more harm than good by not tossing them. When your shoes get old and begin to offer inadequate support, you’re likely to cause damage to your foot when you’re standing or walking. You may not even realize that your old footwear may be the reason you’re dealing with pain in discomfort throughout your body.
In addition to practicing habits to keep your feet healthy, you should also be avoiding certain practices that could be the cause of lower extremity problems. Make an appointment with the board-certified podiatrists at Certified Foot and Ankle Specialists with locations throughout Broward, Palm Beach and Martin counties to have your feet evaluated and begin treatment for any issues that could cause long-term problems.
