Beware Of 7 Aging Effects on Your Feet 

Introduction to Aging Effects on Your Feet

May you enjoy your 90th birthday with great zeal and zest. Any year that embarks you towards old age makes you touch a milestone.

According to the College of Podiatry, a person will walk about 150,000 miles in their lifetime, roughly the equivalent of walking around the world six times. 

Along with wandering experiences, loving and disturbing relations, our body variations are also responsible for smiles and tears on our faces.

Aging is reality but can be comfortable if we can sustain the best health as Ageing is not lost youth but a new stage of opportunity and strength.

Particularly women are more caring for facial freshness, but ignorance of foot health and beauty is impossible. While getting older, our feet make us realize the importance of foot care.

Improper foot care affects a lot and erects problems, like a metatarsal fracture, swallowing, ankle sprain, plantar fasciitis, bunion, Achilles-tendon, arthritis, orthotics, heel and toe pain, etc.

So, as per the Podiatrist, suitable and timely steps must be adept to lap up each footstep. A proper guide relating “how aging affects your feet” is assembled here to be well aware.

Hammertoe

Hammertoe is an abnormal bend in the joints of one or more of the toes, mostly caused by putting on narrow footwear or high heels that pressure the toes deeper into the toe box. Hammertoes may be apt to get Joint stiffness calluses and corns, irritation, swelling, and pain.

Treatment

Once they develop, hammertoes are lasting unless surgery can restore the toe joints. Stretching may work to restore some mobility plus toe pads, splints, shoe inserts, and well-fitted shoes that can help relieve some discomfort and pain.

Arthritis

Osteoarthritis, also known as wear-and-tear arthritis, usually affects roughly 10% of men and 13% of women over 60. Obesity, Bunions, Hammertoe, A past foot, or ankle injury are some common risk factors for osteoarthritis.

Treatment

Add omega-3 rich foods like ground flax, flaxseed oil, and walnuts, or a fish oil supplement in your daily meals, which helps to reduce this problem. Weight loss, regular exercise, and applying heating pads or ice packs can relieve arthritis pain.

Diabetic neuropathy

Increased blood sugar levels can harm the nerves, commonly those in the feet. Nerve damage turns worse also because of alcoholism, continuous smoking, and diabetic neuropathy history in the family.

Numbness, tingling, and pain are the symptoms of diabetic neuropathy.

Treatment

Maintaining good health by regular exercise and walk plus control blood sugar by strictly following the diet plan and go for regular foot exams.

Dry Skin

The feet have fewer oil glands that reduce slowly as we get older, and they experience daily wear and tear. The gradual depletion of collagen, increased by the lack of care and attention, results in the formation of cracked heels and calluses.

Without treatment, cracked skin around the heel can cause pain to walk or even stand.

In deep enough cracks, bacteria can infiltrate the delicate tissue and cause foot sepsis. In older people, particularly with diabetes, this can lead to an infection named as cellulitis.

Treatment

Use moisturizing lotions, scrubs, and electronic callus removers. Foot peels are famous chemical exfoliators that are designed specifically for the purpose.

Flat Feet

Connective tissues of aging feet usually stretch, reducing the height of your arch and leading to a problem known as flat feet or Pes planus.

It causes pain, usually in mid-foot, increases with activity, and is often gone with swelling along the inner ankle and arch. Pain in the lower back, hip, and knee, overpronation, and losing stability are some common symptoms.

Treatment

Orthopedic doctors usually prescribe suitable shoes or shoes for the purpose. The best Shoes for aging feet, both for a high arch and flat are well designed by many famous brands. 

Bunions or Hallux Valgus

It is an abnormality that causes a bump to develop on the large toe joint. It affects the big toe to turn slightly inward, appearing mostly in women because of increased pressures from narrow slippers.

The victim may face tenderness on or around the big toe, callus or corn on the bone below the big toe, difficulty moving the big toe, pain in the big toe when walking

Treatment

Wear well-fitted shoes without high heels, buy a bunion pad at a shoe store or drugstore that protects the bunion from extra pressure, apply ice for 10-minute increments, custom-made shoe inserts, or a splint that can straighten the big toe, are some fruitful treatment for the purpose.

Further visit: Ultherapy 101: All Essential You Need To Know

Ingrown toenails

It props up when the toenail grows into the nail groove, which can cause severe disease with pain, cramp, redness, swelling, drainage from the toenail. 

Wearing wrong fitting shoes adds extra pressure on the toes and results in more pain.

Other reasons include having a family history of ingrown toenails, and toenails that are not trimmed properly, like cutting the toenails too short or trauma to the feet for activity. Having a family history of ingrown toenails can also increase a person’s risk. 

Treatment

Trimming the toenails straight across after a bath, washing them with antibacterial soap, keeping them clean and dry, wearing non-pointy tip shoes that fit well.

Bottom line

Walking, running, jumping, and climbing, are the jobs of feet, so naturally, these are subject to various types of troubles.

From injuries to inflammation, different malfunctions can lead to foot problems and affect healthy life.

A foot has up to 26 bones, so as one of the complicated areas, they need acute attention for proper care. The complete familiarity of all changes and their effects on aging feet must be added to our attention, so that we can enjoy life even when over 90.