I recently sat down with the savings experts at PromotionalCodes.com in my office to discuss solutions for tired feet while shopping for those special gifts during Black Friday.
It is holiday time again along with the long lines waiting to buy those special gifts. How will your feet and legs survive the pounding of pavements and standing for hours on hard concrete floors at the malls and running from department store to department store?
There are a total of 206 bones found in the entire adult body. A total of 26 bones, 33 joints, 107 ligaments and 19 muscles/tendons are in each foot. Therefore, a quarter of all the bones in our body are found in the feet. This adds up to a lot of moving parts in your feet especially from Black Friday to Christmas during the holiday shopping season. "Shop until you drop" takes on a whole different meaning this time of the year. Depending on where you live standing in long lines in cold weather can be extremely frustrating as well as causing your feet to get cold, numb and sometimes painful. After a long day of shopping the muscles in the arch and legs can fatigue and get tired. The reason that happens is because the joints in the arch area of the foot can collapse and flatten out when you are walking or standing. Therefore, if you are not wearing shoes with good support, you can develop foot, leg and back problems which will put a damper on your holiday shopping.
Depending on whether one has a flat foot or a high arched foot will dictate how comfortable a pair of shoes will be. Flat feet can cause muscle spasms in your arches and legs when wearing flat shoe wear such as ballet or dress flats. High arches can cause ball of the foot pain and burning especially when wearing high heels or wedges. That is because the pitch or slope of the high heel or wedge forces the ball of the foot towards the ground and the shoes do not have enough padding in the toe box to absorb the pressure and cushion the weight on the ball of the foot. "So, shoes can trigger foot problems as much as certain types of foot structures can cause shoe problems." Also the combination of having structural bone problems such as hammer toes, heel spurs and bunions can be aggravated by wearing the wrong type of shoe ware. Shoes that are too narrow can aggravate bone spurs that have developed over time on the foot causing blisters and corns to form. Therefore, shopping all day can be hazardous to your feet!
Prevent foot and shoe problems from ruining your holiday shopping experience while pounding the pavement from Black Friday to Christmas. The first thing is to plan out your shoe wardrobe before you shop. If you are going to shop after work, take a comfortable pair of shoes with you to change into such as tennis shoes, comfortable boots, or flats. If you are wearing heels or ballet type flats make sure you have a soft insole liner in those shoes that will cushion the impact when walking and standing.
Another way of making shoes supportive and comfortable that do not provide adequate support and comfort is to place over the counter arch products that can stick or be placed into the arch of the shoe. They will reduce the pressure placed on the ball of the foot when wearing heels and provide instant arch support and relief.
There are also arch products available weather permitting that can also stick in the arch of open toed shoes, backless heels, sandals and flip flops and make them comfortable as well as supportive.
With all over-the-counter arch products in the market place, bulk is the main issue and the product can take up too much room in the shoe. This prevents the foot from fitting in the shoe properly and being comfortable. Look for arch products that do not take up a lot of room in shoes.
I always tell my patients the first thing you want to do after shopping all day is kick your shoes off and put on your favorite pair of comfortable slippers. Soaking your feet in warm water if your feet are cold or cold water/ice if your feet are hot can also take the edge off. Top it off with getting a foot massage using essential oils such as Lavender Oil, it will relax and sooth the muscles in your feet!
Walk Happily Ever After this Holiday Shopping Season.