Tips for happy feet

Poonam Bhartia

A shoe that fits well can prevent many common foot problems.The following tips may help you.

If you are on your feet all day, your feet are tired and achy. Take your shoes off, roll your feet on the ball of each foot for a minute or two.

If your heels are hurting, place your hands against the wall for support, lunge with the right leg, bent at the knee and the left leg straight behind you, step back. Repeat with your left leg in front and right leg behind.

Stop wearing high heels if you have pain in the feet or limit them to special occasions.

For toe-nail problems, keep the nails cut and filed down as much as practical.

If you have corns, put a thin gauze pad or corn pad between the toes to keep them from rubbing against each other.

Shop for shoes at the end of the day when your feet have swelled from hours of standing and walking. Buy sports shoes within an hour of exercising.Don't buy shoes that are not comfortable right out of the box. Odds are they won't get better!

Make sure there is a spare centimetre space from the tip of your big toe to the end of the shoe.

Try on both shoes, your feet are not identical, so the mate of a shoe that feels fine on one foot may not fit the other.

Avoid heels which are more than five centimetres high. Stick with 2.5 cm heels or lower.

Put your shoes on a counter top and look at them from behind. If they are rolling inward or outward replace them.

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