As we tend to get old we start worrying about our health— it could be about our heart health, our memory power, our immunity, our strength of the body, etc. If there’s one thing that we do not pay attention to, it has to be our feet. I think the only time we do some TLC to our feet is when we have worn a pair of heels the entire day or if we are going traveling or attending a function that needs to show off our feet in a pretty manner. We need to understand that as we age, a feat means more TLC than it ever wanted. We all might have heard that feet tend to get bigger in the later part of our life and most of us keep wondering if it is a myth or a fact. However, the truth is although your feet might broaden or lengthen with age, they are actually tending to spread out rather than grow. Our toes tend to become wider and even those arches tend to drop as tendons and ligaments lose away their elastic power.
Spreading out of your feet starts getting affected once you have touched the age of 50 and going onwards. If you are wondering why we are paying so much attention to the health of our feet as we grow old, you need to read on to know more.
Key Effects On Your Feet Because Of Ageing
Just like the other parts of our body, our feet also tend to develop age-related issues. But as mentioned earlier we notice the problems only at a later stage. Let us take you through some of the major issues that feet face as we age:
- Less cushioning: The reason for this would be a reduction in the collagen levels in those souls where fatty pads lay. They tend to lose their plum penis and provide less cushioning to your feet. We are born with a certain amount of fat under our feet especially in the part which is right Andhera heels and also the balls of your feet — these play a very important role in shock absorption. Losing the fat pad can make us more susceptible to Stress fractures. Could also lead to breast bones and even balance problems as we age. And since we cannot transplant the fat from different parts of the body, the only thing that we can do to prevent this problem is to supplement the fat pad with some extra cushioning like for example silicon. We can buy food gel pads, insoles that we can put in our shoes whenever we require that extra cushioning or padding — this will not only protect our feet but it might also heal any internal injuries that our feet might be facing.
- Drier skin: As mentioned in the previous point, as we grow old a body tends to produce less collagen and this leads to the skin of our feet and develops a more cracking and papery texture. And we all know how much it hurts when our feet crack, isn’t it?
- Thicker Nails: while the process of aging tends to make a skin thinner, this process holds the opposite in the case of her toenails. As we age our toenails tend to become more brittle and denser — this makes it very hard for us to trim and increases the risk of developing an ingrown.
- Poorer absorption of shock: The tendons of your feet develop a lower electricity level however it doesn’t alter the size of the feet. In fact, it makes your feet more resilient. Your feet start struggling to absorb any kind of shock waves that are produced when your feet strike the ground.
- Stiffer joints: We start facing a lot of wear and tear with respect to foot joints because of the stiffness as we age and it is the big toes that are often affected very badly.
- More healing time: as we age, the blood vessels in our body become narrower. It impairs our body’s ability to repair small cuts on our feet on it soon and also fight off the foot infections.
- Weaker muscles: As we age, the strength of our foot muscles deteriorates slowly; and this leaves feet very poorly equipped to cope with the intense activity it’s made to go through.
So, Is Foot Pain Inevitable When You Grow Old?
Aging is a very natural process that our body goes through and yes this process weakens if it makes ailments and injuries more likely. If there’s anything that we need to add on here, health issues are also often experienced by older people for example diabetes in arthritis and these health issues can exaggerate foot problems.
This will make many people assume that foot pain is unavoidable at least in the latter part of our life however, that is simply not the case. Here or a few steps you can consider in order to safeguard your feet. Read on.
- Exercising regularly will help improve the circulation in your foot muscles and boost the health of your feet.
- It is very important to moisturize your feet at least twice in a day to ensure that your feet are not cracking or doesn’t become paperlike and stay supple.
- Whenever you are buying shoes, always remember to measure your feet. Everyone’s feet spread out as they grow old therefore the shoe size that was fitting you five years ago might not fit you correctly now. Make sure that you pick a size where there’s plenty of room to accommodate your toe box, your forefoot.
- Remember to tend to your feet regularly. Always wash your feet every day after you exercise well after you have removed your shoes after wearing them for a really long time. Dry your feet properly and perform daily Food exams so that you are aware if there are any wounds, feet blisters, sores, or corns.
Remember to always take care of your body as you start aging. Your body needs more care and attention as you grow old.