Foot care is especially important for people with arthritis as it can greatly impact their daily life and mobility. Arthritis is a condition that causes inflammation and pain in the joints, and it can affect any joint in the body, including those in the feet (Arthritis Foundation). Here are some tips on how to prevent and treat foot problems related to arthritis:

1. Wear comfortable and supportive shoes that fit well. Avoid shoes with high heels or tight-fitting shoes as they can put pressure on the toes and cause pain.
2. Use shoe inserts or orthotics to provide extra support and cushioning for the feet  (American Podiatrist Association).
3. Keep your feet warm by wearing socks and shoes in cold weather. Cold weather can cause the joints to stiffen, making it more difficult to move.
4. Keep your feet clean and dry to prevent infection.
5. Exercise regularly to keep your feet and legs strong. Gentle exercises such as walking, swimming, and cycling can help to improve circulation and reduce pain in the feet (Institute for Preventative Foot Health).
6. Use a foot soak to help relax the muscles and ease pain. Add Epsom salt or essential oils to a basin of warm water and soak your feet for 15-20 minutes.
7. Use a foot cream or lotion to moisturize the skin and prevent dryness, cracking, and infection.
8. Massage your feet to help improve circulation and reduce pain. Use a tennis ball or a massage roller to gently massage the soles of your feet.
9. Try to maintain a healthy weight to reduce the pressure on your feet and joints.
10. Consult a doctor or a podiatrist if you experience persistent pain or discomfort in your feet. They can recommend specific treatments and exercises to help manage your condition.

In conclusion, foot care is essential for people with arthritis as it can help to prevent and treat foot problems related to the condition. By following these tips, people with arthritis can maintain healthy feet and improve their overall quality of life. It is important to consult with a doctor or podiatrist to get the best advice and treatment for your specific condition.

Consider Wearing SelectFlex Adjustable Orthotics to Help Relieve the effects of standing all day. 

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Got a New Year’s resolution to get more exercise? That’s great! But let’s make sure to protect your feet! Starting a new sport or fitness program is a great way to drop weight or to improve your cardiovascular health. But when you try a new exercise or start exercising more, you put lots of pressure on your feet. And that can lead to sports injuries (National Safety Council)…unless you follow these three important tips for safely exercising!

How to Start a New Sport or Exercise

Whether you’re starting a new running program, or jumping into deadlifts and squats, caution is key. With any new movement, your body needs time to adjust. Don’t expect to get off the couch and run five miles on your first day.

Instead, start low and slow with your training. In your first week, mix running and walking and don’t go more than a mile. If that pace feels comfortable, you can slowly increase your miles or speed the next week. (The safest way to train is to limit your increases to 10%. Whether that means you run 10% farther or faster is your choice.) If walking is your new exercise of choice, check out our blog on how to start a walking workout (Very Well Fit Magazine).

Why is slow and steady the best way to try a new exercise? It gives your body (and feet!) time to adjust to new movements and time to build up the muscles that will support your activity. If you rush into a new sport at full force, you risk an overuse injury which could send you into your Podiatrists office with problems such as shin splints or heel pain.

Choosing Sport Specific Shoes

Maybe your exercise resolutions have you getting serious about one sport. If that’s the case, it’s important to wear the right shoes for your chosen activity. If you’re playing tennis or basketball more than three times a week, choose shoes specifically designed for those sports. (The same is true for cleat-based sports, such as soccer or football.)

But what if you’re just walking or hitting the cardio equipment at your gym? In this case, cross-training athletic shoes are the way to go. These are athletic shoes with forefoot flexibility, so you can run if you need to. They also have lateral support, so you can step from side-to-side in Zumba class or on the elliptical. Finally, they have good support to protect your feet from the impact of any exercise.

Consider Orthotics to Prevent Exercise-Related Injury

Sometimes the structure of your body (biomechanics) increases your injury risk. That means even the best athletic shoes won’t protect your feet when you exercise. If your feet are flat, if your arches are too high or if your legs are different lengths, you may need extra support. Customizeable Orthotic insoles such as SelectFlex could be your solution. SelectFlex are an entirely new type of dynamic energy returning insole that won ISHN’s award for Best Protective Footwear.  SelectFlex insoles use a patented energy returning arch lifting technology called the PowerLift Arch.  The PowerLift Arch provides the wearer with 3 energy return levels to support the arch with dynamic alignment with every step. 

This can improve your efficiency when starting a new sport, especially running. Want to learn more about keeping your fitness resolutions with the help of cutomizeable orthotic insoles? See how SelectFlex can help you meet those 2022 fitness goals!

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In addition to a slew of other health issues, carrying around extra weight on your body can cause some serious problems with your feet and ankles. As weight balloons, it will cause your body to shift how it distributes its balance, meaning that you have extra stress on your feet. Having your weight unevenly distributed can result in a lot of pain. This pain is present even when doing your simple, everyday tasks, like walking for a short distance.

1) Extra Weight Can Flatten Your Feet
Your feet have tendons and ligaments that bundle the bones together and hold them in place. Obesity can stress these ligaments and tendons, causing them to tear and break (Medical News Today). This can cause fallen arches and flat feet. When the arch of your foot lowers, it can cause your feet and every step to be painful. It lowers the effectiveness of their shock absorption, creating pain with every step. By using shoe inserts that can make each step more comfortable, you can stop this process in its tracks.

2) You Might Tear Your Plantar Fascia
An important part of your body is the plantar fascia, which connects the heel to your toes. Extra weight can cause stress during your daily activities. If you are overweight and are experiencing pain in your heels, you may have a case of plantar fasciitis. Investing in comfortable insoles for the inside of your shoes can help you avoid or correct this painful foot affliction.

3) Bone Spurs May Affect You
Carrying extra weight on your body can make your bones rub together. To prevent this from happening, your body may create some foot bone spurs. These are outgrowths from the bones in your feet (Mayo Clinic). Because of the stress that weight places on your joints, it is more likely that an overweight person will suffer from these. Being obese can affect them negatively, adding to the pain, stiffness, and tingling in your lower extremities. Talk to a doctor about effectively managing the pain caused by your bone spurs.

4) You Can Develop Localized Arthritis in Your Ankles
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports (CDC.Gov).  that up to twenty percent of Americans suffer from arthritis. The two main forms of arthritis are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. While arthritis can affect anyone, the instance of arthritis in people of larger weights is greatly enhanced. Arthritis in the ankles is a form of osteoarthritis. It happens when your cartilage wears down, that flexible and durable tissue that protects your bones from rubbing together at the joints. Obesity can cause your cartilage to wear away faster. While osteoarthritis is a stress injury, rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune issue where your body attacks its own joint tissue. Studies have shown that chemicals found in adipose tissue (fat) can cause rheumatoid arthritis to get even worse (Arthritis Foundation).

5) Diabetes Can Greatlyt Affect the Health of Your Feet
In addition to your weight distribution, your feet need adequate circulation and blood flow to stay healthy. Diabetes, which disproportionately affects those of larger weights, can cause a reduction of the flow of blood to your feet. If you develop sores on your feet, they can quickly become ulcerated and difficult to treat. Numbness in your extremities is an important reason to seek the aid of a medical professional. Over 70,000 amputations are done of feet and lower legs every year. It is important to your health to stay up to date on all medications and get a regular check up to catch issues before they get worse.

With so many issues that can affect your feet, it is no surprise that you will want to find relief. Give yourself appropriate and adjustable arch support and minimize foot pain by using orthotic insoles by SelectFlex®. They are committed to staying current on all the trends in orthotics and can bring you customizable arch support.

Introducing SelectFlex
SelectFlex can increase comfort and reduce pain in the feet by correcting alignment, supporting the arch, providing more ankle support and cushioning the feet. In other words, it can help promote more normal gait and mobility. I invite you to learn more about SelectFlex Arch Control Insoles. We have worked with an orthotics company and our own engineers and product designers to develop a shoe insert that closely imitates the function of certain ligaments in the foot. Our adjustable PowerLift® Arch can provide as much as 89 percent more arch support than other inserts at about one-quarter the cost of custom prescription orthotics. You can find out more about us here:  (Welcome To SelectFlex) You can also text us at (844) 600-0082. I hope you will want to find out more about how our product can help you with your peripheral neuropathy. On behalf of SelectFlex, we look forward to serving you.

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