Healthy Home for Healthy Feet

June 15, 2017 • • foot carefoot exercise

With all the research and knowledge available about leading healthy lives, it’s more important than ever to change bad habits sooner than later. Leading a healthy lifestyle starts with good habits, strong willpower, and a wellness-promoting environment. We have learned to care for our bodies by eating nutritiously and exercising often, but we often neglect our feet. It seems unfair to our feet, especially since they do so much for us every day.

Let’s change that, shall we? We’d love for you to find ways to keep your feet healthy by exploring exercises like Yoga for your feet, learning about ways to care for your feet this summer, and making some changes at home! The following are our Top 10 Tips for keeping your feet healthy at home:

  1. Take your outdoor shoes off as close to the door as possible. This prevents you from tracking in dirt, bacteria, fungi, and viruses from wherever you may have been. This is especially important if you’ve got crawling babies, toddlers, or pets.
  2. If you MUST wear shoes indoors (e.g. diabetes patients), get a separate pair of indoor shoes or slippers. They should have grippy rubber soles if you have hardwood or tile floors; on the other hand, they should have smooth soles if you have high pile carpets so that the carpet doesn’t trip you up.
  3. Clean your shoes and let them air out on a shoe rack before putting them away in a closet or cabinet. It’s good practice to disinfect your shoes once in a while. This is especially important if you go to dirty or unsanitary places, or if you have a foot odor issue.
  4. Rotate your shoes daily and wear new socks each time you change your shoes. This will help keep foot odor and disease at bay.
  5. Clean the floors near the doors often. This will keep the rest of your home more hygienic as people come and go from your house.  (If you think about it, you take off your shoes and often step in the same place before you continue into the house!)
  6. Anti-fatigue mats can be helpful all around your house. Anywhere that you stand for more than 2 minutes, your feet, legs, and back will be less strained on a mat. It’s very useful in the kitchen or if you have a standing desk.
  7. For slip prevention in wet spaces, make sure to use non-slip bath mats and rubber mats in the bathtub.
  8. For slip and fall prevention on stairs, you can install carpet or use anti-slip strips. Children and seniors will benefit greatly – and if you are prone to slips, you will too!
  9. Area rugs or carpets are great for reducing the impact on your knees and hips. Many people who are heavy-footed do not realize that they may be stomping when they walk. In the long run, it can cause pain in their joints.
  10. Have a lacrosse ball or golf ball near the couch or recliner. At the end of the day, when you’re relaxing, give your feet a foot rub. If it’s uncomfortable for you to reach your feet, then roll your foot on the ball to give it a massage as you watch your TV shows.

If you’ve got foot pain, make an appointment at Alamitos-Seal Beach Podiatry Group to get an assessment. One of our board-certified podiatrists, Dr. Douglas H. Richie, Dr. Jeremy L. Cook, Dr. Faye E. Izadi can check your feet at either of our Seal Beach, CA and Los Alamitos, CA offices in Orange County. Also, don’t forget to try some of our tips for a making a healthier home for your feet!

Request an Appointment

Fill out the form below to reach Alamitos – Seal Beach Podiatry Group, or call Los Alamitos: (562) 203-6151 or Seal Beach: (562) 242-1559 for immediate assistance.











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