Happy Feet!

Happy, healthy feet are key for running, hiking, walking, and everyday life. In this bolg post I'm talking through a few things that can help.

Blisters

Blisters are no fun, and as you walk more you’ll definitely want to be avoiding them! So here are some tips.

Blisters are usually caused by something rubbing and causing irritation or friction against the skin. Many blisters are therefore caused by footwear and socks that aren’t quite right so let’s talk that through first.

Footwear

Shoes or boots that fit your feet well are key (look back for my post specifically about that). Look for a shape that feels snug but not tight around the arch and heel but with plenty of space around the toes. Also if your feet are moving around too much that movement and friction that can cause blisters increases; but you don’t want things too tight either!

Socks

The right socks can really help too. Avoid cotton as this stretches and gets misshapen when damp (from either rain or sweat) which really ramps up the blister risk. Either technical fabrics (like polyester and elastin) or specific hiking socks made out of wool or merino are a better bet as they maintain their shape much better. Two pairs thinner of socks one over the other can really help; as the friction of movement happens between the two pairs of socks and not between the sock and your skin. Again the right size of sock really helps, too tight or to loose may cause issues.

A little lubricant on the feet can also help, some vaseline or a sports product like Body Glide over the feet before you put your socks on can help loads.

You can also get blisters between your toes too, this can be cause by your footwear being a little small around the toe area and squashing the toes together so they rub against each other as you walk. So correct footwear sizing is key here. I find toe socks (with little pockets for each toe, like gloves) can really help here too.

Toe Nails

Long toe nails can come into the contact with the tops or the ends of our footwear and, over time when walking longer, this can cause pain and discomfort. Even in extreme cases it weakens the nail bed and leads to your nails going black and eventually dropping off to re grow…! So understandably this is best avoided.

Try to keep your toenails fairly short to avoid this; basically not much of the white part of the nail that grows beyond the nail bed.

It’s also worth cutting the toe nails in a daily straight line across the top (not too rounded) to avoid the risk of ingrowing toe nails. Also trim or file any sharp edges that might rub irritate or cut into neighbouring toes.

Hard Skin

It’s worth paying attention to your foot care by also pumicing or removing areas of hard, dry skin too as this will help keep skin flexible and avoid any blisters or hot spots arising in the areas where harder skin meets the softer skin.

Look after your feet and they will look after you on your runs and walks, sore feet really aren’t fun! :)