It seems that as we age, everything else in our body starts to slow down–except our feet. Even though they have been carrying us around for years and have borne the brunt of our weight, often times our feet don’t get the attention they need. By taking some simple steps to care for our feet, we can keep them healthy and pain-free well into old age. Read on for tips on how to take care of your aging feet!
Moisturize
One of the changes you may notice as you celebrate more birthdays is that the skin of your feet and legs becomes thinner and more fragile. This makes you more susceptible to injury. Just bumping your foot or leg into the car door can turn into a serious wound.
Using a moisturizer on your feet and legs daily can make your skin more pliable and less likely to tear open. I recommend using Mod Pod Hydrate. This is a thick, hydration balm that will lock moisture into your skin while still being lightweight on your skin. It won’t leave your skin feeling oily.
Wear Supportive and Well Cushioned Shoes
The ideal place for fat on your body is on the balls of your feet. These fat pads provide cushioning when you walk, but unfortunately as we age the fat pads begin to deteriorate. This condition is called fat pad atrophy. When you lose this cushioning on the bottom of your feet it leads to severe pain and discomfort while walking.
I recommend wearing well cushioned shoes, such as Hoka, that will provide plenty of shock absorption for the fat pad that you have lost over the years. You can also wear something call a metatarsal cushion strap. This is a cloth enclosed gel pad that wraps around the ball of your foot to give your foot much need cushioning. The sleek design makes it great to wear in all shoes!
Bellafill
There is a cutting-edge procedure, called Bellafill, that can give you some of your fat pad back. Bellafill is a long lasting volumizer that can be injected into boney areas that cause pain. It is a combination of collagen gel (80%) and PMMA microspheres (20%). Collagen provides tissue support, strength and integrity. The PMMA microspheres provide a “scaffold” to support endogenous (your own body’s) collagen production and tissue matrix formation. If you are interested in discussing this option further, please call the office at 859-264-1141 or schedule an appointment online.
Orthotics
Arthritis is one of the most common complaints I hear about from my patients and unfortunately there is no cure for it. Trust me, I could cure arthritis if I would have my own private island! I do however have a few tricks up my sleeve to alleviate pain caused by arthritis.
One of the best ways I have found to treat arthritis is to wear custom orthotics. Orthotics will provide support and cushioning to the joints while keeping everything in proper alignment. This will help prevent pain when you walk. We customize the design based on which joints are arthritic to improve the overall function and structure of each individual’s foot.
Orthotics will also alleviate pain in other joints that start to ache as we age such as your knees, hips, and lower back.
With the wide variety of materials at our disposal, we can make an orthotic to fit into any pair of shoes, so you don’t have to compromise fashion for comfort! If your insurance does not cover custom orthotics, we have other options available in office.
Laser Therapy
Laser therapy is a great way to reduce pain caused by arthritis. While laser won’t cure arthritis, but it will reduce your pain by 75% with just six treatments. The FDA-Cleared Class IV MLS Laser uses concentrated light energy to stimulate the body’s own healing process to minimize pain, inflammation and promote healing. The laser was designed to treat conditions without excessive thermal effect (a.k.a heat), since it is painful. The MLS laser is a cold laser, which uses specific wavelengths and a patented delivery system to speed up the process of relieving inflammation, pain and repairing damaged tissue.
You can also use Mod Pod Soothe to relieve any pain and inflammation. Soothe is a pain-relieving stick that contains 1000mg of CBD, arnica, eucalyptus, and lavender oils. This ultra-potent combination works great in conjunction with laser therapy and will reduce pain for a minimum of 4 hours. If you want effective pain relief without the CBD, Mod Pod Recover is a great option!
Although our feet naturally change as we age, there are many things you can do to take care of them and reduce the effect that these changes have on your daily life. If you have any questions or concerns about your feet, please call the office at 859-264-1141 or schedule an appointment online with one of our podiatrists. We would be happy to answer any questions you may have and provide you with the best possible care.