Tips for Reducing Foot and Ankle Pain From Arthritis
When you have arthritis, you deal with inflammation and discomfort among many different joints, including your feet and ankles. While it can be difficult dealing with the daily effects of this physical condition, there are also ways to help with arthritis of the feet or ankle joints. Here are some tips for taking good care of your feet and helping to avoid pain from your arthritis.
Wear the Right Shoes
An important aspect to protecting your feet and ankles when you have arthritis is to wear the right shoes. You want to focus more on comfort than style with this type of condition. If you have arthritis of the ankle joint, wearing heels can be very painful. Instead, stick to flat shoes that provide better support. For moderate or severe arthritis, you might want to get orthotic shoes from your podiatrist. You can also get custom-made braces in more severe cases. For other people, simply adding pads to the insides of your shoes and making sure they are the right size can make a big difference in how your feet feel at the end of the day.
Try to Lose Weight
If you are currently overweight or obese, that is probably causing more stress on your ankle joint, which is causing more pain from the arthritis. While losing weight might not get rid of the arthritis completely, it is a good way to find some relief. Speak to your doctor about recommendations for losing weight according to your current health status. You don't want to go on a crash diet that is unhealthy and doesn't have lasting effects, but changing your diet might be necessary. Losing weight can also help other areas of your body find relief from the pressure, including your hip and knee joints. Remember that with losing weight, slow and steady is often the best option. This not only helps you lose weight the healthy way, but it lets you adjust your lifestyle so the weight stays off for good.
Increase Your Physical Activity
While it might seem like it would harm your joints and feet, getting regular exercise is actually very important. Not only can it help you to lose weight, but regular exercise can also help reduce inflammation of your joints and strengthen them over time. You don't want to perform activities that put too much weight on your joints, so stick to gentle exercises like walking or low-impact aerobics. If you have severe arthritis pain in your ankle joints or feet, try swimming as a soothing exercise.
For more tips and ideas, you may want to contact an experienced podiatrist in your area.