It would be rare to find a senior who does not have a complaint about their feet, right? Not only is the pain quite bothersome, but it also severely restricts their already limited movement. Even daily activities like carrying goods or walking can be considered challenging.
More importantly, foot pain has been identified as one of the leading causes of accidents among seniors. Should seniors simply live with it?
The Current Situation
First of all, let’s make it clear that foot pain is not part of growing old! Yes, it is possible to grow older without feeling pain in your feet; but you have to take necessary precautions like using the proper footwear, stretching, and taking good care of your feet.
This myth is based primarily on the reality that a third of people who are 65 years old or older feel some kind of aching, stiffness, or pain in their feet. This condition increases for seniors who are already in long-term care facilities. Are you aware that about 87 percent of the population suffer from painful feet? Or are you part of these statistics?
For many women, the pain is traced to their preference of wearing high-heeled shoes with pointed-tip-toes. For men, it is usually the wrong choice of shoes or poor fitting ones. The condition becomes worse with seniors because many suffer from lifestyle diseases like cardiovascular illness or diabetes for example.
In fact, back, knee, or hip pain, as well as osteoporosis (all of which are common in seniors) do nothing to improve the situation, but even becomes worse as they age.
According to statistics, the consequence of painful feet among seniors is that many have become injured or died due to falling. Foot conditions like hammertoes, bunions, corns, and others can affect the balance and coordination of seniors when walking or just standing.
About 75 percent of seniors have bunions, 30 percent have calluses, and 15 percent have corns. Around 33 percent of seniors suffer from toenail fungal infections, with the incidence increasing significantly for those who have reduced immunity, diabetes, poor blood circulation, psoriasis, or those who are obese.
The Risk Factors
For many younger people, the most common cause of foot pain is sore muscles. For seniors though, the reasons can be quite varied, especially for those who have health or weight problems. The risk for seniors is aggravated because the cushioning on the soles of the feet becomes less as we age, along with nails and skin growing brittle and dry.
Foot sores become an additional risk since seniors usually have slower healing process attributed to poor circulation. The pain they feel in their feet becomes more pronounced when you take into account the weakened state of their lower bodies leading to poor posture, loss of step, and balance problems.
These risk factors are some of the most common reasons why many seniors fall. It is not difficult to understand how a single fall can cause a senior to lose more than just movement, but quite possibly drastically reduced life quality, when they lose confidence after a fall.
Increasing lower body strength using exercises can help to minimize the incidence of accidents. The problem is that seniors with severe foot pain can rarely do exercises that are meant to strengthen the lower body and the extremities.
Aside from stretching, another way to help minimize falls of seniors is to have footwear that offers adequate support and padding; which is good for those with hammertoes and painful corns. The right footwear, especially when combined with a custom arch support, can help to improve coordination and stability while helping maintain balance when seniors stand or walk.
Foot Solutions is a good place to start for seniors who want to improve the quality of their lives by dealing with foot pain with the proper footwear. They have stylish and elegant comfort shoes that are made from the most durable materials possible. Contact Foot Solutions today!
