Prevention of pain in the legs
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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Some acute situations that are easily preventable
When traveling long distances by car, train, or by air, get up and walk every two hours to reduce the risk of deep vein thrombosis.
For those who are inclined to fall, the help of a walking stick or walker can be useful.
Falls can occur when walking on a rugged surface, or, for example, falling in a bathroom when the mat is too slippery. The main thing is to assess the minimum risks and not fall for this bait.
Maintaining an ideal weight will reduce the burden on bones and joints and reduce the risk of arthritis and obesity, other chronic diseases.
Regular exercise and a healthy balanced diet, including a sufficient amount of calcium and vitamin D, will maintain strong bones and flexibility of the joints.
For those who are sick for a long time and limited in movement, control of the disease will help reduce the risk of complications. This is especially true for the treatment of diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Smoking is the main risk factor for the disease of the circulatory system of the legs, and it should be avoided.
Pain in the legs is not at all normal
When it comes to the feet, people think that pain is the norm. Eight out of 10 people, responding to a 2009 poll by members of the American Medical Association Podiatric, reported that at least one leg had been ill for them once in a lifetime. More than half complained of pain in the heel. Others screamed in pain because of blisters, calluses, inflammation of nerve endings, ingrown nails.
"Pain in the legs is not normal, and yet people accept it," said Dennis Frisch, MD, an orthopedist from Boca Raton, Florida. About 35% of those who reported pain in the heel during the survey, for example, said that she worried about them for two years or longer.
"There are some age-related changes in our legs that can make leg pain more likely and less tolerable. But the pain in the legs is not inevitable with age, "says Dr. Frisch.
If you follow a simple prophylaxis of pain in the legs, there is a high probability that your gait will be light and your legs painless.
Pay attention to the hygiene of the feet and the pedicure
Care of the feet is easy to ignore, especially in the cold months, when they are often in closed shoes or shoes. Make sure that you cut your nails straight and across to avoid ingrown nails.
Moistening of dry skin on the legs, when cracks appeared, will help to remove inflammation and to ward off infections, because bacteria enter the body directly through skin cracks.
If you go for a pedicure, make sure that the master disinfects the instruments well. Tools for home pedicure are sold in cosmetics and perfumery stores, in some manicure salons. You can buy your own and use them only for yourself.
Be attentive to the age changes in the legs
With age, we lose some of our body fat, especially in the lower part of the foot, this prevents depreciation. This may mean that with age you need to wear stronger shoes, which protects your foot from damage.
Joint changes can begin in 40 years. Fingers can bend or contract normally, and the nails can be thick, increasing the risk of ingrown nails.
Be attentive to problems, such as a bone on the legs, in which the fingers begin to deform. Bony bumps at the base of the thumb can make it painful. These circumstances may appear or worsen with age.
The size of the leg can change as you get older. In general, the legs become longer and wider with age, and the tendons weaken. Do not be surprised if your changes affect the size of your shoes, and do not forget to take this into account when buying shoes.
Wear shoes that match your activity
When putting on shoes, make sure that your toes are not too tightly restrained in the toe. Otherwise, your legs will be under pressure and you will be uncomfortable.
The sizes for footwear became less standardized. This means that in the same amount of different firms you can feel differently. Take shoes that you definitely can not squeeze, because your legs tend to swell during the day.
If you buy sports shoes for walking, running or other training, you need to choose the one that suits your lifestyle and workouts. Footwear, for example, has other properties than sports sneakers.
Give support to the arches of your feet, they deserve it
Foot health specialists talk about how important it is to choose shoes of appropriate completeness to support the arch of the foot. To do this, you need to walk around in the just-chosen shoes on the store for at least 10 minutes. If it is uncomfortable - do not buy it.
How to determine what kind of arches you have? Take a sheet of paper, soak your feet, and stand on it with your foot. If you see only the heel and toes, and between them a large empty distance, a large gap, you have a high arch of the foot.
If you see a wide track from your foot, all the voids are filled, you are likely to have flat feet, and the legs need more support than you thought before.
Stop with a flatfoot need more support than a foot of other species. Need orthopedic shoes. She needs orthopedic insoles to make her leg comfortable and comfortable.
Orthopedic shoes do not live forever. Legs should be inspected by a specialist every 1-2 years to see if they are in good condition and whether shoes of a different shape are needed.
Hairpins or slippers?
Women's shoes with heels in three, four or more inches can look glamorous, but this is the wrong choice for everyday wearing, say orthopedists.
Nevertheless, many specialists-doctors look at the situation realistically and know that many lovers of high heels are not going to destroy their collection of fashionable shoes.
Then you need to choose a moderate option and walk on high heels only sometimes, if circumstances do not require standing on your feet for several hours.
Why not wear a high heel all the time? It may look sexy, but it's a very difficult task for the legs. They overextend and hurt. The higher the heel, the greater the pressure for the toes. Wearing high heels also becomes more uncomfortable with age, because such changes in the foot, such as the loss of the fat layer in the lower part of the foot, interfere.
For those who can not give up small heels, you need to consider a style option with built-in support for the arch of the foot. In this case, even on a heel, a woman feels much more stable.
Do you walk barefoot?
For people with healthier legs, legs are safer to walk barefoot than people with aching legs. If your foot still has enough fatty tissue and there is no callus on it, walking barefoot is helpful. But if you have problems with your legs, the foot meets a lot of small stones and other obstacles on your way, then doctors do not advise walking barefoot.
Consider the environment before deciding to walk barefoot. In a health club or public sauna, for example, you can risk catching a fungal infection if you are without shoes.
Diabetics should not walk barefoot, say trauma doctors. "They can suffer from diabetic neuropathy (problems with nerve endings), so they can not feel enough the condition of their feet when walking barefoot. If an infection gets through the microcracks in the leg, people with diabetes can have more problems than healthy people. They will be more difficult to treat infections.
Do you have a flexible sole with shoes?
Walking in shoes with a flexible sole and a low heel reduces the risk of injury and pain in the legs. When choosing shoes, bend and twist it. The sole should be flexible, otherwise your legs and legs will become tired with every step.
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Make foot baths
Give your feet the attention they deserve by pampering their foot baths. This is a great tool to revitalize your legs and focus on relaxing procedures. The foot baths will support them in perfect condition.
Peppermint oil is good for restoring legs, and lavender oil is good for soothing.
You can soak your feet in water with almond milk if you want a soft skin of the legs, worthy of kisses. Or you can add one glass of milk and one tablespoon of almond oil to the water. Mix these ingredients and enjoy the bath for 15 minutes.
If your legs are swollen, add a handful of salt or iodized salt to the water that your feet wash.
When you massage the legs after the bath, take this opportunity to see if there are any bumps, warts, growths, cracks, scaling of the legs, etc., that need special attention? If you have hard corns, piles or bones on your legs, you may need to consult a doctor, do not ignore them, so as not to cause pain in your legs.