COMMON FOOT HEALTH ISSUES & HOW TO PREVENT THEM
Good work boots are crafted with necessary safety features–protections against slips, electrical hazards, impact and compression hazards, etc. Your immediate safety on the jobsite is understandably a top priority. But good work boots should also protect your feet against more long-term dangers. Shoddy or improperly fitted footwear can lead to health issues down the line that are compromising to your work and well-being, and can be just as damaging as workplace hazards. Like your mattress and the tires on your car, a lot rides on your boots, so it’s worth taking the time to make sure they’re up to the task.
FOOT FATIGUE & SORE FEET
Broadly speaking, this is the most common foot problem encountered by workers, and can be related to other serious problems. The most common cause of foot fatigue and sore feet is simply overuse. As you work, your feet are striking the ground again and again. Those repeated impacts jar your feet, especially if you’re moving quickly or carrying heavy loads. Even standing for long periods of time can lead to foot fatigue. Humans did not evolve to spend so much time on hard, unyielding surfaces like pavement and concrete. To counter this, work boots for men and women who work on these surfaces should have plenty of cushioning and proper arch support, especially in the footbed and midsole. Materials like EVA and polyurethane absorb every impact as your foot strikes the ground, softening the effects they have on your foot and allowing you to work more comfortably for longer periods. Make sure your work boots feature midsoles and footbeds equipped to handle your workload. Thorogood builds each of our boots with midsoles above the outsoles, and includes some of the best insoles for work boots available, like the Ultimate Shock-Absorption™ Footbed, in every pair.
BLISTERS, CORNS & CALLUSES
Blisters develop at points of friction as you move through your day. Painful pockets of fluid that develop in response to prolonged irritation, blisters can become uncomfortable quickly, and even burst, leaving the skin beneath raw and extremely sensitive. Your body’s response to chronic blistering is to reinforce the skin of affected areas. These patches of rough, thickened skin are called corns and calluses. Generally speaking, corns are smaller, affecting a more specific area, and can be painful when pressure is applied to them. Corns will usually develop around the toes. Calluses are larger but generally not painful, and you’ll often see them at your heels or the balls of your feet.
The best way to avoid blisters on feet, as well as corns and calluses, is to make sure your boots fit well and that they allow your feet to breathe. The work boot should fit snugly to avoid areas of friction where your foot moves within your boot, but shouldn’t be constrictive. High-quality leather boots help avoid blistering by stretching and molding themselves around your feet during the break-in period, resulting in boots that wrap perfectly around your feet.
ATHLETE’S FOOT
Athlete’s foot is caused by a fungal infection, and usually starts between the toes, where sweat collects more often. Athlete’s foot can be itchy and painful, and if left untreated, can spread to other parts of the foot. Athlete’s foot treatment is usually simple, involving the application of an anti-fungal cream, but it takes some time for the infection to go away completely. It is best to avoid athlete’s foot altogether by depriving the fungus of the opportunity to take root. Good, clean, breathable socks are a must, as well as footwear that have plenty of room in the toe box and allow some air circulation to disperse sweat and wetness as quickly as possible. Breathable unlined leather uppers are good for this purpose, as are boots with a moisture-wicking lining. If you work in wet conditions, consider waterproof work boots like Thorogood’s Genesis series to keep outside water from getting in.
BUNIONS
Boots with insufficient room in the toe area, or boots that are too narrow and constrictive for your foot, can push the big toe inward, toward the other toes, deforming the joint at the base of the big toe and forcing it to jut out. This bony bump is a bunion, and bunions can be a source of long-term pain in your feet. Always make sure your footwear allows your toes to splay naturally, and opt for wider sizes if a standard boot width is too constrictive. The extra care to avoid bunions is well worth it in the long run. Boots like the Genesis series feature what is called an oblique toe, in which the boot is crafted with a narrow, secure heel, widening toward the toe box to provide plenty of space for toes to splay naturally. Not only does this prevent the formation of bunions, but it allows for more natural foot movement while you work.
ACHILLES TENDINITIS
Achilles tendinitis is an overuse injury caused by repetitive or intense strain on the Achilles tendon–a band of tissue that runs along the back of your lower leg, connecting your calf muscles to your heel bone. The Achilles tendon helps your feet move, flexing and stretching when you walk, run, and jump. When you exert yourself carrying heavy loads, or running more than you’re used to, the strain can be too much for the tendon, resulting in an ache and possibly some stiffness at the back of your leg, above the heel.
The best way to avoid developing achilles tendinitis is to ramp up your physical exertion gradually and maintain your fitness. Take it a little easy when coming back after a period off the job, to give your Achilles tendon the time to adjust to the new loads it’s being required to bear.
PLANTAR FASCIITIS
One of the most common causes of heel pain in workers, plantar fasciitis involves the swelling and irritation of the plantar fascia, a thick band of tissue that connects your heel bone to your toes, running along the bottom of your foot. This inflammation results in stabbing pain in the bottom of the foot, near the heel. The causes of plantar fasciitis aren’t totally clear, but studies have shown that repeated stretching and tearing of the fascia can cause the inflammation. Work that puts a lot of stress on your heels is likely to contribute to plantar fasciitis. Again, the best shoes for plantar fasciitis will have plenty of shock-absorbing cushioning with proper arch support in the footbed and midsole to help your feet weather the stresses much more effectively.
METATARSALGIA
Metatarsalgia affects the balls of your feet, and is caused by excessive pressure on the forefoot. Repeated strikes, which might be caused by running or jumping, inflame the area where those strikes land hardest, creating sharp pains or a dull ache at the bottom of your foot, just behind your toes. Metatarsalgia is not considered as serious as some of the other conditions described above, but can cause a great deal of discomfort and seriously affect your workday. The best way to prevent metatarsalgia from developing is to utilize comfortable work boots with adequate shock-absorption. For jobs with a lot of hard impacts or jumps from heights onto hard concrete surfaces, both a highly-cushioned footbed and a shock-absorbing midsole built into the boot are recommended in order to minimize the effects of those strikes.
CONCLUSION
These are just some of the most common foot health issues that workers can face. Taken together, they demonstrate the importance of quality footwear in keeping your feet healthy in the long-term. Keeping your feet in good working order means doing what you can to ensure they stay dry throughout the workday, wicking away sweat and keeping outside liquids from getting in. It means taking the time to make sure your boots for work fit well–tight enough that your foot doesn’t move around within them, creating high-friction “hot spots”, but not so constricting that your toes are unable to splay naturally. And more than anything, it means the best work boots will have enough cushioning underfoot to absorb the shocks and impacts of your day. Our bodies were not designed for long hours on pavement or concrete, so proper cushioning can make the difference between healthy feet and sore feet that lead to health complications.