Are Your Feet Wearing Out?

Baby boomers are everywhere. About every eight seconds another baby boomer turns 50. In 1957 there were 4,300,00 new babies born, the highest yearly count in the boomer years from 1946 to 1964. I was born in 1947 when the number was 3,817,000. So what do many of the new baby boomers have in common? The answer is aging feet.
     What do aging feet look like? Allow me to paint a word picture. Toes start to curl. Tendons start to tear. Arches start to fall, and the foot becomes longer and wider. Nails thicken and crumble as toenail fungus becomes commonplace. The skin hardens and more calluses develop. In some cases, toenails become longer and untrimmed because of the loss of flexibility to reach them. The fat pad on the bottom of the foot thins and the feet often have a more boney appearance.
     As weight increases, even to the point of obesity, the pressures and stresses on the feet add to breakdown of joints, tendons and ligaments, and nerves. With obesity comes a greater risk of diabetes, the nation’s number one cause of amputated feet. Circulation is impaired and sores and skin breakdowns do not heal, become infected and develop into foot threatening ulcers.
     The picture I painted is often not pretty. As you might expect, daily foot care is important to one’s well being. When caught early, problems can be treated before they become difficult or impossible to treat. Well fitting shoes are key to healthy feet. If you have persistent foot pain, see your doctor.
     Whether this post applies to you, a parent, or some other loved one, take a moment out of your day to check your feet, or make sure they are.