Massage is great for the feet. It helps increase circulation to injured areas and the increased blood supply helps speed recovery while reducing swelling. Inflexibility associated with tightness can hinder efficient training and performance. When muscles are relaxed and receiving better circulation, they are stronger and tolerate higher levels of training with less pain and breakdown. Tight muscles can lead to strains and soft-tissue injury. This is where massage can help. Self-Massaging Your …
Happy Feet! – Available Soon
It has been close to two years since I started a project called Happy Feet! Since then a lot has transpired. Fixing Your Feet has been released in a 3rd edition. My Fixing Your Feet e-zine has grown from a few hundred subscribers to over 1700. It has recently moved from once a month text based newsletter to a bimonthly web based format. Then I started this Happy Feet blog. During all this, my Happy Feet! project has been on the back burner. Until now. Tonight I finished the …
With Footwear, Try then Adjust
A few posts ago, I talked about lacing options. Several of these were stretchy laces that are used instead of regular shoelaces. Then a few days ago I read a report from a triathlete who said after a marathon: “My left instep is still quite bruised - it took a pounding from the stretchy triathlon shoelaces that I used and whooops! - never adjusted quite properly. Lesson learned: too loose is better than too snug.” In other words, she put the laces in …
Gaiters for Shoes
Whether you are an adventure racer, a simple short-distance trail runner, a hiker, or an ultrarunner, you owe it to yourselves to cover all your bases, and figuratively speaking, to cover your socks and shoes with gaiters. Homemade Gaiters Homemade Gaiters can be easily made for running shoes or boots out of a pair of regular white crew socks. Pull the socks on your feet and with a scissors, cut the socks around the foot at the top of the shoe line. Toss out the foot portions. Fold the top …
FIXING YOUR FEET E-zine – Friction & Blisters, Socks, Bad Feet
Volume 5, Issue 10b, October 2005John Vonhof, Footwork PublicationsCopyright, October 2005, All rights reserved PURPOSEThe Fixing Your Feet E-zine is published twice a month to inform and educate athletes and non-athletes about proper foot care skills and techniques, provide tips on foot care, review foot care products, and highlight problems people have with their feet. THIS ISSUE IN SUMMARYThe feature article is “What’s Your Low-friction Insurance Policy?” Darn Tough Vermont Socks are the …
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Keeping Stuff Our of Your Shoes
If you have ever walked a trail, hiked with a backpack, or run on a trail, you have probably had stuff get in your shoes. You know the “stuff,” small rocks, sand, grit, leaves, small twigs, thistles and stickers, cattails—that kind of stuff. What usually happens is you feel the offending stuff—and make a choice. Stop and remove it or continue on. Sometimes we stand on one foot and kick the shoe against a rock to try and move the rock around inside the shoe. Other times we …
Holey Soles – a Good Choice for Outdoor Comfort
These unique comfortable closed cell foam structure shoes have a soft pliable feel, provide cushioning to your heels for all day wear, all the while massaging the bottoms of your feet with their textured footbed to promote circulation. They’re lightweight, warm in winter and cool in summer, with a vented design and anti-bacterial material to reduce foot odors. They're Holey Soles! OK, I’ll admit that some of you may look at the shape and say, “Hey, they’re clogs and they …
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Getting Help With Foot Problems
If you have persistent foot problems or recurring pain that you cannot resolve, seek medical treatment from a medical specialist. There are pedorthists, physical therapists, athletic trainers, massage therapists, and sports chiropractors that can provide assistance for strengthening, alignment, rehabilitation, and footwear design and fit. Listen to your whole body; especially your feet. Be attentive to when the pain begins and what makes it hurt more or less. Then be …
Shoe Lacing Products
Several lacing products work well for running and walking shoes, and some boots. These products replace the normal shoelaces and end the problem of laces coming untied or broken. Experiment with these laces to find the most comfortable degree of lace tightness that does not cause undo pressure on the instep and yet controls the heel. A product that can help with instep irritations is a tongue cushion. Easy Laces are lockable shoelaces featuring a stretchy elastic cord with an …
The Simple Act of Tying Your Shoelaces
Some people have problems with shoelaces causing friction and pressure. They may experience bruising over the instep where the laces tie. Laces can be adjusted to fine-tune the fit of the shoe or boot and to relieve pressure over the instep. Lacing variations can make a shoe fit better and allow for needed spacing in the tongue area or provide for better heel control. The conventional method of lacing, criss-cross to the top of the shoe, works best for the majority of people. On the other end of …
