The Impact of Isolation on your Foot Health
During COVID-19, it is easy to become isolated while you are staying inside at home. Although it’s important to practice social distancing, many people are unaware of the amount of stress and pressure it can have on your health and specifically your feet.
Here are some of the trends that we’ve noticed since the start of COVID-19:
increase in stress habits: As humans develop habits due to feeling worried, agitated, stressed or anxious, it can often lead to bad habits such as picking at your toenails. This habit can cause the nail to become ingrown leading to only pain and possibly infection.
Lack of quality shoes: as we continue to increase the amount of time we stay at home, it is easy to fall into the habit of going barefoot or wearing slippers. Increasing your time going barefoot can cause increased shock and injuries to the arch of your foot. Without proper support, the arch and toe muscles work overtime to protect your feet. This often leads to an increase in heel, arch and toe pain.
Reduced daily exercise or activity: being in isolation and staying more at home has restricted the amount of time we devote to exercise. Whether it’s going to the gym, walking to work or running errands, the majority of us have greatly reduced the amount of time we spend on our feet. This is an issue as these steps that we normally took prior to COVID-19, help keep our muscles active and strong. To address this growing issue, we recommend including daily activity into your schedule such as walking for 20 minutes.
COVID-19 has forced us to go through strange and unusual experiences that we have never gone through in the past. With our levels of stress and anxiety being impacted, it’s important to ensure we prioritize our mental and physical health. Should you have any questions, please feel free to set up an appointment with us today.
