fbpx

Runner’s Guide to Healthy Feet

Runner’s Guide to Healthy Feet

It is very rare as runners that we don’t have a niggle or an ache and pain somewhere in our legs. We are constantly monitoring the pins in order to catch an injury before it becomes serious enough to prevent us from training. Main areas of focus are usually: Achilles, calves, knees and hips but there is probably a more important area of our bodies that we often overlook, the feet. When we think of how many steps we take during an average training week and how much load our feet are expected to carry, you’d think we would be more conscious of the importance and well-being of our feet but it is often the case that many of us only start worrying about something after it has already become irritating enough to affect our training. As in most things the old adage applies… prevention is better than cure…

Regularly trim toenails
Toenails grow slowly. Apparently less than half the speed of fingernails but it’s still important to make sure we keep them neat and properly trimmed to prevent issues like fungus, ingrown nails, and the notorious black toenails that you see on almost every ‘seasoned distance runner’.

When they get too long, toenails can become painful, catch on the front of our shoe, or cause blood to pool underneath the toenail, ultimately causing the nail to fall off. Making sure that the length of our nails don’t extend beyond the edges of the toes is the best way to prevent these issues. Cut straight across, don’t round or dig into the corners, as this can cause ingrown nails.

Address painful calluses
Calluses are very common on runner’s feet. Calluses are thickened skin that form as a result of friction. They can become painful, and running can increase the levels of this discomfort.

The solution, as always, is catching things early. When we notice a callus, we need to gently file it with an emery board after a bath or shower has softened the area. Then apply a moisturising cream or, even better, a cream containing 20 percent urea, an ingredient that will help soften the callus.

Preventing Athlete’s Foot
Athlete’s foot is more common than we might think. Apparently, as many as one in four people have the fungal infection at any given time. The condition can lead to itching, irritation, and even bacterial infections if it occurs between the toes. Extreme cases can cause cracking and bleeding.

Runners who have had multiple athlete’s foot infections are at risk of the fungus spreading onto their toenails, which creates a thick and sometimes very painful toenail. As for most things, prevention and early detection is the key because treatment on the skin is far easier than when the infection has moved to the toenails.

The key is to thoroughly dry the skin in between our toes after a bath or shower, and wearing polypropylene or acrylic blend socks, as opposed to 100% cotton, both when running and throughout our daily lives, to reduce moisture build-up. The fungus that causes athlete’s foot breeds in dark, wet places, so eliminating moisture is key.

Spraying our training shoes with a fungal disinfectant once a week is also a good idea if we find we are prone to athlete’s foot infection. If we are already battling the condition, spraying our shoes daily is recommended.

Good shoes
Poorly fitted footwear is probably the biggest cause of foot issues in runners. Blisters, abrasions, numbness and bruised nails can all be as a result of running in shoes that are not the correct size or shape for our feet. Most reputable specialist running stores will have experienced staff to help find the right model to fit our feet. This can be subject to quite a bit of trial and error but it is worth it… in the long run.

The obvious first consideration is that the shoe is long enough and there is clearance for our longest toe, which isn’t always our big toe. Many shoes also come in different width options which is important for those of us on the extremes, either very wide feet but also very narrow ones.

Many runners make the mistake of lacing up their shoes to loosely. The thinking is that we are trying to prevent the shoe applying excessive pressure to sensitive parts of our feet but the reality is that the feet can then move around in the shoe, causing abrasions and impact, in the case of the toes and the front of the shoe. Finding the correct fitting shoes and then taking the time to correctly lace them up before every run is essential.

Not allowing our shoes to become too worn out before replacing them is also a good strategy in looking after our feet. Different runners wear out shoes at different rates. Gait, weight and the surfaces that we run on will all be variables that influence this but keeping track of how much mileage we have done in our shoes and monitoring wear and tear will allow us to develop a feel for when a shoe needs to be replaced.

Addressing blisters in time
Avoiding running in wet shoes as much as possible is a good start in avoiding blisters. If we live in wet climates, having more than one pair of training shoes to alternate can help with this. Giving one pair time to dry while we run the other. If prone to blisters, we can put a light layer of petroleum jelly between your toes to reduce potential friction, and then clean it off thoroughly after your run.

If a blister forms but is not painful or uncomfortable it is probably fine to leave alone. If it fills with fluid we can sterilise a needle and make a small hole in order to allow the fluid to drain. Leaving the outer skin in place to give the new skin underneath time to develop. We should not cut away the skin of the blister, exposing the new skin underneath too soon as this could become infected and painful and be far worse than a simple blister on our toe.

Share this post

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


has been added to your cart.
Checkout