There are some kinds of works which require long hours of standing or walking. Continuously prolonged periods of standing results negatively on the foot health. A research has shown that people who usually stand on their feet for more than 5 hours are more likely to develop foot pain than other people. In fact, so many people have claimed to experience aching in their foot at least one or more in their lifetime.
There are a working group of people who usually stand for a long period of time including restaurant workers, bank tellers, nurses, retail sellers, etc. Their working shift is also considerably long from 8 to 12 hours. As a result, many people in that group suffer from serve pain in their foot after working hours. Pain in the foot is an obvious signal for the bad status of foot health.
Your feet easily wear out from overusing in a long period of time. The results are various including swelling, pain, plantar fasciitis in the foot and the heel. There can also be painful in other parts of the body as well. There are knee, ankle, hips, thighs and lower back that connect directly with the foot. Without proper treatment in a right time, your foot can develop a very serious problem. Therefore, there are some ways to relief the pain in your foot resulted from a long time of standing.
Ice Your Feet
This method is recommended by American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. In order to relief your pain immediately, you can use ice pad to get rid of the problem quickly. When you stand for a long period of time, your body weight is totally stressing on your foot, which causes pain in your foot heel. Using ice or quacking grab a bucket with cold ice and apply to your foot with moderate stress can effectively heal your painful foot faster.
Elevating Your Feet
Resting posture: It is very important to place your feet in a proper position when you rest. When going to bed, you are suggested to place your foot above your body to reduce swelling. You can use a pillow to order your foot.
Alternative walking or moving: You can take advantages of your break during working hours to do some small walk around. When your foot is too tight from standing, with a few minutes walk or sit can elevate your foot. The rest will help you reduce foot swelling and give your foot as well as muscle a recess. In addition, you should avoid high-impact activities such as running.
Different postures of standing: If it is possible, you should change your postures after a period of standing. Experts suggest that you should try to avoid standing continuously in one hour. If you need to stand still, you can shift the weight distribution on your feet for a balance.
Using Pain Relief Drugs
There are some kinds of non-prescript nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs called NSAIDs that are known to reduce pain and inflammation in the foot. The most used drugs are naproxen and ibuprofen. These drugs are useful for short terms uses and does not need a prescription from doctors.
Massage Your Feet
There are several ways to relax your feet with massage methods. By doing small massage, your feet will be able to refresh from tiredness of standing and walking. In addition, massaging your feet also help the flow of blood circulation from your heart to your foot. Here are some way to massage your feet
Using tennis ball: This technique can be easily done at home or even workplace. You can use a tennis ball or baseball to roll over your feet from heel to toe and back. You can do the massage many time during a day, a few minutes every day. It can help stretch your tight muscles and joints.
Using a wooden roller: This is also another alternative method of using a wooden roller. The Wooden roller can be found everywhere in the drug stores. Even in the workplace, you can bring a wooden roller to put on the ground and roll your feet over.
Hand massage for foot: You can have your foot massaged professionally by a podiatrist or you can massage it at home by yourself. Before doing hand massage, you are recommended to have your foot relaxed by doing 15-minutes soaking. After soaking your foot in warm water with a little bit salt, your muscle is refreshed and your skin is smoothened. You can massage over the heel, toes, and ball of your foot for 10 to 15 minutes.
Stretching Your Feet
Doing some stretch during your standing period is a good way to release pain in a snap. Doing stretch can wake your muscle up and pump the blood flow to your foot. Here are some quick and easy stretch techniques.
Top of the foot stretch: You are supposed to stress your weight on one leg then swing your other leg behind. Then you create a posture that your hips are opened, your body is based on the top of the leg that you are standing in. If it is too hard for some of the first time, you can face towards the wall then hold your hand against the wall for balance first.
Toes stretch: In order to stretch your toes easily and perfectly, you should have sit first. When you sit, you put one leg cross over the other one. Then you use your hand to stretch the toes of the upper foot. Then you can change to the other foot. You are recommended to do 2 or 3 times with each foot.
The calf stretch: First of all, you need to straight one of your legs. Then you use some soft objects with approximately 10cm high. You step into the object with the ball of your foot in the straight leg and leave your heel on the floor. The objects used can be a rolled towel, mat or yoga block.
A shoulder stretch: You first stand facing the wall. Then place your palms against the wall as the same height as your shoulder. At the same time, you step back so that your arm is stretched as long as possible. Your both arms should be parallel and straight ahead with your shoulder. That posture will enable you to drop your head to your arms. If your lower back feels tight, you can lower your knee a little bit.
Equipping yourself with best shoes for standing all day is one of the way to support your feet and avoid imflammation. Apart from choosing the right pair of shoes, you should maintain a good care towards your feet. A proper care can help you relief pain the foot as well as avoid certain foot problems that can easily happen. Otherwise, you might suffer from pain as well as less mobility in walking and standing. In more serious cases when you already have foot diseases, you might need surgery to remove the inflamed parts.