Common Causes of Chronic Sore Feet
Millions of people suffer from chronic sore, aching feet. Here I am referring not to serious food injuries or disorders, but rather, foot pain arising from common daily life activities. In fact, if you do suffer from chronically aching feet, chances are great that you fall into one of the following three categories:
PRESSURE SORES
1. Foot pain caused by physical activity.
Persons who engage in strenuous sports or physical fitness activities, such as running, walking, hiking, aerobics, tennis, golf, basketball, and other sports that put stress on the feet, are likely candidates to experience ongoing foot soreness at some point.
2. Foot soreness caused by uncomfortable shoes.
It is an unavoidable fact of our modern-day living that many professions and social norms require us to wear shoes designed for form rather than comfort or function. The main culprit here is high-heel shoes and other women's dress shoes. Ouch!
3. Aching feet caused by excessive standing.
Many people have jobs, such as food service industry jobs, require standing for long periods of time, or even entire work days. Persons engaging in such professions are highly likely to experience ongoing foot soreness.
In all of the above cases, while discontinuing the activities in question would certainly solve our sore feet problem, this is hardly a viable option. We play sports because we love to do so. We wear high heels and dress shoes because we want to look our best. And we work standing-intensive jobs, well, because we have to earn a living!
The question, then, is how can we continue to engage in the activities that we love and need to do and rid ourselves of our chronic sore foot problem?
My Best Home Remedies for Sore Feet
Since it is our ongoing, daily activities that are the cause of our chronic sore foot pain, we require ongoing, daily therapy and maintenance to combat chronic foot soreness. Therefore, although I highly recommend receiving an occasional foot massage at a reflexology clinic if available, here I'd like to offer my two favorite low-cost, easy-to-perform home remedies for sore feet.
1. Epsom Salt Bath
Epsom salts, a compound of magnesium and sulfate, offer soothing, low-cost foot relief. Readily available at your local drugstore or grocery store, simply pour about a 1/4 to 1/2 cup of salts into a tub of warm water and soak your feet for up to a half hour. The Epsom salts work to reduce inflammation of sore nerves and muscles and leave your feet feeling refreshed.
Epsom salts are a great home remedy for aching feet. The only real drawbacks to this method are the ongoing cost of replenishing the salts and the time required to prepare and take the foot bath.
2. Home Reflexology
My personal favorite do-it-yourself sore foot pain remedy is home reflexology. There are a number of home reflexology tools on the market, spanning the entire range of cost and effectiveness.
My personal favorite home reflexology tool is a little-known Japanese foot massage tool called the takefumi.
Takefumi Japanese Foot Massager
The takefumi foot massager is the traditional Japanese foot massage tool that has been used as the go-to home remedy for sore feet in Japan for centuries.
The takefumi is actually simply a piece of bamboo, about a foot long. The naturally curved hardness of the bamboo is cut and shaped to provide a perfect foot massage with just the right amount of pressure: not to gentle but not too intense!
I love the takefumi because it is inexpensive and super easy to use. Just lay it on the floor and step on it gently. You'll find that the arched shape of the takefumi begins to work immediately to stretch and massage the feet in the opposite direction of the downward pressure of gravity to blissfully release all the soreness and tension stored up in the feet.
I use my takefumi for a minute or two each morning and evening for daily foot maintenance and therapy, and immediately after engaging in any activity that causes my foot soreness to flare up. I've found that by following this simple routine, my chronic foot soreness has all but gone away and I now finally have control over my sore feet instead of my aching feet controlling and constantly plaguing me!
Highly Effective Home Remedies for Sore Feet PRESSURE SORES
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