We all know how we feel after wearing shoes for the best part of the day; achy, throbbing, painful are a few that pop into my mind. We spend our days walking on flat and hard surfaces inside and pounding on concrete and tarmac outside. We wear shoes to protect ourselves from causing ourselves serious injuries, but wearing tight ill-fitting shoes stop our feet from working properly. Have you ever taken your shoes off after a long day and just sat back for a moment and gone Aaaah. A wonderful feeling when you can feel your feet again, away from those tight, hard, pointy shoes. It feels good to be able to wiggle your toes and just to be able to feel everything around you again. Imagine feeling like that all the time. Do you take off your shoes when you enter your home? Some people ask you to remove your shoes when entering their home and for some people it is a cultural tradition. If you live in apartments then the plus side is you will have happy people who live below you. When you are at home you want to be comfortable, you wouldn't relax at home with your work clothes on and your high heeled boots then why not get barefoot and enjoy your time at home and relax properly. There has been a lot of research about the benefits of walking barefoot. A lot of us walk barefoot in our homes. It gives our feet a chance to breathe. Experts say that walking or running barefoot develops muscles in the hips, legs, calves, thighs and feet, making them stronger. These are parts of the body which are restricted in shoes. It will also strengthen and stretch your calf muscles in turn which will improve how you walk or run and you will have better balance due to having more of your foot on the ground whilst barefoot. Wearing high-heels can be the cause of back pain but walking barefoot can ease this too as your weight is equally dispersed throughout the legs thus less pressure on your back. Nevertheless if you suffer from certain serious health problems like poor circulation then it is important you wear shoes. Take a moment and imagine running around barefoot outside in the garden on the grass when you were a child, or feeling wet sand between your toes whilst walking along a beach on holiday. There's not much that can beat that feeling. Going for a shoeless look isn't against the law either, you can go shopping, eat out and even drive barefoot if you so wished to. Spending a bit of time barefoot is a good way of letting them heal. Walking barefoot strengthens your toes and your feet; it will also help prevent any deformities of the toes from developing. With time you can have happier healthier feet and when you have happy feet you will feel more relaxed. If you are thinking of giving walking barefoot outside a go, it goes without saying that walking or running where there may be potential hazards such as glass, stones or other sharp objects is a big no no. To begin with you should go for a five minute walk a day to get used to the different surfaces and to prepare your feet for the great outdoors. This will strengthen your leg and foot muscles that are not used regularly and harden the skin on the bottom of your foot. Over the weeks begin to slowly increase the time you walk or run barefoot, go for a walk in the park or nip to the corner shop. You won't have to worry about balancing or running in your high-heels. As long as you use your common sense and stay clear of walking barefoot in places where you can be injured, this could turn out to be an enjoyable experience for you and benefit your health at the same time. It is one of those things you can do as little or as much as you like, it all depends on how comfortable you feel. Summertime is a good time to begin this but don't forget to use sunscreen on the top of and the bottom of your feet to protect them from the sun. Walking barefoot in summer is a good way of keeping your feet cool too. Walking barefoot on natural surfaces such as grass can be very beneficial if done regularly. A few of the benefits are;
To enjoy all the benefits mentioned in the article but avoid the downside of glass, sharp stones and other painful obstacles use leguano barefoot shoes. It is important to remember to wash your feet after walking barefoot outside to get rid of germs and walk where it is safe. There are health risks from walking barefoot and wearing shoes can protect you from cuts, bruises and sharp objects on the ground. But wearing shoes can limit the mobility of your feet. One-fifth of the world's population never wears shoes at all. We should at least try to walk barefoot around the house as much as possible. Your shoes will last longer if you begin to wear them less as well as getting a good massage for free when going for a walk barefoot on the grass. What have you got to lose? Your feet need to be in their natural state to keep working properly and walking barefoot makes sure this happens. You should be barefoot at least 12 hours or more a day everyday. Kick off your shoes whenever possible. Some people think it is unhygienic to wonder around in bare feet. Your feet will get dirty if you walk outside but you can wash your feet just as much as you wash your hands, there's nothing wrong with that. In a matter of fact, shoes can be dirtier than going barefoot. When your feet sweat, the moisture is trapped in the shoes which provide a damp and dark environment for fungi to grow and as we don't wash our shoes often, can you imagine all the germs living inside them? Wearing thick soled shoes also prevents us from knowing how to position our feet on different surfaces. We tend to land on our heel which is not the natural landing position which can lead to sprains and other injuries. For your body to absorb the impact properly and without harm when you land, it is vital to know how to place your feet. You will quickly notice the difference when you begin to walk or run barefoot. There are many sports which people play barefoot, such as, gymnastics, running, martial arts and volleyball. Try to set time aside to walk barefoot and make the most of all the healing benefits which walking barefoot offers. Click here for more information on Plantar Fasciitis, and Pain in Heel Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Abid_Hussain/55806
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New York, Knee osteoarthritis (OA) accounts for more disability in the elderly than any other disease. Running, although it has proven cardiovascular and other health benefits, can increase stresses on the joints of the leg. In a study published in the December 2009 issue of PM&R: The journal of injury, function and rehabilitation, researchers compared the effects on knee, hip and ankle joint motions of running barefoot versus running in modern running shoes. They concluded that running shoes exerted more stress on these joints compared to running barefoot or walking in high-heeled shoes. Sixty-eight healthy young adult runners (37 women), who run in typical, currently available running shoes, were selected from the general population. None had any history of musculoskeletal injury and each ran at least 15 miles per week. A running shoe, selected for its neutral classification and design characteristics typical of most running footwear, was provided to all runners. Using a treadmill and a motion analysis system, each subject was observed running barefoot and with shoes. Data were collected at each runner’s comfortable running pace after a warm-up period. The researchers observed increased joint torques at the hip, knee and ankle with running shoes compared with running barefoot. Disproportionately large increases were observed in the hip internal rotation torque and in the knee flexion and knee varus torques. An average 54% increase in the hip internal rotation torque, a 36% increase in knee flexion torque, and a 38% increase in knee varus torque were measured when running in running shoes compared with barefoot. These findings confirm that while the typical construction of modern-day running shoes provides good support and protection of the foot itself, one negative effect is the increased stress on each of the 3 lower extremity joints. These increases are likely caused in large part by an elevated heel and increased material under the medial arch, both characteristic of today’s running shoes. Writing in the article, lead author D. Casey Kerrigan, MD, JKM Technologies LLC, Charlottesville, VA, and co-investigators state, “Remarkably, the effect of running shoes on knee joint torques during running (36%-38% increase) that the authors observed here is even greater than the effect that was reported earlier of high-heeled shoes during walking (20%-26% increase). Considering that lower extremity joint loading is of a significantly greater magnitude during running than is experienced during walking, the current findings indeed represent substantial biomechanical changes.” Dr. Kerrigan concludes, “Reducing joint torques with footwear completely to that of barefoot running, while providing meaningful footwear functions, especially compliance, should be the goal of new footwear designs.” The article is “The Effect of Running Shoes on Lower Extremity Joint Torques” by D. Casey Kerrigan, MD, Jason R. Franz, MS, Geoffrey S. Keenan, MD, Jay Dicharry, MPT, Ugo Della Croce, PhD, and Robert P. Wilder, MD. It appears in PM&R: The journal of injury, function and rehabilitation, Volume 1, Issue 12 (December 2009), published by Elsevier. The article has been made freely available and may be accessed at: http://www.pmrjournal.org/article/S1934-1482(09)01367-7/fulltext . |
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