How To Keep Your Feet Healthy: 3 Tips

You need to take good care of your feet in order to keep them healthy and prevent issues such as pain or difficulty walking. If you aren't taking good care of your feet, you need to start taking steps to prevent these and other problems. There are a number of things you can be doing on your own to take care of your feet. Read on for a few things you can be doing to help take better care of your feet.

Clip Your Nails Straight Across

You should be clipping your nails straight across rather than at an angle. Angle cutting your nails can lead to ingrown toenails over time and can leave you in pain or dealing with an issue while walking. Instead, clip your nails so they are cut straight across. If you do end up with an ingrown toenail, make sure you get to the podiatrist for treatment to prevent the ingrown toenail from worsening. If you attempt to dig out the ingrown toenail, you could end up with an infection and be in even more pain.

Wear Supportive Shoes

Make sure your shoes are supportive all the way around. Flip flops don't offer any support at all and can cause injuries. These types of shoes should be avoided. Wear shoes that have support in the insoles, around the entire foot, and support your ankles as well. If your shoes aren't supportive, you need to switch to a different type of shoe. Non-supportive shoes can lead to injuries and pain in your arches and in your heels as well. Eventually, it can lead to pain in your hips and lower back as you may change how you walk in order to compensate for how you are walking.

Protect Your Feet

Protect your feet by making sure to wear shoes that protect your feet. Open-toed shoes can lead to injury if you aren't careful. You should also be sure to wear shoes in general and not go out barefoot. If you are in a public space and are not wearing shoes on your feet, you could end up with athlete's foot or a bacterial infection if you have an open wound and get bacteria inside it. 

If you aren't doing what you can to keep your feet healthy, you are going to end up in pain or worse. Make an appointment with a podiatrist for treatment if you end up with any issues with your feet.