Choosing the right shoes for arthritis
Hello!, Dr. Abdul Salam here, consultant ortho doctor in coimbatore and in this post we are going to discuss choosing the right shoes for arthritis.
Technically, arthritis is a disease-specific to the joint. There are also different types of arthritis. Arthritis moreover affects the small joints, more so of the foot. This includes the great toe, ankle, and the middle of the sole.
Treating arthritis of the foot
A few strategies for treating arthritis of the foot, include taking painkillers, steroid medications that can significantly bring down the pain and discomfort in the joint. Visiting a physiotherapist also helps in this regard as doing the right exercises can help with restoring a full range of motion.
The use of braces and additional supports can also help in terms of walking with great stability. However, should these treatments fail, surgery would be required to fuse the joint.
Wearing the right foot becomes very crucial for treating arthritis. Arthritis results in significant joint damage, and if you try to force your feet into uncomfortable footwear, the arthritis pain will only worsen. Thus wearing the right shoes will help significantly reduce foot pain and help you walk around with ease.
Avoid high heels
While high heels look fashionable, these are the type of shoes you should strictly avoid. Point heels ultimately squeeze your foot and force them into an uncomfortable angle. High heels not only damage your foot but also damage your knee joint.
Avoid flats
The tight flats are another shoe type to strictly avoid. Flats take a toll on your feet, more so if they are hard and have a pointy toe. These narrow shoes can result in hammertoes. Hammertoes results, when the toes bend and look like hammers.
The ideal shoes
The ideal shoe to wear for osteoarthritis, should keep your feet in a comfortable angle and should have adequate wiggle room to allow great toe movement. The soles should also have rubber, to provide adequate shock absorption. The other type of shoes that warrant discussion are stability shoes, these shoe types are good because they provide cushioned support to the midsole and heel and are useful to patients who tend to roll their foot inwards.
However, stability shoes are strictly not recommended for patients with osteoarthritis of the knee joint. Some patients utilize insoles for stability, but recent research suggests that, these do not really work. Going barefoot helps with knee joint arthritis and low heeled flip-flops also are useful.
I hope you enjoyed this short article on choosing the right shoes for osteoarthritis. Keep watching this space for more interesting reads
References
