April is Foot Health Awareness Month (Giveaway)

Why is foot health so imperative to the body’s overall health?

Well the 26 bones, 33 joints, and more than 100 tendons, muscles, and ligaments do much more than get us from one place to another. Moving regularly is essential to a healthy life, whether we are walking, running, dancing, weight lifting, yoga, playing with your kids or grandkids, or just running errands. If our feet can’t keep us moving steadily or without pain, then our movement, mobility and independence will be greatly limited.

Our feet’s pronation, pressure and overall health affect our knees, hips, spine, back and even organ health. If our arches are unable to absorb the shock of each step we take, we may have increased risk for improper balance and become a fall risk.  If our feet are impaired, so is our posture which can result in increased back, neck, hip and joint pain.

Some experts say that your feet can help diagnose some very serious maladies and should be checked as regularly as our blood pressure, temperature and weight are.  Prevention.com says your feet may be an early indication of some serious problems including circulation problems, dehydration, nutritional deficiencies, diabetes, uncontrolled glucose levels, melanoma, gout, pinched nerves, neuropathy or a fungal infection.

“The feet are easily compromised when our bodies feel threatened, since we send blood to the internal organs and the brain before the extremities.” – Prevention.com

Your feet should be checked regularly by your healthcare provider and/or podiatrist for common foot conditions including achilles tendonitis, arch pain, arch strain, arthritis, athelete’s foot, bunions, calluses, Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT), claw toes, corns, gout, hammer toes, heel fissures, heel pain, heel spurs, ingrown toenails, mallet toes, metatarsalgia, Morton’s neuroma, Morton’s toe, neuropathy, over pronation, overlapping toes, plantar fasciitis, post-tib tendonities, and other foot conditions.

What are the benefits of healthy feet?

Healthy feet lead to healthy movement, exercise and improved quality of life. If we are in constant pain when we move, walk or function at work and home, then our mood and emotional health will also be impaired. With healthy feet, your posture and balance are strong, steady and less vulnerable to fall and injury.  You’re more productive at work especially if your job demands you to stand or walk for a large percentage of your day.  Good foot health can improve work performance, resulting in less lost time, increase productivity, and increased job efficiency and effectiveness.

Healthy and comfortable feet encourage greater physical activity which leads to better physical health, weight management and a more positive outlook.  With healthy feet, we are more apt to meet the recommended guidelines of at least 30-50 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per day, or at least 10,000 steps per day.  That minimum requirement would be daunting if we are managing feet ailments, which could result in further decreasing physical activity and mobility. According to Isaac Newton’s Laws of Motion, “An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion”. When we are consistently active, we increase endurance, mass and strength and thus become more active. Healthy feet will help us get there.

To Celebrate Foot Health Awareness Month, Get your Feet Scanned Today & Enter to Win!

At Soft Shoe, we say ‘Good Shoes take you to Great Places’, as comfortable shoes enhance the journey as you travel to various destinations.  And when it comes to your foot health it applies as well, because great shoes that fit well improve your overall health by (1) supporting your arches, bones, muscles and tendons, (2) keep your feet dry and cool, (3) provide room for your toes, (4) flex as you move through the gait cycle, and (5) cushion each step to lesson the impact. But finding the right shoe to do all of the above is easier said than done, as everyone has their own unique footprint, gait, pronation, pressure points, width and height.

To learn the most about the shape, size, pressure and movement of your feet, we recommend having your feet scanned no less than twice a year. Foot scanning is a free service at Soft Shoe that will capture everything you want to know about arch type, pronation, pressure points, sizing and even gait analysis in less than a minute.

Our 1000 Foot Scan Challenge

To celebrate Foot Health Awareness Month, Soft Shoe is celebrating with a 1000 Foot Scan Challenge.  We are hoping to scan 1,000 pairs of feet at our store in Richmond KY!! Everyone that participates will be entered to win a $50.00 Soft Shoe Gift Card.

Each time we scan our customers feet, we ensure that our recommendations for footwear and orthotics will be more accurate, leading to a happier customer and more comfortable feet.  Each of our staff is fully trained on how to scan your feet, read and analyze the results, and recommended shoes and orthotics for your particular foot health needs. The scans are always free and only take less than a minute of your time. No wait or appointment needed as we have two Albert foot scanners in our store.

Meet Albert! – Video Demo of a Foot Scan at Soft Shoe

Still a little nervous?  This short video shows a recent foot scan at Soft Shoe, Richmond KY of one of our regular customers who was looking to buy the correct running shoes for the particular needs of her feet. Our feet scans are quick, painless and free!