How to Help Foot Arthritis


Foot arthritis, a sometimes hereditary disease, can impede your mobility. If someone in your family suffers from foot arthritis, pay close attention to foot care so you can help that person prevent the painful and debilitating medical condition. A widespread disease, arthritis especially occurs in adults over 40. Millions of Americans suffer from one form of arthritis or another from among the more than 100 forms it can take. You can prevent arthritis or slow it down with medication as well as natural remedies and a lot of exercising.

1. Although sometimes foot arthritis results from heredity, that doesn’t mean you can’t develop the disease if no one in your family has it. Everyone should understand that arthritis can affect anyone and has mild symptoms in the beginning that get much worse over time. The first step towards preventing or treating foot arthritis involves having an active life. Sedentary people have many more chances of developing arthritis than active ones, studies demonstrate.

2. If you feel lazy about exercising, think about how it feels to not have the ability to climb a flight of stairs. Foot arthritis can severely affect your life as you know it. Exercise for at least one-half hour two or three times a week. Warm up for 10 minutes and do some stretching before exercising. You can choose whatever type of exercise you want. If you love riding your bike or you like swimming, do that. Even going out for a walk every night proves helpful in the long run. Arthritis patients often find water aerobics very helpful. You could also take yoga or Pilates classes, great ways to maintain healthy bones and muscles as well as good ways to relax.

3. Train with bands and light weights. Weight lifting develops strong muscles and strong joints. Foot arthritis patients can also benefit from training with a small exercise ball. Rotate your ankles, knees and hips while you flex your feet. Repeat the movements a few times, going back and forth. Finish your exercise routine with another round of mild stretching. If you feel any pain in your joints at any point, stop doing that particular exercise. Movements that trigger pain can cause harm.

4. After exercising, massage your joints gently. Use a massage or olive oil. Olive oil, a natural remedy, can help your joint tissues recover.

5. Keep your weight under control. Extra weight places a great deal of pressure on ankles, knees and hips and can especially cause damage if you suffer from foot arthritis. Lose any extra weight by exercising and having a healthy diet. Eat a lot of fruit and vegetables, and avoid sweets and foods rich in carbohydrates.

6. When the pain gets unbearable, take pain medication—but don’t rely solely on drugs to treat your symptoms. Drugs work for a while, but the pain will come back and symptoms get worse over time. Thus, you’ll end up taking more and more medication. Natural remedies offer better and healthier ways of keeping symptoms of foot arthritis under control.

Filed Under: Health & Personal Care

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About the Author: Andrew Reinert is a health care professional who loves to share different tips on health and personal care. He is a regular contributor to MegaHowTo and lives in Canada.

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