- Balance. A good test for balance involves standing on one foot, with your arms out to the side and your eyes closed. If you are less than 30 years old, you should be able to balance for 15 seconds, 30 to 40 years old for 12 seconds, 40 to 50 years old for 10 seconds and over 50 years old for seven seconds. This can be improved with exercises.
- Circulation. Look at the color of your toes. Do they look like a normal nail color or are they leaning towards red, white, purple, or blue? Press down on the nail of your big toe until the color blanches. Now let go and allow the blood flow to return to your toe. The return of normal color should take 2 to 5 seconds in a person with average circulation.
- Flexibility. How flexible are your toes? Try to pick up a marble or a small dish towel with your toes. To test your ankle flexibility, hang your heel off of a stair. Now let the heel go below the level of the stair. If this causes pain, stop the test. If your heel goes below the level of the stair without causing strain in your calf, that is a good sign. If there is some strain, this can be improved with flexibility exercises.
- Pain. A healthy foot does not produce any pain.
- Sensation. Take a pencil eraser and lightly run it on the top, bottom, and both sides of your feet. The sensation should feel equal in all quadrants. It may tickle on the bottom of the feet. That is normal.
- Skin. Check your skin for calluses, blisters, or areas of irritation. Stand next to your shoes. Are they shaped like your feet or are they causing areas of constriction that may result in irritation? Put your hand inside your shoe. Are there seams, tacks, or rough places in the shoe that correspond to calluses or blisters on your feet?
Wednesday 11 May 2011
Are Your Feet Healthy? Make Sure by Performing the "Foot Self-Exam"
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This is what everyone should know. Having self-exam to make sure our feet are healthy is something we should do.
ReplyDeleteMy foot has really high arch and my toes are especially long. I never noticed this when I was younger but it's started to worry me now that I'm getting older. I know that's a pretty vague description but I've been getting frequent ingrown toe nails for the past 2 years or so and I am starting to think I could have something wrong with my feet.
ReplyDeleteLuke | http://www.sydneycitypodiatry.com.au
Hi Luke. Is it weid that you don't know this but yet you seem to own a podiatry website? :-)
DeleteThanks for this article. Finding a shoe that matches my short, stout feet is always a chore. I bought three pairs of the last model of shoe I'm wearing, just because I did not know if I could find something wide enough in the future.
ReplyDeletePaul | acpodiatry.com.au
I haven't done this before. I think it would be a great idea to do this though. I want to make sure my feet are healthy and are in good condition. I want to prevent any injuries or conditions from happening. http://thefootandanklecarecenter.com/
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ReplyDeleteWow! I really like how you broke down the different steps for me to test! What should i do if i cant perform one of these steps? What steps can i take?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.drlbilling.com/
I knew my husband had some foot problems, so I made him do these exercises. His flexibility could definitely be better, and I know his feet have been giving him pain. I set up an appointment for him with a podiatrist after we went through the exercises. Hopefully he will get the help he needs.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.westmorelandfootdoctor.com
Every morning over the last month my feet have been sore as I've woken up. This is something that I have never experienced before and I'm not to sure what I need to do. Having foot exams like this is something that I haven't tried yet and I plan on doing it when I get home from work today.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.balancepodiatry.com.au/locations/perth-cannington-westfield-carousel-
Interesting list. I would add in checking the pattern of your hard skin. This can reveal quite a bit. Thanks Stephanie
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this test for checking if my feet are healthy. It's interesting that having flexible toes and ankles are important for foot health. I'll be sure to do some exercises to make my feet more flexible if my heel doesn't go below the level of the stair without causing strain in my calf.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.collierpodiatry.com/heel-and-achilles-pain/
Thanks for posting this test for checking if my feet are healthy. It's interesting that having flexible toes and ankles are important for foot health. I'll be sure to do some exercises to make my feet more flexible if my heel doesn't go below the level of the stair without causing strain in my calf.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.collierpodiatry.com/heel-and-achilles-pain/