Ask any foot clinic, and they will tell you that the majority of their patients are athletes. Whether you are involved in professional sports or just love being on the go doing athletic endeavours, it is likely at some point you could experience foot pain issues. Some issues are common to all athletes, and others are more common in specific activities. Here are a few conditions to know about, including the symptoms and how to prevent them from occurring.
- Running – Running is one of the hardest activities on your feet. Whether you jog or run marathons, or even do other sports that involve quite a bit of running, you can experience a myriad of foot pain issues, including acute foot and ankle problems. Common issues include shin splints, stress fractures, Achilles tendonitis, plantar fasciitis, blisters, and ankle sprains. The best way to prevent these injuries is to talk to a foot clinic about proper footwear, which may include orthotics. The right footwear will protect your ankles, arches, and tendons while reducing stress on your calves.
- Football – Obviously there is quite a bit of running involved, but there are also other dangers to the feet in this sport. Common injuries include high ankle sprains, shin splints, turf toe, Lisfranc injuries, Achilles tendonitis, and blisters. Again, the right footwear is imperative, and ankle taping is a common way to minimize ankle injuries. Muscle conditioning as part of regular practice is helpful to prevent injury, as well.
- Dancing – It may not seem like it, but dancing, particularly ballet dancing, can be very hard on your feet. Ballet dancers can suffer foot pain from dancer’s fracture, sesamoiditis, plantar fasciitis, ankle impingement, hallux rigidus, hallus limitus, cuboid syndrome, matatarsalgia, and a host of other issues. Dancing en pointe is very hard on the feet and must be done with the proper footwear. Prevention involves waiting to age 12 to dance en pointe, avoiding dancing on hard or uneven surfaces, ensuring proper nutrition, and increasing a training schedule slowly. Most importantly, if you are experiencing pain, stop dancing and have your feet checked out. Failure to do this can result in permanent injuries.
Here at Abbott Foot & Ankle Clinic, we help athletes of every type deal with foot pain. We offer quality treatment, and our consultations are designed to help you avoid injury. We can make an assessment to determine if orthotics are needed to assure safe playing. Call today to schedule an appointment to resolve your foot pain or get the information you need to avoid foot issues.