You come home with tender feet at the end of your workday. Sometimes they hurt so bad that all you think about is your poor aching feet even while at work.
Your feet can hurt so badly after work if most of your working activities include walking and standing for long hours, especially if they are in ill-fitting shoes or the wrong type of work shoes. When this happens, the muscles and joints on the feet are subject to unnecessary stress and pressure that cause them to feel tender, soreness, or even pain.
If you often experience foot pain after your workday or even when you are at work, read on, so you will find out what causes your foot to hurt and choose an appropriate action to relieve the tenderness or even end your foot pain. In some cases, you can stop your pain-causing problems by just making a few simple adjustments.
Why Do My Feet Hurt So Badly After Standing All Day?
Even if you do not have any foot problems and your feet are normal, they can hurt if you spend long hours standing and walking. These activities that your feet experience all day can cause your muscles to become stiff and related joints to feel sore or painful. Several things could cause your feet to hurt after a long day standing or walking at work. They are explained in detail next.
Working conditions can cause sore feet.
It is normal for your feet to hurt after work, however, if your foot pain is severe or extreme, it is something that you need to find out why. Your working environment can significantly influence how your feet behave. For example, many jobs require a person to stand all day, like working at the salon, cooking, and teaching.
If you are on your feet for long hours, the blood will likely accumulate on the feet due to gravity. This causes the feet to be slightly enlarged, and they make the shoes that your wear tighter, causing poor circulation.
Improper shoe size can cause foot pain.
Some shoes are not made for you to stand for long hours no matter how good or expensive they are. High-heeled shoes are not suitable for you if you work on your feet all day long.
On the other hand, other shoes that are not good for standing long hours are flat. They seem comfortable at first but can make your feet tender after a long day wearing them.
Being overweight can cause severe foot pain.
Yes. Being overweight can hurt your feet after working all day because extra force is exerted on the feet and ankles while you stand or walk. Fat people are prone to getting foot problems like arthritis, tendinitis among other conditions.
Also, extra fat will accumulate under the skin layers make your feet larger. They will get bigger and wider than before. They might no longer fit in your shoes.
It will be hard to shop for new shoes in extreme cases because most shoes are made for slimmer feet.
Furthermore, one of the problems overweight people have that can lead to painful feet after long-standing or daily walking is gout. It is a type of arthritis caused by the building up of uric acid in the blood. Gout usually damages your body joints making your feet hurt easily.
How do you stop your feet from hurting after work?
If your feet start to hurt after a long day of work and standing, you can do some feet therapy at home that can ease the pain. However, you can treat those tender feet in several ways. These are simple to do yourself.
Apply ice to sore feet.
An ice pack can help ease pain by constricting the blood vessels on the feet. Using ice can also relieve swelling. However, you should avoid placing the ice pack directly on the skin. Instead, wrap the ice cubes in a cloth or towel and roll them on the affected area. Doing this for 15-20 minutes will quickly relieve your foot pain.
Pain-relief drugs can help tender feet.
If your feet hurt, you can use over-the-counter drugs like aspirin or ibuprofen to relieve pain and any inflammatory on your feet at the end of your workday. Do follow the proper recommended usage. The medicine should help improve the pain associated with tender feet fast.
Change to more comfortable shoes.
If the shoes cause pain, It is good that you take them off and wear something softer and more comfortable as soon as you get home. They will help relieve your feet from the tight-fitting shoes you put them in all day.
Rest and elevate your feet.
After using the ice packs and taking some pain-relief medicine, you can sit down to give your aching feet a break. While resting, make sure that your feet are elevated above your heart. This will help the blood flow away from your sore feet and reduce any swelling.
Applying all three things above to your tender feet, they should feel better and maybe you get rid of aching feet.
How do you prevent painful feet after a long day of work?
Many things could cause tender feet or pain, knowing all of them is the first defense in reducing or preventing them.
Wear the right shoes.
If your feet hurt or feel tender after a workday, likely, the shoes you wear are not made for your working conditions.
Change to the shoes that you feel more comfortable and do not cause pain, like sneakers or tennis shoes if possible.
If you must wear high-heeled shoes, make sure you sit down every chance you get to take the pressure off the feet.
That is how you can relax my feet after standing all day.
In the 1990s, I had done pedicures to many customers who wore high heel shoes to work in the 1960s and 1970s. Back then, high-heeled shoes were the norm for ladies who worked in the offices.
After years of wearing high-heeled shoes to work, these ladies’ feet developed bunions, which is the joint enlargement where the big toe connects to the other bone in the foot. The enlarged joint got so big on many people that it was painful to put on shoes, let alone that there were not many shoes made to fit the feet with large bunions.
If your feet have big arches, buy some appropriate insoles for your shoes, these additional cushion pads can reduce or even eliminate foot pain.
Do tighten your shoelaces properly so your feet will not slosh around in the shoes. Relative motion between the feet and shoes will cause friction, and your feet will develop extra callouses or thick skin, which can also cause pain.
Appropriate posture will lessen foot pain.
If you have tender feet after a workday, they try to tell you something. One possible thing that can cause sore feet is standing or walking improperly.
Improper posture: A bad posture can make your feet hurt as well as your body. Ensure that you look for all tips like walking with your shoulders upright that can help your body posture help you stand on both feet and distribute the body weight evenly on both feet.
Walking too fast: fast waking can exert extra pressure on the lower body parts, especially the feet where they directly contact the ground. This problem will be worsened if you wear improper shoes.
Take frequent breaks
Make sure you take sitting breaks during the day whenever you can. You should remove your shoes during the break and let your feet free of constraints. You can do some simple stretching on your feet to relax the affected muscles and joints.
Foot stretch routines
You will need to develop a stretching routine for your feet as often as possible. For example, you can schedule it in the middle or at the end of your workday. That way, you will prevent all the soreness that comes with standing or walking too long. These simple foot exercises will help relax the foot muscles and increase blood circulation.
Enjoy a foot bath
Every evening after a long day of work, you can choose to soothe your feet using a foot bath
. These are inexpensive on Amazon, and they come with some great functions like water jets or heat. These options help relax the feet, muscles, and joints to relieve all the tenderness or pain so your feet will be ready for the workday.
One thing you can do to get rid of tender feet altogether
Two factors that negatively affect our feet are shoes and gravity.
Wear the appropriate shoes: picking the right work shoes for your feet is the key to eliminating sore feet. If wearing the right shoes for your job is not possible, then listen to your feet and give them some care that I mentioned above to rejuvenate them after they are subject to stress and strain from your workday.
Reduce the gravity force on feet: while we can not defy gravity, we can lessen its effect on our feet.
If you are over-weigh, there are two bad things that you to your feet:
1- Your feet will be larger, and it will be hard for you to buy a pair of shoes that will fit them since most shoes are manufactured for people with average weight because the shoemakers can make money selling more of these shoes.
So if your feet are larger due to you being over-weigh, they are more likely to be squeezed into smaller shoe sizes. This will put extra stress on them and reduce blood circulation.
2- Extra weight will exert additional pressure on all the muscles and joints on the feet. Imagine this scenario: you have to carry two jugs of gallons of water, one on each hand, all day long. You can tell right away that your body will get tired quicker than if you walk around without them. Being over-weigh is the same thing. You put extra weight on your feet, and they will get tired faster too.
So, if you think that you are over-weigh, the best thing you can do for your feet is to lose those extra pounds.
There are many diet programs out there. You should find the one that is right for you.
The relatively new Keto diet trends have excellent positive feedback from users. Check it out with this best seller beginners’ book on Amazon to see if they fit your lifestyle and need.
If your feet are slimmer, you can enjoy a professional pedicure at a salon without feeling embarrassed with ugly-looking feet, wearing your favorite pair of shoes for any special occasion, be it a night out, on a vacation, or, once of a lifetime event, your wedding day.
Summary
Everybody has only one pair of legs and feet to last their lifetime. As a matter of fact, they are the ones that carry your weight. So you should take care of them well. Do listen to them by addressing any sore, tenderness, or pain that you feel before they get worse. Early treatment is usually quicker and simpler than ignoring any foot problem early on. You only have to deal with these issues with much more effort, time, and money, as they will worsen over time.
Take care of your feet well. If the thought of walking on painful feet does not scare you, I hope that the possibility of being temporarily immobilized because of injured feet will change your mind.
Happy feet.
Notice concerning medical entries:
Articles having medical content shall serve exclusively for the purpose of general information. Such article as this one is not suitable for any (self-) diagnosis and treatment of individual illnesses and medical indications. In particular, they cannot substitute for the examination, advice, or treatment by a licensed physician or pharmacist. No replies to any individual questions shall be effected through the articles.
Photos by:
First photo by Kris Atomic on Unsplash
Second photo by Bruno Nascimento on Unsplash
Third photo by Kris Atomic on Unsplash
Fifth photo Pixabayzequiel Garrido on Unsplash
References:
Bunions: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/bunions/symptoms-causes/syc-20354799
