{"id":799455,"date":"2019-09-14T07:00:14","date_gmt":"2019-09-14T13:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/?p=371604"},"modified":"2019-09-14T07:00:14","modified_gmt":"2019-09-14T13:00:14","slug":"to-stay-active-at-all-ages-dont-neglect-your-feet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/to-stay-active-at-all-ages-dont-neglect-your-feet\/","title":{"rendered":"To stay active at all ages, don\u2019t neglect your feet"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s Note: This sponsored content was brought to you by Panorama Summit Orthopedics<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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Dr. Darren Herzog and Dr. Xan Courville. Photo by Ellen Jaskol.<\/em><\/strong>
Dr. Darren Herzog and Dr. Xan Courville. Photo by Ellen Jaskol.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

As we age, four common changes happen to our feet: they get wider, they get longer, our toes begin to curl, and the fat pads under the balls of feet get thinner.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese changes happen to everyone, but to various degrees,\u201d said Dr. Xan Courville, an orthopedic surgeon and foot and ankle specialist with Panorama Summit Orthopedics<\/a>. \u201cSome of the changes are genetic and are influenced by having flat feet or high arches.\u201d<\/p>\n

Physically active residents and visitors in Summit County should pay special attention to any overuse injuries such as plantar fasciitis, ankle sprains and achilles tendinitis. With the right diagnosis and treatment, the pain and duration of these injuries can be greatly reduced.<\/p>\n

Wear the right shoes<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s essential to wear the right shoes for the specific activity you\u2019re doing, Dr. Courville said. There are a lot of great retail stores in Summit County that can help you find the right shoe and the right fit.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t wear biking shoes when you\u2019re out running,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Dr. Courville said it\u2019s common for feet to grow about a \u00bd size every 10 years. If you\u2019ve been buying the same size shoe for a couple of decades, it might be time to go in for a proper shoe fitting.<\/p>\n

As for wear-and-tear, shoes experience a fair amount of it \u2014 especially among those who are active. You want to wear a shoe that offers enough cushion and support.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s essential to wear the right shoes for the specific activity you\u2019re doing, and make sure you pay attention to wear-and-tear. Start by looking at the sole and the inserts in the shoes and see if they are in good condition.<\/strong>
Getty Images<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cStart by looking at the sole and the inserts in the shoes and see if they are in good condition,\u201d Dr. Courville said. \u201cWhen you lose the fat pad on your feet, you have to have enough cushion in your shoes to compensate for the loss. If your shoes are worn out, you can develop heel pain or achy feet after standing too long.\u201d<\/p>\n

While there\u2019s no specific shelf-life for a pair of shoes, Dr. Courville said some shoe companies recommend replacing hiking and running shoes every 300 to 500 miles.<\/p>\n

When is it time to see a specialist?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rather than hiking or working through foot and ankle pain, Dr. Courville said you should see a specialist anytime pain is continuing beyond about two weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cA specialist would begin with a comprehensive history and examination to figure out where the pain is coming from,\u201d Dr. Courville said. \u201cOften times there are simple treatments if the problems are detected early. However, if the problem is left untreated for months, it can be much harder to reverse bad or compensatory habits that have formed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Foot and ankle problems sometimes don\u2019t originate with the foot or ankle, either.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a person has hip or core weakness, they may have asymmetry in their gait or stance, which then can lead to compensatory foot and ankle overuse injuries,\u201d she said. \u201cOur bodies have a kinetic chain from our backs, hips, knees to our feet and ankles that are all connected.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t address conditions like plantar fasciitis, which is an inflammation of the fibrous tissue on the bottom of the foot that connects the heel bone to the toes, early, Dr. Courville said people can experience heel pain for 6 to 18 months or longer.<\/p>\n

\u201cPatients come in and say they\u2019ve had something going on for years. If you have pain or swelling or a recent injury, I recommend you come in and see an orthopedic surgeon within two weeks of the symptoms so the problems don\u2019t linger,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Surgery as a last resort<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dr. Courville said it can be a common misperception that most foot and ankle injuries need surgery. A fear of surgery is often one of the reasons people delay seeing a specialist.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can treat most foot and ankle injuries conservatively and most people  may never need surgery,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s much easier to seek care and treatments early on so we can help make subtle changes. Physical therapy often can prevent people from suffering.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Physical therapists might try to help patients unlearn certain bad habits, may identify areas of weakness to improve upon, and use soft tissue modalities to decrease pain, scar tissue and inflammation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re ankle hurts, for example, and you\u2019re turning your foot sideways when you walk to compensate, that could be causing hip and knee problems,\u201d Dr. Courville said. \u201cBut, if instead we found a treatment for your ankle pain and you continued walking normally, there would be less progression to pain elsewhere in the body.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some easy, every day exercises that Dr. Courville recommends to most of her patients include calf stretching, with the runners\u2019 stretch, and toe raises.  Everything gets tighter as we age, which is why Dr. Courville recommends stretching as a great preventative tool. And, toe raises can help strengthen feet and ankles and improve balance.<\/p>\n

via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s Note: This sponsored content was brought to you by Panorama Summit Orthopedics Dr. Darren Herzog and Dr. Xan Courville. Photo by Ellen Jaskol.Dr. Darren Herzog and Dr. Xan Courville. Photo by Ellen Jaskol. As we age, four common changes happen to our feet: they get wider, they get longer, our toes begin to curl, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-799455","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-24 18:29:17","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=799455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799455\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=799455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=799455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=799455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}