Have you ever heard the saying “you have to pay to play”? This saying rings particularly true when it comes to playing sports.
Physical exercise is essential for a healthy body and mind. Physical exercise helps your body:
- Burn calories
- Build muscle
- Feel energized
Playing sports can also help you work on your leadership, team building and general social skills.
Even though physical sports are extremely beneficial, there is one downside: you can potentially injure your feet.
While playing sports, you need to be cautious if you want to keep your feet safe. Injuring one (or both) of your feet can potentially lead to expensive hospital bills and force you to take time off of work.
Knowing is half the battle — if you play sports, you need to educate yourself on how you can minimize the chances of injuring one of your feet.
Additionally, if you’ve recently hurt one of your feet while playing sports, you should book an appointment with a foot specialist, like one of the experts at Feet First Clinic.
So, what is a foot specialist? Foot specialists (also referred to as chiropodists) can help you deal with both short and long-term foot and ankle-related issues. They also offer a variety of useful (and sometimes essential) products, including:
- Custom orthotics
- Custom-made shoes
- Orthopaedic footwear
- Compression stockings
Continue reading to learn more about how you can protect your feet while playing the following sports.
1. Running
Do you consider yourself an avid runner? Then it should come as no surprise that running is at the top of this list.
Running is one of the more physically demanding sports, especially long-distance running. It requires you to use almost every part of your lower body, particularly your feet.
Did you know that several foot and ankle-related issues can stem from running? Some common examples of these issues include:
- Shin splints
- Blisters on the bottom and sides of your feet
- Plantar fasciitis
If you want to prevent these issues, there are several things that you need to keep in mind.
Firstly, you need to ensure that you’re wearing the correct footwear. When you wear high-quality running shoes, you’ll minimize the chances of developing one of the issues listed above. Wearing high-quality running shoes will also reduce the strain felt in your calves and lower body.
Once you’ve found a pair of running shoes that meet your specific needs, you may want to consider purchasing a pair of custom-made orthotic insoles. These one-of-a-kind products are made to fit the unique curves of your foot. This makes them essential for competitive and recreational athletes that want to keep their feet safe.
If you want an over-the-counter alternative, you should think about purchasing some Superfeet orthotic insoles. Superfeet produces a wide range of insoles that are made to help the wearer in different situations.
As an example, runners would want to use a pair of carbon insoles. The carbon insoles feature a heel cup that reduces impact and a responsive carbon fiber stabilizer cap. Furthermore, the slim design makes these insoles the perfect option for athletic footwear like running shoes.
2. Skateboarding
You’ve most likely seen it on TV or online: people risking their lives by jumping down giant sets of stairs and racing down hills at unbelievable speeds. That’s right, skateboarding.
Although this extreme sport may be exhilarating and satisfying, it’s also quite dangerous.
If you fail to land your trick correctly, you can end up:
- Fracturing a bone in your foot or ankle
- Developing bone spurs
- Spraining one of your ankles
There have even been reports about untreated injuries leading to methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
To protect your feet while skateboarding, you should make sure that you’re wearing flat-bottom shoes with adequate support. There are a variety of companies that produce shoes that are made for the sole purpose (no pun intended) of skateboarding. These shoes are made to handle the impact of jumping down enormous obstacles. You can also look for shoe insoles that are specifically made for skateboarders. Several brands, such as Protalus, use premium materials that absorb the impact of each jump to help you keep moving.
Additionally, you’ll want to wear shoes that fit correctly. Do you know your “true” shoe size? If not, you should book a shoe fitting appointment with a foot and ankle specialist.
Furthermore, if you have a pair of shoes that are too small, you can bring them along and get them stretched. This will ensure that your shoes feel comfortable and fit correctly.
If you’re beginning to come back to the sport after a foot or ankle-related injury, you should try skateboarding with an ankle brace. This will help stabilize your ankle while you begin to rebuild your strength and muscle memory.
3. Soccer
Soccer (also referred to as football in many parts of the world) is full of kicking, diving and running. All of this exertion can put quite a toll on your feet and puts you at risk of injuring yourself.
Because soccer players are always running, they are prone to overuse injuries, like Achilles tendonitis. To avoid overuse injuries, you should avoid playing the same sport several days in a row.
While playing soccer, you should try to take regular breaks and drink a lot of fluids. This will keep your body hydrated, rested and ready for the remainder of the game.
Additionally, you need to make sure that you wear the right equipment.
Firstly, you need to wear shin guards. Wearing shin guards will help reduce the chances of getting injured after a stray ball or foot hits your shin.
Once you’ve found a pair of reliable shin guards, you’ll want to find the best pair of soccer cleats. Soccer cleats are unique, athletic shoes that help players retain traction while running on grassy surfaces.
When you wear cleats, you’ll lower your chances of slipping on the field. This can help reduce the risk of broken bones, fractures and sprains. Most soccer leagues (both recreational and professional) require all players to wear cleats for this exact reason.
An active lifestyle is a healthy lifestyle. But that doesn’t mean that you don’t have to do your due diligence — if you want to keep your feet in good shape, feel free to use the tips mentioned above.
