Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Are you and your feet ready for some football?


The NFL kicks off its season tomorrow night. The same is true for fall sports. Just as its important for the Philadelphia Eagles to keep Michael Vick on the field, so is keeping you child or yourself healthy and injury-free this season. Here are some tips to keep them having a fun and healthy season.

Most importantly, muscles and tendons need to be stretched out. Stretching prior to playing sport warms up the muscles and prevents strains and pulls. Second, stretching increases range of motion at joints and can prevent injury. Important stretches include hamstring stretches, achilles stretches and lower back stretches.


Secondly, your shoe gear is very important. Make sure the proper shoewear is being used for the particular sport. You should never wear flip flops or sandals to run. In general, cleats tend to be flat and non-supportive leading to achilles problems both in children and adults. You should try to purchase cleats with support and give traction on multiple areas of the bottoms, not just in a few spots. Cleats should have some arch support or a removable lining so that one can be placed in them to help prevent potential problems.

 

Thirdly, to prevent athletes foot infections, wear socks and shoes that wick moisture away from your feet. Athlete's foot infections are from a fungus. Fungi (plural for fungus) likes that dark moist environment. By wearing socks and shoes that wick the moisture away from your feet, the fungus cannot exist in your shoes and therfore can prevent fungal infections. Try to rotate your shoes to allow them to dry out overnight. Also, an antifungal shoe spray should be used weekly to kill the fungus that lives in every one's shoes such as the one pictured below, Mycomist from Gordon labs TM

These are some simple tips to keep you on the field this year. And of course...

E....A....G....L....E....S!

Dr. "Sandie" Grulke

http://www.podiatrycarespecialists.com/