Whats the best way to help my aching feet?

March 1, 2010 8:46 AM

Whats the best way to help my aching feet?

Yesterday I ended up walking much further than I expected in my newish winter boots. I've worn them before for shorter trips with no problem and my feet were a bit sore last night but I just figured it was because I did a few more miles than I was used to.

This morning I can barely walk, and when I do its with great pain in both feet, mostly along the outer sides. I figure I just overworked some muscles in a weird way but was just wondering what the best thing I can do for them would be to speed recovery? Hot water soak? Ace bandages and keep off them as much as I can? or just suck it up and wait for the pain to go away?

posted by Captain_Science to health & fitness (11 answers total)

ice them
posted by any major dude at 9:00 AM on March 1, 2010

also I find Motrin is a great pain reliever.
posted by any major dude at 9:02 AM on March 1, 2010

The Body Shop has a great peppermint line that i use myself after being on my feet all day. My mother has stress fractures in her feet and can't take pain medication, so i got her a bottle of the cooling foot lotion and the foot soak- she said it helped a great deal with the pain.
posted by assasinatdbeauty at 9:11 AM on March 1, 2010

If you have someone around willing to do this, a good foot massage - especially on aching feet - is the closest thing to nirvana there is.
posted by ORthey at 9:25 AM on March 1, 2010

Also wouldn't be a bad idea to make sure you're wearing the correct size of shoes, sounds like you might want a wider size. Go to a nice shoe store (nordstroms, birkenstock) and get measured. It's possible that brand runs narrow, and you didn't notice until the extra distance yesterday.
posted by fontophilic at 10:12 AM on March 1, 2010

I walk on the outside edges of my feet, which might be your problem too. A good specialty shoe store can evaluate your gait and recommend corrective action (different shoes, insoles).
posted by fairytale of los angeles at 10:18 AM on March 1, 2010

Is it muscle pain, like your boots forced a change in your gait that hurt your feet and legs, or is it more surface-level pain, like your boots didn't have enough support and so the striking of your feet against the ground was too hard or misaligned?
posted by decathecting at 10:20 AM on March 1, 2010

R.I.C.E. for most pain issues. Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation.
posted by pixlboi at 10:28 AM on March 1, 2010

For prevention, I highly recommend you get some real sheepskin insoles for your long-walks shoes, especially if you tend to walk on pavement. My feet have become very sensitive (basically wrecked 'em standing all day on concrete floors at trade shows) and these insoles have been way more effective in making them resistant to further abuse, and in helping them return to comfort, than anything else I've tried (all of which were much more expensive and doctor/podiatrist recommended).
posted by dpcoffin at 11:20 AM on March 1, 2010

Thanks for all the help. Have pretty much decided to take tomorrow off to put my feet up as it were and look into new/better boots in the future.
posted by Captain_Science at 12:44 PM on March 1, 2010

I've found The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook very helpful. I don't have my copy at hand, but I remember it addressing pain due to too much unaccustomed walking in several places in the book.
posted by Lexica at 6:05 PM on March 1, 2010