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Foot care for athletes
We discuss foot care for athletes and how you can avoid common problems like nail fungus and athlete’s foot.
Foot care for athletes
Basic Foot Care For Athletes.
Taking care of your feet as an athlete is essential for balance and support to run and jump. Feet issues can become troublesome if not taken care of; an athlete’s journey and career can be cut short by a foot injury.The most common list of ailments noted by athlete’s are as follows:
- Plantar Fasciitis (Arch Pain)
- Heel spurs
- Sesamoiditis (Leading to inflammation and fractures)
- Blisters
- Smelly feet
- Itchy feet
- Nail fungus
Protect your feet and limit pain and discomfort by adding these lifestyle changes to your daily routines.
Change your socks
Wet socks, cotton socks and ill-fitting socks are the primary causes of blisters. Experiment with different socks made of acrylic materials until you find the right fit for you and always remember to try on any socks with your running shoes.
Find shoes that fit
This may seem like a no-brainer, but many athletes find themselves wearing the wrong shoes. Forget brand names and focus more on the fit. Bad shoes can contribute to a multitude of foot health problems including numbness, blisters and calluses.
Pay attention to the condition of your shoes
Once you’ve found the perfect shoes, realise that nothing lasts forever. Just as you replace the tyres on your car, you’ll have to maintain and replace your running shoes. If you run every day, you’ll have to invest in more than one pair so that you always have a dry comfortable pair of shoes to run in.
Don’t forget to Moisturize
Many runners are prone to dry skin on their feet which inevitably leads to painful cracking calluses. Moisturize your feet daily after a bath or shower for the best results.
Fight the fungus
Athlete’s foot causes redness, itchiness and blisters on the toes and soles of your feet and is fairly painful. Athlete’s foot thrives in moist conditions therefore keeping your feet clean and dry is important. Change your socks often and always wear flip flips in public bathrooms. You can treat athlete’s foot with a topical fungicide without a prescription.
Another lurking fungus in your shoe is toe-nail fungus. Unsightly and sometimes painful, toenail fungus can be hard to shake. A loose nail provides the ideal environment for fungus to grow as the nail is often damp and hot. The fungus can therefore spread to other nails and eventually destroy all of them.
Fix-4-Nails® provides an affordable and easy to use solution. By targeting the problem directly under the nail, it creates favourable conditions for the re-growth of healthy and beautiful looking nails. Fix-4-Nails® has been dermatologically and laboratory tested and proven to be effective against the fungus mostly responsible for nail fungus infections.
Read more about runner’s nails and a competition where you can win a Takealot voucher as featured in Runners world; entries close 31 January 2020.
