This month is National Tradies Health Month so we thought we’d share some insights about foot related problems that are common amongst tradies and discuss some simple solutions to keep you feeling strong and pain-free.
It’s well known that tradies are always on their feet and doing a lot of heavy lifting in heavy protective footwear, not to mention some fun antics that may be going on during smoko! These occupational realities can lead to a myriad of foot problems that affect the ability to work effectively.
At Boost, we see tradies through the clinic often and two of the most common issues we see popping up for tradies are heel pain and ingrown toenails.
Heel pain,commonly known as “Plantar Fasciitis”, is an overuse condition. The heel becomes overworked and inflamed resulting in pain and tenderness. Many tradies suffer from this for a couple of reasons:
The first reason, especially for tradies early in their career, is standing on your feet for a long period of time when you’re not used to it.
The other most significant reason that the plantar fascia acts up is due to compressive load, which is basically lots of pressure on your heel from standing all day carrying heavy things, especially while wearing shoes that are optimised for protection rather than support.
In addition to heel pain, many tradies suffer from ingrown toenails. An ingrown toenail is where the nail grows in towards the skin and, in some cases, can break the skin down, cause infection and be very painful. Some factors that increase the likelihood of ingrown toenails are tight shoes, trauma, genetics and poor nail cutting technique. Some tradies may have all four factors working against their favour.
With all this in mind, there is plenty that we can do to help, such as:
- strengthening your feet;
- reducing the load on your feet via taping and orthotics, if necessary;
- providing relief from heel pain with shockwave therapy, manual therapy, dry needling, foot mobilisation therapy and taping;
- providing relief from ingrown toenails;
- ensuring that you are cutting your toenails correctly to avoid ingrown toenails;
- wearing correctly fitting work boots.
For tradies, the biggest bang for your buck to address is the work boots that you are wearing. We’ve noticed that many tradies often try to save some money as they know their shoes wear out quickly and opt for shoes that are often too firm or uncomfortable, tending to buy work boots that are far too narrow and often cause ingrown toenails.
The work boots that we most often recommend are Ascent. Ascent work boots can be purchased from The Athlete’s Foot. Ascent work boots are designed with foot problems like these in mind. They are lighter than your regular work boot due to the materials used and they meet safety standards. Likewise, the midsole is just like your most comfy runners at home so they offer adequate support compared to other brands while reducing the load on your feet. They also come in wide widths for people with wide feet or struggling with ingrown toenails.
Now, the shoe may not solve all your problems, but it is a very good start. We’d also recommend seeing a Podiatrist to help you with foot strengthening exercises, ingrown toenail management, taping, shockwave therapy and orthotic prescription, if required.
So if you are a tradie, we urge you to make sure you look after your feet. Without them you wouldn’t be able to work so if foot pain or discomfort is holding you back, please reach out for help.
