Arthritis Foot Pain & Walking

Arthritis Foot Pain? Not fun stuff at all. Would you like to ease your pain and have a little more fun along the way?

First things first. Arthritis foot pain as you likely know is inflammation of the cartilage and lining of the joints in the foot. It causes redness, pain, swelling and warmth. And yup, we're the primary target group when we're over 50! If it's any consolation, we're not the ONLY group, just the primary one!

It's a major cause of foot pain in part because we just have so many darn joints in our feet - 33 at last count!

You have a hard time avoiding foot pain due to the large weight-bearing load you place on your feet and all those joints.

Think about this for a minute. Divide your weight by two then look at the area your foot covers.

All that weight has to be supported by that small little area. No wonder you have arthritis foot pain! Ouch!

There is hope though. Keep reading!

For the record there are over 100 types of arthritis. The two most common ones are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. You can find more in depth info on these at Medline Plus - a service of the US National Library of Medicine and the National Institute of Health. (opens in new window)

You can also read more about how to prevent foot arthritis on our Foot Arthritis Prevention page.

Our focus here is to see if we can get you out walking with the arthritis foot pain you have and if so, how do we go about it?

You're probably sitting there and thinking

• 'It hurts too much. How can I walk?' or
• 'If I walk it will not only hurt more, it will make my arthritis worse' or
• 'I can't do any exercise because of my arthritis. It will just get worse'.

Well you are certainly right on one count. 'It Hurts!' No argument there!

What might surprise you though is that some form of exercise not only won't make it worse, it will help make things better! Not doing some form of exercise will actually make it hurt more. Double ouch!

So where do you go next?

To your doctor or health professional!

Tell her you want to start walking more. Share our programs with her if you wish. You need to get a gentle exercise program specifically for you and your circumstances. They will know your arthritis foot pain situation better than anyone.

Regular, gentle exercise will help you with range of motion of your joints, improve your mobility, reduce your pain and ease sore, stiff muscles.

OK. Now you have the go ahead from your doctor. You have your personal exercise program in hand (and are actually doing it). Now you're ready to add a little walking as part of your program. How much depend a whole lot on how severe your condition is.

You can start at Fitness Walking 1 program, tailor it to your ability right now and see how it goes for you. When you're ready to do the walking thing do pay special attention to ...

Your Arthritis Shoes

You need to get the most comfortable arthritic footwear for your foot condition. Along with comfort your arthritic footwear needs to provide you with:

• a high and wide toe box - lots of space in the toe area
• removable insoles to give you better fitting flexibility
• the option to insert orthotics if needed
• rocker soles designed to facilitate walking and reduce stress and pain on the ball of the foot
• soft uppers that will stretch a bit to reduce pressure and accommodate swelling
• have lace or Velcro closures that can be loosened if your feet swell
• uppers made of breathable material (leather, canvas) to help prevent foot ulcers which can lead to infection

There's is a whole lot more to consider for your foot wear too. Read more about that at Choosing The Best Walking Shoes For You. Then have a look at some specific details for Arthritic Shoes here. Cover all your bases and make your walking experience as enjoyable as you can. You'll be able to cope with your arthritis foot pain quite well.

We'll be watching for you!

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