You wake up, drink your coffee, and get ready to go to work. You hop into the car, get to work and start your day. Sure enough just like that the pain sets in, much like it has every day before. Whether it’s standing in one spot or walking around the pain is persistent. Sometimes it can get worse towards the end of the day, others at the beginning and sometimes no pain at all.

Your feet are the base of support to your body and when you have a busy day with pain, standing can be a nightmare.

So What’s Happening and What Can I Do About It?

There are many factors that contribute to foot pain when standing. We will go over just a couple in this article and what you can do to help alleviate the discomfort.

Swelling is something many of us will experience over the course of a long work day especially when standing still. The body is less efficient at pumping blood back to the heart when standing and as a result swelling within the calves and feet can occur. This in most cases can cause that achy sensation that worsens over the course of the day prominently in the feet and calves. To combat the swelling, a great tool can be graduated compression stockings. These work by providing higher grade compression at the foot/ankle and weaker at the top of the calf to efficiently push the blood that pools in the feet and calves back to the heart a little quicker. They come in all types of colours and styles to fit any occasion and will keep you on your feet longer.

 

Pain in the toes is another issue that can occur with prolonged standing. One major factor in toe pain specifically when standing is the fit of your shoes. A lot of times when we are wearing shoes that fit too tight, we create areas of abnormal pressure on the foot. This occurs most often in the forefoot where we can see numbness, callusing or even bunions form! The trick to dealing with this type of pain is to get a proper fitting shoe. Wearing a shoe that has a deep toe box while also providing adequate width and length is key to tackling pain in the toes. When we wear shoes that fit narrow or are raised in the heel these issues present themselves because we are shifting more pressure towards the toe box and there is no space to accommodate the foot.

 

Plantar fascia pain is something that most of us will experience in our lifetimes. When we are always on the go, putting a lot of miles on our feet and don’t stretch adequately, we pay the price with arch pain. Plantar fasciitis occurs when the thick band of fascia that runs from the bottom of your heel to your toes becomes inflamed and as a result can cause pain for the first few steps of the day and throughout the day. Typically, this pain can be brought on by a number of things including unsupportive footwear, foot structure, work day length etc. Orthotics are a tool that can help to alleviate this pain by offloading the plantar fascia and help to make the foot (and lower limb in general) work more efficiently. They can be made to work with any type of shoes and are the key to great foot health!

Quick Tips for Standing Foot Pain:

  • Wear proper fitting footwear that allows adequate extra space for your feet
  • Wear compression socks to combat swelling that occurs with prolonged standing
  • Get orthotics to help with arch and general foot pain

There are many different treatments and modalities to address pain when standing. If you are experiencing anything as described above or any foot pain in general reach out to your nearest Canadian Certified Pedorthist by clicking here. We definitely can help!

By Tyler Ashurst, Canadian Certified Pedorthist