What Natural Changes Happen to Aging Feet?

Every part of the body ages. However, the feet are subjected to particularly heavy treatment throughout our lives. They experience repeated impact, weight-bearing, pressure, friction and often minor trauma.

The natural changes that happen to the feet over time include:

• Thinning of the skin
• Wear and tear to the joints
• Reduced muscle strength.

In addition to this, feet will be more at risk of injury and pain if you have conditions which:

• Affect the nerve supply or blood supply to the feet.
• Affect the bones, muscles and joints themselves.
• Cause the feet to swell.

These include:

• Peripheral arterial disease
• Varicose veins
• Diabetes
• Heart failure
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Kidney disease

 

What are the Effects of Aging on the Way the Foot Works?

The young foot is springy, strong and resilient. It has arches bound together by elastic tendons which allow for springiness and shock absorption. Joints are flexible and bones are strong and resilient. Skin is tough, the blood supply is efficient, and healing is fast. However, time takes its toll as all of the parts of the foot become less resilient with age. Eventually the foot becomes less able to resist repeated stresses such as impact, pressure and extremes of temperature.

Loss of strength

With age the muscles lose some of their strength. This is a gradual effect, with muscle strength and power peaking in the 20s and early 30s.

The bones of the foot also thin with age. This is extreme in conditions such as ‘thinning’ of the bones (osteoporosis), when the bones may become fragile. However, all bones thin with age. This natural thinning is made worse by smoking and lack of exercise. It’s also worse in those who have:

• Poor vitamin D intake.
• High or regular doses of steroids.
• Thyroid overactivity.
• Testicular failure (sometimes called andropause)
• HIV
• Long periods of their life without a menstrual cycle due to:

• Pregnancy and breast-feeding.
• Contraceptives which suppress periods
• Conditions such as early menopause and anorexia nervosa in women, which affect the menstrual cycle.

Swelling

A tendency of the lower legs and feet to swell increases with age. Swelling puts additional pressure on the structures in the foot. There are many reasons for this, including:

• Loss of elasticity in the leg veins
• Loss of muscle tone in the calves (the muscles in the calves are a part of the mechanism for pumping blood back upwards to the heart)
• Heart disease
• Some medications.

Loss of blood supply

The blood supply to the distant (or peripheral) parts of the body is the most likely to be affected by poor circulation, due to conditions such as hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis). Blood vessels tend to stiffen and narrow a little with age. Varicose veins and other conditions which cause leg swelling will make this worse. This reduces the ability of the feet to repair minor injuries quickly.

Conditions of the feet

The following conditions can all result from mistreatment of the feet, combined with aging:

Bunions – Bony protrusions at the base of the big toe. The most common causes are:

• Wearing shoes with a pointed forefoot that squeezes the toes.
• Wearing high heels that force your toes too far forward in the shoes.
• Hereditary factor.

Morton’s neuroma – This enlarged nerve, more common in women than in men, causes pain, burning, tingling or numbness on the ball of the foot or between the toes. It, too, can result from wearing shoes that are too tight.

Plantar fasciitis – This is an inflammation of tissue in the bottom of the foot. The usual symptom is heel pain. Arthritis and wearing shoes with inadequate heel cushioning are other causes.

 

How Can I Protect my Feet from the Effects of Aging?

Footwear

• As you age it’s important that your footwear is not too stiff. Avoid footwear that rubs, makes your feet sore or is too tight. (These may restrict the circulation or cause pressure damage to the skin.) Avoid high heels and choose shoes which support your feet and hold them firmly in place.
• Wear shoes made of leather or breathable man-made materials.
• Wear shoes that support the arches of your feet. Cushioned insoles are useful.
• If your feet have a tendency to swell, make sure that your shoes can accommodate this. Put them on first thing in the morning before your feet have a chance to swell.
• Socks, tights, or stockings, should be the right size for your feet.
• Avoid walking barefoot, even indoors. By the time we reach 65, the fatty protective foot pads have worn thinner through long use.  Walking barefoot is no longer recommended as it tends to speed up this process. If the feet are given no extra cushioning, for example shoes, to make up for what they have lost, then painful feet, calluses and metatarsalgia can result.

Exercise

Exercise feet regularly. “If you don’t use it, you lose it.”

General health

Look after any underlying health issues as best you can. In particular, if you have any of the following you should have your feet checked by your podiatrist regularly:

• Peripheral arterial disease.
• Problems with the nerves in your feet.
• Foot deformity.
• Deformities of the toenails.

 

May I take this opportunity to wish everyone a Healthy and Prosperous 2018! Let’s truly try to be more proactive in taking care of ourselves, since we can’t buy health.

Your feet mirror your general health . . . cherish them!