Be Healthy Now

Our feet are complex structures composed of 52 bones and numerous ligaments, tendons, nerves and muscles. All neatly packaged in a small and often fashionably accessorized appendage. I willingly admit to being a shoe addict and I particularly love wearing heels – a fact that, in retrospect, seems questionable considering that average feet walk approximately 8,000 steps each day. Cumulatively, this adds up to the equivalent of circumventing the globe 4 times during our lifetimes! 

So it’s not really so surprising that 75% of us will experience some type of foot pain. I learned this the hard way a couple of weeks ago when wearing a new (and quite cute) pair of stacked heels. For the following three days my left foot was tortuously painful. The problem is that when foot pain is left untreated it can lead to significant health issues throughout the rest of your body. Your feet are, after all, your foundation. 

Luckily, there have been abundant studies demonstrating the positive effects of foot massage and reflexology. In addition to the expected result of easing foot pain and discomfort, researchers have also found that: 

• A five minute foot massage can lower both heart rate and blood pressure.

• Weekly reflexology sessions can help to reduce the severity of PMS.

• Reflexology can lesson the severity of migraines and tension headaches. 

Taking advantage of the benefits of foot massage or reflexology is fortunately quite simple. An abundance of hand held and mechanical units have been developed for home use. My absolute favorites are the Yamuna Foot Savers and Foot Wakers. Trust me, if you love cute shoes too, these are a must have! You can also go with a professional vibrating unit like the Medi-Rub. To check out all of your options, I’d recommend visiting AllAboutMassagers.com.  

And yes, for the sake of my feet, I did give up those adorable stacked heels…