Did you know spring cleaning can be dangerous?
[Video Transcript]
Hi, I'm Mark from fetology podiatry Centre. This time of year, we're often getting out there and we're doing a little bit of extra exercise and activity while we're cleaning our house inside and out.
I've got a patient that I'm treating at the moment who a month ago was out cleaning his patio without shoes on and ended up developing some heel pain. And we're still having to treat that now to get it better.
So what I want to cover today is some tips that you can be using to prevent this from happening to you as you start getting back into a bit more activity. Be it cleaning the house or it might be getting out and doing a little bit more walking as well.
These tips are going to apply to all of those situations.
Tip 1 - Start Slowly
You're getting out and doing activity that you're not used to doing, particularly if you may be a little bit more office bound in your work, getting out there all of a sudden and spending a day cleaning the patio or mowing the lawn, or getting down on your haunches and giving the house a good clean as well.
So make sure you take it slowly, give yourself time to adjust.
Tip 2 - Footwear
I'm a podiatrist, I'm always going to talk about footwear.
Footwear is really important. So for our gentleman that was out cleaning his patio, he was doing it without shoes on, so his feet weren't supported and they're not used to that and he ended up developing an injury.
So keeping shoes on and the right shoes, you might be out there splashing around in water
and stuff, but if you're going to wear thongs all day and you're not used to that, they're not going to give you the support that you need as well.
And it's not just outside. Inside the house, you might be spending a day vacuuming, cleaning, showers, doing all that stuff. It's a lot of time on your feet, a lot of movement.
So make sure that you're giving your feet really good support for that.
Tip 3 - Listen To Your Body
When you're getting out there and doing your activity, your body will often give you some clues if you're doing too much.
Okay, you're getting a little niggle in an area or is a muscle feeling a little bit tight?
They're all indicators that you just need to go back to step one and slow down a little bit and take it easy.
It's all right if you spread your activities over the weekend, don't plan to do it all at once and all in a rush. That's when you'll end up in our office with needing our assistance.
So they're my top three tips to help you to prevent getting injuries in your feet, legs and other areas of your body, as well as you're getting in and doing your spring cleaning.
If you are running into any troubles, by all means jump on the phone.
Get in touch with us at the clinic on 3820 6326, or you can always book online at www.feetology.com.au
