6 Reasons to Take Your Loved One’s Senior Foot Care Seriously

If you take a moment to think about it, your body is, and always has always been, in a perpetual cycle of evolution and change. Your physical appearance and abilities are drastically different from when you were born, and will have additional differences—albeit, subtler ones—ten years from now. As we all become older, some of those physical changes mean body systems simply don’t work the same way they did when we were young.

It is important to take care of your feet at every stage of life, but senior foot care takes on a heightened level of importance. There are several reasons to keep a pulse on the health of your feet as you age, including:

1. Increased diabetes risk. The risk of diabetes, particularly type 2 diabetes, increases as you become older. When you become diabetic, it is vital that you understand the effects the disease can have on the health of your feet. The nerve damage and circulation problems that often accompany diabetes can lead to Charcot foot and dangerous ulceration.
2. Loss of cushioning. The fat pad found on the bottom of the heel becomes thinner, which means less natural padding and more forces absorbed by foot bones.
3. Poor circulation. When blood flow to the feet slows down, it takes longer for cuts and other wounds to heal.
4. Increased infection risk. Tying in with the previous concern, the body’s immune system is not as strong as it once was, so it doesn’t have the same ability to fight off infections.
5. Shoe size changes. Our feet become wider as we age, which highlights the importance of always having your feet measured before buying new shoes.
6. Bone spurs. When faced with persistent strain or pressure, the body forms calcium deposits on the bones in our feet. Your body has the best of intentions in doing this—it is merely trying to protect itself—but these spurs can cause irritation when they press into soft tissues.

There are many reasons to be mindful of senior foot care, and Foot & Ankle Center of Oklahoma is here to help you! We consistently provide quality foot care services for patients of all ages, so give us a call at (405) 418-2676 for more information, or request an appointment with our OKC podiatrist office online today to receive the treatment you need.