SOS for foot pain

Q:

After weeks of pain in the arches of my feet, I visited my doctor. She said my discomfort is caused by flat feet and suggested I wear arch-supporting insoles in my shoes. I’m doing that as much as possible, but since the pandemic, I’m mostly home and don’t like to wear shoes in the house. Is there anything else I can do?

A:

As you age, tendons in your feet that support your body start to wear down. This can collapse your arches, causing flat feet, a painful condition that affects as many as 30% of women over 50. Plus, flat feet make you more prone to plantar fasciitis, inflammation of the tissue that connects your heel to your toes, triggering pain in your arch and heel.

Wearing supportive insoles helps keep your feet in a more comfortable position to ease the pain. But that’s tough to do since we’re spending more time indoors (blame cold weather and the quarantine), wearing our cozy slippers and socks instead of shoes. But I can suggest several other strategies that can help.

First, try massaging extra-virgin olive oil between the ball of your foot and your heel—focusing on your arch—once a day. A study in the journal Osteoarthritis found that doing so relieves pain more effectively than a topical prescription painkiller. That’s because the oil contains a unique compound (oleocanthal) known to reduce inflammation.

You can also try arch-strengthening exercises, a strategy that improved foot flexibility by 32%, cutting the risk of future pain in half in a study in the Journal of Physical Therapy Science.

To do: Stand with your hips shoulderwidth apart, then shift your weight to the outer edges of your feet while keeping your toes in contact with the floor; hold for 2 to 3 seconds and release. Repeat 10 to 15 times, two or three times daily.