Although Thanksgiving may look a little different this year because of the coronavirus, millions of people will still be ringing in the holiday one way or another. And while the holiday is a tough time to be a turkey, the holiday can also be tough on your feet! In today’s blog, we take a look at 10 ways the Thanksgiving holiday can take a toll on your feet, and how you can protect your feet from injury.
10 Thanksgiving Foot Injuries
Here are 10 ways that Thanksgiving and the holiday weekend can cause problems for your feet, and how to avoid them.
1. Long Hours On Your Feet – Spending a lot of time on your feet cooking or cleaning? Recruit others to help with the cleaning, and have attendees bring dishes to pass so you’re not spending hours on your feet in the kitchen.
2. Slippery Conditions – The winter weather is already here for most of Minnesota, so be sure you watch for slippery spots on driveways and walkways over the holiday weekend.
3. Family Football – On a normal Thanksgiving, you might head outside to play a game of backyard football with your family. If this is a tradition, pack appropriate footwear and look for holes or other potential injury hazards when finding an area to play.
4. Shopping – If shopping is more of your thing this weekend, again make it a point to wear the right shoes for the occasion. Doing a lot of walking in the wrong shoes is a recipe for disaster. Better yet, for your foot health and overall health, stay home and shop online this year.
5. Overeating – While overeating one meal won’t likely cause problems for your feet, consistently overeating and putting on excess weight means your feet have to shoulder more stress, which can increase your risk of injury.
6. Cold Feet – If you’re going to be outside for hours this weekend, like many hunters will be, make sure you wear a shoe that will keep your foot warm, otherwise you could end up with frostbite.
7. Inactivity – Similar to the above point on overeating, being inactive after a big meal won’t directly harm your feet, but if your lifestyle becomes sedentary, it can lead to blood flow issues in your feet. Get regular exercise and strive to live a more active than inactive life.
8. Blood Sugar Management – Overindulging in carbs and sugars can throw your blood sugar levels out of whack. Done consistently, this can cause diabetic foot complications in diabetics.
9. Right Running Shoes – If you’re doing a Turkey Trot in person or virtually this year, make sure your shoes are up for the task.
10. COVID Toes – Finally, as we talked about on the blog in the past, the coronavirus can cause symptoms to appear in your feet. Follow distancing guidelines, wear a mask and be smart about in-person gatherings to reduce your risk of contracting the virus.
And if you develop any foot pain over the holiday, give Dr. Silverman and his team a call for a diagnosis and to get set up with a treatment plan.