Your feet and ankles do a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to moving your body around. In fact, it’s estimated that the average human takes around 7,500 steps every day – and walks about 110,000 miles in their lifetime.
Much of that walking takes place at work. Whether you work in an office with carpet or spend most of your day on a concrete factory floor, it’s just good sense to take care of your feet and ankles.
Things you can do to keep your feet and ankles healthy
First, you need to make sure that you’re wearing the right footwear for the job. Numerous industries encourage the use of safety shoes – and you should heed the recommendations. A good pair of safety shoes can help you avoid slips and falls, puncture wounds, broken toes from falling objects, twisted ankles and other injuries.
Even if you don’t need special shoes, it’s still important to have properly fitted footwear that’s comfortable and easy to walk in while you’re working. Your shoes help absorb the shock you take on your feet, knees and spine with every step. Make sure that your toes have plenty of room and your arches are well-supported in whatever footwear you choose.
It also helps to stretch the muscles in your legs on a regular basis, the way that athletes do before a run. Tight ligaments are prone to tears, and that can easily lead to major damage in your ankles from a simple misstep on your way to your duty station.
What happens if you end up injuring your foot or ankle at work despite your precautions? You need rest if you expect them to heal. If that means staying off your feet for a bit, it’s time to find out more about your right to workers’ compensation.
