Why minor foot issues can have bigger consequences as we age
Most people experience common foot issues like bunions, stiffness, or a sore heel. These problems are often more inconvenient than painful, but if they persist, they can impact daily movement.
When a foot problem seems benign, people often choose to work around it instead of treating it. Going to the doctor may not feel necessary, or they might not know that certain exercises and specialized footwear can provide pain relief. It may seem easier to walk less and limit aggravating activities.
As we age, maintaining an active lifestyle is linked to improved longevity and independence. Reducing movement can unintentionally lead to a sedentary lifestyle, causing a decline in strength and mobility over time. As KURU Footwear explains below, this poses a larger question: Can a minor foot problem left untreated impact overall health in the long term?
Mobility Is More Than the Ability to Get From One Place to Another
Mobility refers to being able to move without assistance. Mobility matters for all types of daily movement, such as walking, doing dishes, getting out of bed, climbing stairs, and participating in most activities.
Physical and cognitive function are the best ways to measure an older person’s health, according to recent research. Maintaining mobility correlates with a longer lifespan and greater overall health. If mobility declines with age, so does functional ability and, often, independence.
Why Staying on Your Feet Matters as You Age
Consistent physical activity is important for healthy aging. Leading an active lifestyle is recommended for older adults to maintain and improve health. This includes weekly medium-intensity aerobic and strength training exercises, on top of daily activities. Exercise doesn’t need to be complicated to be beneficial. Biking, hiking, swimming, or playing games like tennis are fun, low-impact, and social forms of exercise.
There are countless benefits associated with living an active lifestyle. Physical activity reduces the risk of chronic disease and adverse health outcomes. It improves energy levels, health and lifespan, cardiovascular health, and cognitive function. Exercise also helps preserve bone density, balance, and muscle strength, which helps older adults sustain independence and functional ability.
The Foot Is the Foundation of Everyday Movement
Most regular forms of movement involve the feet. Walking requires both sides of the body to engage in repetitive, coordinated movement led by the foot.
Feet largely absorb the impact of walking and moving. If someone is experiencing foot pain, they likely find walking aggravating. People may change how they walk, stand, or move to lessen foot discomfort. If foot pain persists, overall movement is often reduced to compensate.
How a Foot Problem Can Become an Activity Problem
If a minor foot problem impacts activity levels, it can contribute to larger problems over time. Imagine a lifelong runner develops a heel spur in their fifties. They suddenly experience pain while running, so they stop running, hoping the rest will resolve the pain. When they walk more than a few minutes or stand often, they also now experience pain. As a result, they start avoiding daily activities involving walking and standing.
Without realizing it, they’ve gradually stopped most forms of movement. Over time, they find themselves experiencing the side effects of a sedentary lifestyle, despite having been an athlete.
The Sedentary Cycle: Why Moving Less Can Make Moving Harder
Balance, coordination, strength, and flexibility require consistent effort to maintain. When muscle strength, cardiovascular fitness, and endurance decline, physical activity becomes harder. People may feel less confident in their ability to regain their strength.
Prolonged periods of inactivity or significant reduction in movement can cause deconditioning. This is when the body reallocates resources and energy to adapt to inactivity. Deconditioning can weaken the cardiovascular system, muscles, and bones, and impact mood and energy. If a person doesn’t resume moving and exercising, overall health continues to decline.
Reduced physical function makes daily activities feel riskier. For older adults, falling is the primary cause of injury. To lessen the risk of falls, people may increasingly avoid movement, further accelerating physical decline. This creates a cycle where less movement leads to worsening health, making moving more difficult.
Is There Actually a Link Between Physical Activity and Longevity?
Physical activity provides health benefits associated with greater lifespan and healthy aging. A sedentary lifestyle, however, is attributed to 10% of premature mortality and increased risk of chronic conditions.
Movement doesn’t have to be extreme to support long-term health. Meeting the Department of Health and Human Services weekly recommendation of 75 to 100 minutes of vigorous activity or 150 to 300 minutes of moderate physical activity lowered cardiovascular disease mortality by 22% to 31%, according to a 2022 study published in the journal Circulation. The same study showed that people who did two to four times the minimum recommended moderate activity lowered all-cause mortality by 26% to 31%.
Regular movement is still beneficial, even if it’s not intense or for long stints of time. Standing more and engaging in light movement, like walking or household tasks, improved health for those with otherwise sedentary lifestyles, even reducing cancer risks. While regular physical activity is linked to improved longevity, genetics, environment, and lifestyle also contribute.
Why Walking May Matter Beyond a Step Count
Wearable tech has made tracking daily movement easy and trendy. People now regularly track step count, often targeting 10,000 daily steps. Having a step count goal helps increase daily activity levels, but it’s not the only reason to walk regularly.
Walking can improve and maintain mobility. Research shows that if walking becomes more energetically challenging, it can predict future mobility loss. A slower walking pace has also been linked to increased risk of dementia and cognitive decline. Walking regularly and more often is the best way to prevent walking from becoming harder and slower with age.
Aging Doesn't Automatically Mean Becoming Less Mobile
While everybody experiences physical changes as they age, a significant or abrupt loss of mobility isn’t necessarily caused by aging. Mobility declines due to various physical and mental impairments, such as chronic health conditions and injury.
The primary characteristics that predict and prevent eventual mobility decline include body composition, strength, energetics, peripheral and central nervous system function, and homeostatic (dys)regulation. Considering these characteristics, regular physical activity can help prevent loss of mobility.
Strength training, for example, maintains muscle mass and improves bone health, reducing injury risk and osteoporosis. Certain exercises preserve balance, coordination, and mobility, while aerobic exercise boosts cardiovascular function and efficiency. It also lowers the risk of numerous health conditions like heart disease and diabetes.
Why People Often Wait Too Long to Address Foot Discomfort
When foot pain persists, people may avoid seeking medical guidance for various reasons. They often believe it will go away with more time. People might think it’s not a big deal or a natural part of aging. Avoiding activity may be easier than going to the doctor, or they may not have access to healthcare. They might feel too busy or like they need to prioritize more pressing health concerns first.
While these reasons are understandable, when foot pain impacts mobility, it should be taken seriously and treated.
Keeping Yourself Active Starts With Paying Attention to Movement
Maintaining daily activity levels and a well-rounded exercise program keeps people active. Paying attention to movement patterns and how movement feels, however, helps people gauge their capacity to move as they age. To track physical function, notice:
- How much effort it takes to walk
- Functional movement ability: climbing stairs, standing up and down, bending over, and getting to and from different locations
- Walking speed, asymmetry, and step length
- Changes in physical activity levels or strength
- Pain or discomfort that limits activity or movement, like foot pain
If a foot problem, injury, or illness causes a temporary period of rest, quickly seeking professional help can speed up recovery. Once the issue is treated, prioritize gradually rebuilding activity levels, strength, and mobility. Utilizing tools like appropriate, supportive footwear and braces can prevent future injury and maintain activity levels with age.
When Foot Pain Becomes a Mobility Issue
Sudden foot pain doesn’t always indicate a serious issue or require treatment. It may subside within a few days on its own, but some foot pain does warrant evaluation. If you’re experiencing any of the following, consider going to the doctor:
- Persistent foot pain for more than a week
- Worsening pain
- Swelling, tenderness, and bruising that doesn’t subside after a few days
- Numbness, tingling, or burning
- Inability to bear weight
- Dizziness or fever
- Heat or warmth
- Discomfort that impacts the ability to walk or perform daily activities
- Instability or weakness
The Bigger Health Question Isn't “Does This Foot Problem Hurt?”
People often use the pain scale to decide whether or not they need to address foot discomfort, but pain is not the only reason to seek help. Instead of asking how painful it is, consider if the issue affects the ability to move.
Any problem that impacts daily physical function and ability is important. Even if the issue isn’t particularly painful, if it causes someone to avoid certain activities or movement, it’s worth addressing.
Protecting Mobility May Be One of the Most Important Parts of Healthy Aging
A sedentary lifestyle is associated with numerous health issues, particularly physical and functional decline. Getting enough physical activity can prevent these health conditions, improving longevity and overall health. Healthy aging isn’t guaranteed, but quickly addressing barriers to movement, like sudden foot pain, helps people stay mobile and maintain independence with age.
Routine foot problems, like bunions and plantar fasciitis, don’t cause long-term health problems or shorten lifespan. If foot discomfort causes someone to reduce movement for prolonged periods, however, the potential impact on quality of life should be considered.
This story was produced by KURU Footwear and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.