Advice for standing long hours

Your friendly podiatrist here. Here are some recommendations I posted a few years back which got a lot of love from the community. I hope they are helpful for all the residents starting soon and for everyone else alike, if and when you can afford them.

  1. Shoes that we usually recommend include Hokas, Brooks, Altra, , Saucony, all great for standing long hours. ON brand tends to work well for walking all day as they are designed with a somewhat exaggerated rocker bottom for that reason (hence why runners love them). This varies by person, of course. Some trial and error may be necessary.
  2. Having at least two pairs of shoes and rotating them every other day allows for the insole/mid-sole/outer-sole combination in each shoe to fully recoil after a day on your feet. This prevents wearing the same shoe with a bottomed out sole every day.
  3. Once you find the shoes that work best for you, add a pair of semi-rigid inserts that maintain adequate foot posture/alignment. This helps minimize fatigue and overstretching the plantar fascia (just ask anyone with plantar fasciitis). I tend to recommend PowerSteps or SuperFeet brands. Unless you have a very unique foot form, over-the-counters are just as good as customs for most people. For people with extra pain at the ball of the foot due to fat pad atrophy or any other reason, a metatarsal pad (or insert with a metatarsal pad) can be helpful to spread the metatarsals and minimize pressure to the metatarsal heads (ball of foot).
  4. Compression socks/stockings are a great mechanical aide to increase blood flow and minimize muscle fatigue. Nylon material tends to last longer, but it makes your skin sweat more than if you wore cotton. So I mostly recommend cotton compression socks. And you don't need 30 mmHg; 15 mmHg is plenty of compression and will make a big difference.
  5. Foot powder helps keep your feet cool, especially between the toes. Nothing fancy, the generic brands are just as good as the expensive brands.
  6. Stretch, stretch, stretch. Start with your calves, hamstrings, quads, gluts, lower back. Everything is connected, and the more stretched out you are, the easier (or less difficult) it will on your body to stand for 80+ hours per week.
  7. If you're feeling extra, get a $1 pumice stone and some lotion for your feet for after you shower, especially your heels. The less callused skin, the less pressure to your feet, and ideally less pain.

Hope these tips help someone. We got more, so come see us in Podiatry.

Author: shrimpmonkey