Best Foot Forward

   There are many phrases in our language that refer to our feet like: step into the light, dance to a different tune, and put your best foot forward.
   You are issued two per life time. Medical science has made marvelous advances with other parts of the human body replacements, but those for feet have yet to reach the level of the originals.
   Each day we live we move, exercise, walk, run, or dance our feet take a pounding. They respond to our instant commands. Serving us faithfully day after day.
   Many must live and work on concrete floors which have no give or cushioning when we stand for long periods of time or walk on them. Our feet get little rest as they hold up the weight we ask them to bear.
   When I was teaching I needed a new pair of shoes. I asked the clerk for something that didn't look like a pair of combat boots. He asked me what I did for a living and I told him. He looked down at my shoes and said, "Go buy another pair of combat boots." It was the best advice I've ever gotten from a sales person.
   The structure of our feet is extremely complex. We have 26 bones linked by 33 joints (20 of which are active articulated), means they are connected by flexible joints. These bones are bound together by over 100 muscles, tendons, and ligaments. So when we walk or just wiggle our toes after a long day they work in a fantastic syncopation much like a well scored piece of music.
   Like most people I didn't think much about my feet until several years ago when I was watching Dancing With the Stars on TV. It was a brief clip. One of the dancers was having problems with her feet. They showed them - they were covered with large lumps of dead skin cells or calluses. It was painful to see and I can only imagine how it felt dancing for hours each day as they prepared a routine.
   Many little girls dream of wearing a beautiful white dress and floating across a stage as a ballet dancer. The professionals who follow a lifetime career suffer in the later years from deformed feet that met the demands of toe shoes.
   When we have problems with out feet many times the cause is rooted in ill fitting shoes. This is true for both men and women. Women especially like me who want to be stylish follow the dictates of current fashions.
   Remember as you age your feet grown. It is a good idea to check your shoe size. We don't see bunions as often as we once did, but studies indicate they have a direct relation to wearing shoes that are too short.
   We neglect our feet, not intentionally but it's much easier to scrub them when taking a bath than it is to bend over in a shower. There we simply forget.
   Two home treatments for tired feet are: 1.) Soak them in a solution of warm water and Epson Salts then give them a good buffing with a rough towel and 2). Take a bottle or small balls and roll your feet back and forth as you watch TV.
  For runners to help prevent blisters a roll of paper like surgical tape is a cheap solution to an age old problem.
   Any person who has ever been in the military will tell you care of your feet and frequent changes for clean socks is one of the first things they learn to endure long marches bearing heavy packs.
Nash Black, author of Sandprints of Death, the beginning of the Jim Young series.