Foot Pain Working From Home: Here’s What To Do About It

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With the pandemic, has come a large increase in the number of remote workers. What hasn’t been unprecedented is the massive increase in foot pain and trips to the doctors around foot related health. So why do so many of us remote workers have foot pain when working from home? 

Remote workers are more likely to face foot pain due to working barefoot and not having the support or protection that comfortable shoes, slippers or even socks have on offer. Poor hygiene such as not taking showers when working from home or drying feet properly have also resulted in a surge in foot pain. 

So what are the steps  you should follow if you have foot pain? How should you look after your feet when working from home? Keep reading to find out more. 

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Figure out where exactly it is hurting 

The first thing we need to figure out then when you first get foot pain when working from home is to identify exactly where it is you are hurting. 

If your feet are painful due to you scratching at them or because you have peeling skin then congratulations, you’ve got yourself an athlete’s foot. 

Pain underneath your nails may be the sign of ingrown toenails. 

If it’s a sharp pain that is constant  it may be something more  severe such as a torn ligament or broken bone. 

The human foot is a  complex structure with 26 bones, 30 joints and over 100 muscles. 

Identifying where you feel pain will be a good start addressing  the issue. 

Keep track of the pain 

If the pain is severe you can skip this step and then go straight to the next, but if your pain is  more annoying than it is deliberating then it’s time to keep track of the pain.

Has the foot pain just started when you worked from home? Is it more severe on certain days? 

The best way to keep track of this would be through journaling

Make note of the pain on a scale from one to ten every day for a week and you will soon have a picture of if any activity is causing your foot to hurt. 

It might be on the day where  it was colder in your home then usual or you were stressed out. 

Journaling will help give you a wider picture of what’s wrong that you might not have anticipated originally. 

Speak to a doctor 

The most important point on this list is to speak to  a doctor. 

I’m not a medical professional, and only have my own personal experience of foot pain when working from home, and so the best thing to do if your foot is hurting is to book an appointment with your doctor. 

Your general practitioner may assign you a meeting with a Podiatrist who is a specialist foot doctor that looks at all things feet.  

Improve your poor foot posture 

Poor posture impacts around 80% of Americans at some point in their lives. 

Whilst poor posture has been known for decades now to impact back problems, this can also have a direct knock on effect to your foot pain. 

Aim to walk with your shoulders back and chest out and aim to walk on the soles of your feet, not on your toes or heels as some people may do. 

The Guardian actually have a great video on this you can check out here: 

 

Change your shoes 

One of the reasons I know I was struggling with foot pain when working from home was because I didn’t change my shoes often enough.

Turns out wearing the same pair of trainers day in and day out for my mid day breaks and runs from my home office was causing a lot of pent up pain in my foot. 

One of the easiest ways I got rid of the pain I was feeling was to cycle my gym sneakers and invest in a new pair so I wasn’t wearing worn out shoes. 

Changing your shoes especially if you are used to wearing uncomfortable designs like high heels will be one of the best ways to impact your foot pain. 

Try cycling through your pairs when you work from home. 

Wear shoes that fit

Not only should you change your shoes on a regular basis you should also wear shoes that fit comfortably. 

Poor fitting footwear can be one of the fastest routes to foot pain, and so you should always opt for shoes that have about half an inch of space in between the end of the shoe and your foot. 

Your footwear should also not chafe or rub anywhere and should not slip inside when walking. 

Foot pain in children is quite common so if you are a work at home parent, be sure you change your kids shoes in advance of them growing. 

Avoid walking around barefoot

With more of us working from home than ever before it is easy to not get dressed in the morning or walk around the home barefoot. 

Whilst walking around barefoot is fine for most people, if you are finding yourself getting foot pain then try to walk around with footwear on to help support you. 

I know some people do not want to wear their shoes indoors which is perfectly understandable, but investing in a pair of slippers with foot support, or sandals that you only wear around the house will make the difference. 

Arch support is usually the most common pain point so look into slippers with that built in on sites like Viacon 

Use Painkillers

If your foot pain is not severe and you have been to the doctors already, it may be worth doing something as simple as using low dose aspirin or paracetamol. 

Simply eat with a meal and in a few hours the pain should subside. 

Once again I am not a medical professional so please do consult your pharmacist or doctor before you decide to use painkillers but these usually work for me. 

Exercise 

With the lines between work and home getting blended for remote workers it’s only natural for us to get out less and in turn get a lot less exercise. 

I mean let’s face it, when it hits 5pm after a long day of working from home the last things you want to do is go out for a run. 

Human bodies are meant to move and one of the reasons that cause a lot of foot pain is just that you’re not getting enough exercise. 

Anyone who has a background in weight training only to not go to the gym for a month knows that muscles atrophy when you don’t use them- it’s very much a use it or lose it category. 

The best thing to do then is stick to the recommended guidelines of getting 30 minutes of exercise per weekday or about 150 minutes of activity every week. 

I like to change things up by aiming to go for a run, two to three times a week and then balance this out with weight training. 

If you’re short on time like a lot of us remote workers, consider merging these exercises together by doing 45 minutes of weight training and then follow on with your cardio afterwards. 

Icing 

No not the sweet flour that us brits put on cakes. 

If you have foot pain from working from home, a surefire way you can do that doesn’t involve taking pills to numb the pain is to ice the pain. 

I remember a few years back I went out on my lunch break when working from home to have a quick game of soccer and ended up rolling my ankle. 

I had a meeting near the end of the week that I needed to be in person for and walking wasn’t something that I was going to do. 

Putting some ice on the pain point helped numb the pain and within a few days I was back to walking. 

So what is the best way to ice your foot pain? 

Place ice cubes in a soft material or use an ice pack and gently place it over your foot pain. When you use ice, you will be constricting the blood vessels which will help cool down soft tissue like ligaments, muscles and tendons. 

If you do not have ice cubes or ice packs you can use frozen vegetable packs to help. 

Elevating

Elevating your foot can be another surefire way to get rid of foot pain when working remotely. 

Elevating your foot falls into the RICE anagram which helps you rest, ice, compression and elevate your foot when having foot pain. 

Elevation in particular will help reduce the swelling in your foot, swelling which can push up against your pain receptors. 

For the best results aim to use a foot stool to keep your foot higher than your other foot when working from home. 

Keep warm 

If you feel as though your pain is not severe and instead a pain that happens when you keep your foot out of bed overnight it may be because of the cold air. 

One of the problems I used to suffer from was waking up with quite bad leg pain because my foot was out of bed overnight. 

A simple step of making sure I went to bed with my legs in bed or keep them covered got rid of the pain instantly. 

If you’re the type of person who likes to sleep without a blanket and have been noticing leg pain then this might be the reason why. 

Stretching

According to Harvard, stretching is important as it keeps your muscles flexible, string and healthy. 

That being said, not enough of us stretch correctly or only do so before things like exercise. 

One of the things I love to do that helped get me out of the ankle pain I talked about earlier was to stretch it out doing dynamic stretches. 

So what are some good stretches you can do when working from home?  Luckily I’ve put together an article talking all about the best stretches you can do when working from home 

Lose weight 

One of the problems a lot of us remote workers will know is just how much your waistlines grow when working from home. 

In the first few months of the lockdown I knew that my go to place was often the fridge and so it’s not uncommon for the increased weight to add more pressure to your foot, causing you foot pain. 

The best thing to do then is calculate how much a healthy weight for you is( if you are overweight) and eat a healthy balanced diet in a small calorie deficit to help get you there. 

I personally like to use intermittent fasting as a way to help regulate my calories per day but it’s best to figure out what works for you. 

At the end of the day the best diet is the one you can stick to. 

Get a standing desk 

With remote workers often not standing up when they work from home or using ill fitting furniture it’s not uncommon for foot pain to happen as a result. 

One option that could help is to invest in a sit stand desk. 

These have the ability to let you sit and stand as the day goes on. 

Aim to stand up for about 15 minutes of every hour as a good idea to stop you from stagnating. 

Using a standing desk will also have additional benefits such as helping you with your posture. 

My recommendation for a recommended standing desk that doesn’t break the brabank but is also industry leading is the Flexispot which you can read up more about here. 

Get an ergonomic chair 

Poor fitting furniture can have a severe impact on foot pain and not having a good office chair when you work from home can be one of the reasons why. 

Be sure to invest in a chair that allows you to rest on your feet comfortably on the floor and does not place them in an uncomfortable position. 

You should also make sure your back is comfortably resting against the base of the seat to further help with posture and foot pain. 

My recommendation is to go with the Flash furniture mid swivel which comes in a huge variety of styles which work with any office. 

You can find out more about why I recommend it here. 

Go for a massage 

If you have ever compared your own personal foot massage when you have foot pain to that of a professional you know just how good a professional can be to get rid of foot pain. 

Sports massages I find work best as they can get to deep ties so if you find that your foot pain is consistent and there is no medical reason for it after speaking with a doctor then book yourself in for a professional foot massage. 

You can start doing this once every three months and then increase or decrease how much you need to do it depending on the piano. 

Acupuncture 

So acupuncture is something that has proven to be a little controversial with some medical professionals considering this to not help with pain. 

That being said the most recent consensus is that having acupuncture is better than not having acupuncture when it comes to dealing with pain so consider looking into it if the foot pain you are experiencing when working from home is an issue. 

There are loads of options but consider spending only between £50-£70 for acupuncture and ensure that your acupuncturist is a licensed professional. 

Use a scarf 

So I learned this one as a kid when I would have random leg and foot pain and it can definitely be transferable with foot pain when working from home. 

Simply find a scarf, wrap it, and then tie it around the pain you are feeling. 

Similar to the constriction we talked about before this should help limit the blood flow to your fit and ease some of the pain. 

Just be sure to not do this for too long as you will definitely end up getting pins and needles. 

I would recommend doing this for 30 mins and your pain should lessen. 

Try yoga

Like stretching, yoga can be something you add to your day to stretch out any chronic pain you may be feeling in your foot due to working from home. 

Aim for poses that specifically target your foot but be sure not to neglect the rest of your body. 

The following playlist below is a great place to start for beginners: 

Watch your hygiene

Whilst it’s easy to stay in bed clothes and not shower for a few days when working from home it’s super easy for fungal infections like athletes’ feet to spread doing so.

Athlete foot is one of the most common types of foot pain people have when working from home so ensure you wash your feet every day and practice good personal hygiene will help limit the amount of foot pain caused by this. 

Common questions 

Hopefully the points above have given you some options to help if you are struggling with foot pain when working from home. 

As foot pain is common there are quite a few questions which I have given answers to below too: 

What are the different types of foot pain you get when working from home? 

The most common types of foot pain people have when working from home are either hygiene related such as athlete’s foot, pressure on the sole of ones feet from not wearing appropriate footwear around the house and the developments of corns and bunions from doing this and general trauma damage caused by bumping feet around the house as they are less effective. 

Should you wear shoes when working from home? 

Wearing shoes or footwear that is not only comfortable but protects your feet from hitting a hard floor consistently with the sole of your feet is a good option when you work from home. This can lessen the impact and damage this can cause on your feet and it’s tendons, bones and ligaments. 

If you do not want to wear shoes in the house, consider using slippers or sliders as an alternative. 

How to look after your feet when working from home? 

The following stores are things you can do to avoid foot pain when working from home: 

• Ensure you wear appropriate footwear 

• Regularly exercise 

• Stretch your feet and body on a daily basis 

• Wash your feet to protect them from athletes foot 

• Keep your nails cut 

• Remove the dead skin from the base of your feet

• Have regular check ups with your doctors

Foot pain when working from home

So hopefully this post has helped you understand the root causes of why so many of us home workers have foot pain and what it is you can do about it. 

Feel free to share this post with anyone who might be struggling or consider putting some of these into practice yourself if you are not doing so already. 

Finally a lot of people reading my blog want to know what products I recommend for a home office/remote working. You can find out my recommendations here and learn how I make money whilst working remotely on the side here.