For most of us, walking is the safest form of low-impact exercise we can add to our daily routines. It’s such an innocent, basic activity, that most of us don’t consider the potential risks associated with motions that are entrenched in our daily routines. It seems innocuous enough putting your best foot forward.
However, nearly 250,000 walkers each year are stopped in their tracks as a result of a walking-related pain or injury, according to Prevention Magazine. These problems are caused by limited mobility or leading to a sedentary lifestyle, which comes with a laundry list of more serious health risks.
What Are The Most Common Walking-Related Pains and Injuries?
Surprisingly, walking-related pains and injuries aren’t limited to the feet or legs. Walking in bad footwear or putting too much strain on the body can cause a wide range of aches that can affect the body up through the hips and back.
The conditions below are some of the most common causes of walking-related pain:
Plantar Fasciitis
Plantar fasciitis is a foot condition that’s most commonly associated with a shooting pain in your heel or the bottom of your foot. This pain may occur most frequently in the morning, or when you take your first steps of the day. According to Mayo Clinic, Plantar fasciitis develops when there is strain or injury to the plantar fascia, a band of supportive tissue that runs from your heel to the ball of your foot and provides arch support. When strained, as a result of wearing hard shoes or walking long distances on concrete, the tissue stiffens, causing foot pain. For walkers and runners, poor or worn out footwear, an increase in exercise on uneven terrain, or spending extended periods standing or walking around barefoot can cause this condition.
Because the tissue tends to stiffen overnight, when it isn’t being used, pain from plantar fasciitis is most prominent in the morning, or until it stretches from daily walking. Left untreated, it can lead to calcium deposits, which in turn cause a painful, bony growth around the heel, called a heel spur.
If you develop plantar fasciitis pain, you can manage it by doing stretches every morning. To prevent further damage, you should be sure that you’re wearing supportive shoes that have a contoured foot bed and provide adequate arch support – no flip flops or sandals. A podiatrist may also prescribe a night splint to keep your foot flexed, which will limit the tightening of this tissue while you sleep.
Achilles Tendonitis
Moving from the foot upward, this condition typically causes pain in the back of your heel, where your Achilles’ tendon is located, radiating up the back of your calf muscle. This condition, according to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, is typically caused by walking too much, especially if you begin a walking routine without building up to it, or when you’ve been hiking on uneven terrain, which can strain the tendon. Early on, it Achilles tendonitis often presents with a dull, aching pain, and progresses to the point where it’s difficult to stand on your toes.
If you develop the symptoms of Achilles tendonitis, you should cut back on your distance or avoid hiking on hilly terrain to minimize the irritation of the tendon. If the pain persists, icing the area multiple times a day can ease discomfort while giving the tendon a chance to heal. Once the pain and irritation have subsided, you should gradually build walking back into your routine and avoid hiking on mountainous or uneven terrain to minimize the strain on the tendon until it has built up strength.
If you have particularly severe pain or difficulty walking, it may be an indication that you’ve torn your Achilles’ tendon. You should see your doctor to get appropriate diagnosis and treatment.
Shin Splints
When you walk or hike, your shins have to bear up to six times your body weight, with the stronger calf muscles pulling on the weaker muscles and tissues surrounding them.
This repetitive motion can cause small tears in these muscles, leading to leg pain and a condition called shin splints. This condition is often tender to touch. Some people, such as those with low arches or “flat feet” are particularly susceptible to developing shin splints. People who pick up a heavy exercise routine without building up to it, and those who spend a lot of time “pounding the pavement” are also at risk for developing shin splints.
The best remedy for this pain is time. You’ll need to switch to swimming or another low-impact exercise for several weeks to give your body a chance to heal, icing the affected area and using over the counter (OTC) pain medications like ibuprofen to manage pain and reduce inflammation. You should also reevaluate your walking shoes because poor footwear can also cause this condition. Always opt for footwear that supports the arches of your feet, and avoid running long distances on hard surfaces, like pavement.
When you get back to walking, build up your routine slowly, and pay attention to your body signals. If you become sore, give your legs a day or two to rest before another workout. Pushing your body can cause more damage and keep you off your feet for more than a few days. If you develop this pain, especially if you’ve been putting your body through a rigorous exercise routine, you should see your doctor to rule out another cause, such as a stress fracture of the tibia.
Sciatica and Spinal Stenosis
Not all walking pains are the result of muscle and tissue injuries. In some cases, people develop a narrowed spinal canal as a result of arthritis (called spinal canal stenosis). In other cases, a herniated disc or another injury can cause the sciatic nerve to become pinched, which can lead to a burning or sharp leg pain, even when resting, numbness or tingling, or weakness.
Sciatica pain typically begins around the hip and radiates down the leg, and unlike muscle injuries, a brief period of rest won’t help ease symptoms. If you develop sciatica pain, you should stop walking for several days, using OTC pain medications to help with pain. You should talk to your doctor about your symptoms, and he or she will likely be able to recommend a series of stretching exercises that will help minimize pain. When you get back to walking, build up to your routine over time to avoid aggravating your injury, because serious cases may require surgical correction.
Lumbar Pain
Walking injuries, perhaps not surprisingly, aren’t limited to our feet or legs. Especially when there is an underlying injury, walking can cause irritation and exacerbate existing conditions, leading to conditions like lumbar pain. This pain is centralized in the lumbar region (bottom of) the back, just above and around the hips, and is caused by the repetitive motion of walking straining the tendons and ligaments around the spine.
If you develop lumbar pain, you can minimize it by engaging your abdominal muscles during walking, flattening your belly and pulling them inward towards your spine. Stretching before and during walks can also help with managing this type of pain.
What Can I Do?
Most of the conditions we’ve described can be prevented or minimized using some common sense preventative measures. While an upcoming event – whether a wedding, reunion, or marathon, can kick our fitness goals into high gear, we need to keep in mind that our bodies may not be up to the challenge in the same way as our minds. Always start an exercise routine slowly, building up to a more rigorous regimen as the body can handle it. Just as we wouldn’t ever attempt a 500-pound deadlift on our first day at the gym, so too should we avoid attempting to compensate for years of a sedentary lifestyle with a sudden, heavy workout routine. And just as we would never want to see a surgeon walk into an operating room with rusty, worn out surgical equipment, we shouldn’t put our body through the stress of a workout without the proper equipment – supportive athletic shoes.
Finally, listen to your body. While some level of soreness is common after just about any workout, pain is the body’s way of warning you to slow down before you cause serious, or permanent, injury.
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