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Walking is one of the most comfortable forms of locomotive exercise you can do. It has many health benefits that include weight loss, circulation of blood, keeping fit, and many more. However, it can stick out like a sore thumb in some cases, mostly when you walk on concrete. Concrete floors are generally hard and do not provide good cushioning and shock absorbance. So when you walk on concrete for longer distances or walk on it regularly, you are likely to develop foot pain due to leg swelling and even be more prone to injury. Leg swelling after walking on concrete is not limited to only one reason. There are diverse causes of leg swelling. This article will show you most leg swelling caused by different views regarding walking on concrete. Let’s dive in!
[QUESTION](What Causes the Leg to Swell?)
- You do not wear your perfect shoe fit
When you walk on concrete for longer distances or regularly walk on concrete without wearing the perfect shoe fit, you tend to develop leg swelling. Assuming you wear a smaller shoe size, you will develop some pains. Likewise, wearing larger-sized shoes that do not fit makes you walk uncomfortably. This can all lead to leg swelling, especially if you walk for a longer period. You are at a risk of developing Plantar Fasciitis that makes walking, standing even more difficult. As a result of not wearing the perfect shoe fit, your legs will wear and tear throughout life when the foot ligaments are damaged.
You need to know how shoes should fit with different foot types.
- You do not wear quality shoes
There is a huge difference between wearing a perfect shoe fit and wearing quality shoes. There is a huge difference between wearing a perfect shoe fit and wearing quality shoes. You could be wearing your perfect fit and still not in very dope, comfortable shoes. When you walk in substandard shoes, your movements tend to be rough, leading to foot discomfort. Foot discomfort is because concrete floors do not have an excellent shock absorbance; you will be hitting your legs on them. Hitting your leg will also make you prone to soles and heel injury when the muscle takes the brunt by not holding the impact through your body. Afterward, the muscles will feel sore after walking on concrete, leading to weakened bones, fracture, and swelling.
- Your shoe soles are unfit for concrete
Another reason that causes the leg to swell is when you wear the incorrect sole type. There are different types of soles out there designated for different surfaces. We have soft soles and thick soles. A soft sole would allow you to feel the hardness of concrete. It could result to hip degeneration and lower back pain. This is because your hip socket is majorly affected when you walk on concrete floors. It will damage the hip and makes it unbearable to run. You could be prone to lower back pain in which the hard impact you feel on your legs will give a sort of sharp pain all through your calves and lower back. On the bright side, thick soles are majorly recommended when you walk on concrete. They help to cushion the feet against any hard impact.
- You are overweight
People that are overweight are often faced with leg swelling and other foot-related problems. This is because the feet bear the whole weight of the upper body. In fact, the heavier you seem to be, to greater the weight overload on your feet. Now when you walk on concrete, which is already a hard surface, the legs will have to bear the whole brunt of the impacts – the upper body impact and the hard floor impact. Continuous walking on concrete could result in a stress fracture, which occurs when you put a lot of pressure, tension, and impact overload on the legs and feet. This makes you prone to more bone damage than muscle damage
- You do not stretch your leg muscles after walking
One of the causes of leg swelling is that you don’t stretch and flex your leg muscles after walking on concrete. This causes venous insufficiency, whereby the valves of the veins in the legs are damaged. Blood wouldn’t be able to move back to the heart and hence a leg swell. There might also be a blood clot on the legs, which also causes the leg to swell. Thus, to prevent this, always stretch out your legs’ muscles after walking to restore the blood flow.
- Probably you wear high heels
This is common in women that wear high heels on concrete. High heels are not made to be worn on concrete floors due to their thin soles. When you wear high heels on concrete, you are only exposing your ball feet to much pressure caused by the impact, and this makes you feel pain around the balls of the feet leading to swelling. You would also be prone to a condition called neuroma in which the third and fourth toes are severely affected. You would feel like there are some sorts of pebbles between your toes when you walk. You would start to feel a sharp, stinging pain when the nerves around the toes are thickened.
Furthermore, you are also at risk of developing skin irritation because high heels do not provide a wide toe box. They have a thin sole that can make your legs come in contact with residues on the concrete. All these could result in leg swelling
Conclusion
Walking on concrete has been reported to cause leg swelling. Leg swelling is majorly associated with different reasons. Some might be medically induced, and some are caused by the shoes you wear, whether you wear high heels, whether you are overweight, and many more. Despite all these causes, we would recommend you find the causes of your leg swelling. Use this guide or do further research so that you can know what to do in forestalling leg swelling.