Hey everyone!
So when I was thinking about writing this months blog I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to share a really awkward/embarrassing experience from my holiday to Thailand..
When I go on holiday I’m not one to sit and relax the whole time.. I get ichy feet and like to see the sights and make the most of my holiday my exploring the island where ever I am on holiday.
So I found this perfect tour which combined elephant trekking, canoeing, exploring waterfalls in chaig mai’s national parks and camping one night with a local family to experience their living/working routines..
This sounds perfect doesn’t it? (Well those who love to explore that is 🙂 )
So on this particular day we got a bus to where the tour began and the tour guide kept asking where our walking boots were as we were all in sandals..
Little did we know we had signed up to a two-day hiking experience so we were totally unprepared! We had the completely wrong type of footwear!
After the first day wearing sandals (although mine were walking sandals) my feet, knees and lower back were very painful and I felt like I had aged 30 years in one day due to putting my body through a whole days hike wearing the wrong footwear.
The following day the hike proceeded but rained the whole day and being so unprepared with footwear we also didn’t have any waterproof clothing either..
The experience itself was absolutely amazing..
The sights and national park was breathtaking however my body did suffer for a few days from a result of being unprepared and wearing the incorrect clothing.
Which makes you realise how important footwear is..
If you think of your feet like the foundations for the rest of your body (just like a house) they have to be well supported and strong enough to carry the rest of your body.
I was getting pain in my ankles and feet due to the sandals offering very little support which causes more movement and less support to my knees which caused more pain in them too!
The problem is you’ll never know it’s happening until heat and swelling appears from your knees due to the added stress from absorbing shock from the ground when walking/running and due to it not being in a steady position even more stress is put through these joints.
Lower back pain is usually aggravated due to the knees and ankles being unstable as the muscles surrounded your knees, hips and feet have to work overtime to compensate for incorrect footwear which in turn adds stress to the structures supporting the lower back, which stops supporting your spine because they’re having to do another muscles job.
So even in England when you go for long walks in the woods or even at the seaside, remember the value of a good pair of supportive shoes or even personalised insoles/orthotics, because let’s face it, you wouldn’t want that nice stroll to cost you pain!..
…would you?
Best wishes,
Jo Kaye.
You might know Paul as an expert Columnist who writes weekly health articles for TWO of the North East's biggest daily Newspapers, The Northern Echo And The Hartlepool Mail, he is a regular Speaker at Industry Seminars around the globe and a Radio Personality, often heard on the BBC. Paul has been an expert guest on dozens of Radio shows and regularly interviewed in newspapers, magazines and trade journals all over the world, including the Guardian.
Paul’s background included working extensively in the Premier League with a Top Professional Football Team, and since quitting his job in Professional Football in 2007, his Physio Practice has become the fastest growing in the UK and biggest in the North East. So successful, that companies like BUPA, ASDA, The Vela Group And Coast & Country, repeatedly retain his Physio company's services to keep healthy their own staff and workforce. Paul Gough Physio Rooms is now a large multi-physio, multi clinic speciality practice in Darlington, Durham, Guisborough and Hartlepool.
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