No Need For Cold Feet – Tips On Staying Warm
During winter most people prefer to stay indoors in the warmth of their homes. We’re lucky enough to have a log fire where we can put our feet and be toasty warm. Which is all well and good but it doesn’t help us get out into the winter weather to have a play.
There are lots of people that would like to get out more but worry about getting cold, so the key thing for them it to know how to go out and stay warm, in this article we’re focusing on keeping your feet warm, an essential part of the body to look after, especially if we want to have a good experience in the outdoors.
There are differing degrees of cold feet, there’s the cold where you want to be doing something to warm up, and then there’s the cold that causes issues like Frostbite, we’ll help you avoid all of them by applying some general rules.
Firstly, you need to keep your feet dry and blister free, foot maintenance is important for health and mobility.
Get more sturdy and thicker shoes, this may mean that they have little or no breathability, but that’s ok if you’re regulating your temperature and in the winter it’s less likely you’re going to suffer from perspiration as much.
You can buy winter footwear, Leather is a good material as it keeps out the wind as well as the cold. Winter shoes and boots should be flexible enough to allow you to walk normally without having to stomp; otherwise, they can cause an injury or maybe a painful shin splint. Aim for both protection and flexibility.
For those who are concerned about their feet getting cold, it can really help to double up on your socks or wear more than one kind of sock at a time. Try not to overstuff your footwear, since that will pinch your feet and make them colder over time, you need some space for insulation, although not too much!
Try choosing a heavy pair of socks over a lighter pair to keep your feet and toes warm. There are specially-made winter socks manufactured with the right combination of materials that negate the need for wearing two socks.
Wearing the right kind of socks is important, but be prepared to spend a bit of money on good ones, they can be expensive, but they are worth it.
Toe warmers are made to slip right into your shoes or boots, just below the toes, for long-term warmth on very cold days. They typically last for about six hours. As they are fairly thin, they do not take up a lot of room and can conceivably replace a pair of socks, although I don’t think I would do that.
You should also take care to keep your feet dry, free from both dampness and sweat. While most people wear cotton socks, these are not recommended in extreme cold because they do not wick the moisture away like woolen and mix blend socks do.
While it is fairly easy to invest in waterproof shoes, they do tend to cost more, and they don’t always stop every bit of moisture from reaching your foot. Avoid unnecessarily stepping in water even if you’re confident your shoes are waterproof.
While paper can help as an insulator, plastic can also work as well. Plastic placed between the shoe and the top of the foot and toes can prevent cold air from reaching the toes and keeps any outside moisture from reaching the foot.
If you have shoes with holes or mesh fabric, disposable shower caps can also be used to keep snow and rain out of shoes. Duct tape wrapped around the shoe or boot serves to keep the wind from going through the material and reaching the foot.
One of the easiest ways to stay warm is to walk faster – this will serve to heat the feet up, but it will also get you out of the cold quicker.
It’s important that you look after your feet and keep them warm so that you are comfortable, your footwear and your socks make the biggest difference to this, if you get those right you should have few problems. The other things we’ve suggested are generally things to do when you need to compensate for inappropriate footwear and socks.
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