Maintaining healthy circulation in your feet is important to your overall health. Dangerous and life threatening complications can arise if proper circulation is not maintained. Poor lower leg circulation is a problem faced by a growing number of people especially the elderly. But there are several methods you can use at home to increase the blood flow in your feet.
Simple Steps to Improve Foot Circulation
1. Get Active One simple way to improve your poor foot circulation is to become more active. Physical activities such as walking, swimming, running etc will all help to improve blood circulation if performed regularly. Start off with a steady walk and increasing the pace and length of the walks over time will get the blood pumping and start to open up the smaller blood vessels.
2. Improve Diet Eating a healthier diet and reducing your fat intake will improve your circulation because there will be less fat in the blood stream which will make the blood less viscous and allow it to flow through the small blood vessels more easily. Increasing fiber in the diet will also help remove fat from your system and improve the circulation even more.
3. Quit Smoking Smoking is well known for increasing cholesterol buildup within the circulatory system but it also hardens arteries and makes other blood vessels constrict. To have any hope of improving poor circulation it is essential to quit smoking.
4. Reduce Stress
When under stress the body reduces the blood supply to the extremities of the body to provide adequate blood to the major organs. This means that circulation to areas such as the feet and hands will be affected. Some ways to combat stress are meditation, deep breathing exercises or maybe even watching a funny movie.
5. Raise Feet If the poor circulation to your feet is making your feet swell then try altering the position of your feet at regular intervals. Lying on the floor and place your feet on the sofa for a short time will help the fluid drain from the feet and when you return to a seated position with your feet on the floor some freshly oxygenated blood can flow into each foot.
6. Warm Water Soak Soaking your feet in a bucket of warm water or taking a warm bath will also helps the flow of blood into each foot. Adding some Juniper oil is also good. Doing this regularly will help circulation through the feet in the short term however it is certainly not a cure for the underlying circulation problems.
7. Supplements There are several natural herbal supplements that help to improve blood circulation. Incorporating some of these into your diet along with some of the other measures above is the best approach to overcome poor foot circulation and prevent any further health risks that may arise should your circulation deteriorate.
Professional foot spas and massage centers possess the needed training to further assist with minor lower body circulatory issues. Cold feet is an initial sign tell-tell sign of circulation problems. Serious circulatory problems should be diagnosed and looked at by a medical professional.
Poor foot circulation should not be ignored as it is a sign of underlying problems with the circulatory system as a whole. Such problems can lead to heart attack, stroke, cancer and many other health risks so if you suffer from poor circulation then the time to take action is now before its too late.
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