Most foot trauma occurs as a result of objects falling on the foot, stepping on something, or falling. Especially likely sources of foot trauma include, but are not limited to:
- Sports and recreation. Sports offer a huge variety of ways to injure your body, feet included. Landing poorly after a jump, talking a hit with your weight settled wrong, changing directions on wet grass and slipping, dropping a bowling ball…the list of ways you might hurt your feet during sport or recreation are essentially limitless. Proper technique and safety standards often exist explicitly to reduce these risks, and should be taken seriously.
- Occupational hazards. Many work environments offer significant risk of foot injury—and for this reason, many work environments suggest or require non-slip and/or steel toed shoes.
- Home projects. Home projects such as home improvement construction and maintenance efforts present a variety of risks to your feet. Stepping on nails and other sharp objects, dropping tools or construction materials, and falling from heights are all common sources of foot injury.
- Falls. Falling, tripping, and simple accidents of environment or poor coordination offer a number of ways to injure your feet. Something as simple as misplacing your foot coming down the stairs can put you on crutches for months.
Proper footwear, attention to footing, and situation-dependent best practices can massively reduce your risk of foot trauma in all its forms, while also significantly reducing your risk of overuse injuries and various other conditions of the foot. So take your time, pay attention to what you’re doing, and protect your feet—it’s much easier than recovering from a serious injury.