Written by Morgan!
It’s 11:30 in the morning. You’ve just spent an hour wandering the aisles of the vendor room and artist alley and an hour waiting in line for an autograph from your favorite writer. You’re excited for the remaining seven hours of fun activities but something’s wrong… your feet already hurt!
How can your feet hurt already from just walking and standing for two hours? Is it because of the friction the carpet is causing on the flip flops you randomly put on to rush out the door? Is it because the sneakers are too small causing blisters because you wanted to look cool? Is it because that concrete floor is pounding on your heels? Whatever the case, you need to properly prepare your footwear and your feet before any major convention event.
Here are five tips for saving yourself the hassle of foot pain during a convention:
Don’t wear new shoes! Make sure they’re at least worn in for a few days prior.
While those new shoes feel great at the store when you first buy them, there’s an adjustment period where your feet need to grow accustomed to them, especially the forefoot zone. If you are trying to break in new shoes while at a convention, you will be in store for one miserable time.
Bring extra socks!
Even if you’re not doing all that much walking, your feet sweat. Socks prevent sweating and issues from occurring, but you still need to change them! If you don’t change them each day, they can’t breathe correctly and will result in moist feet.
Take breaks by mixing walking, standing and sitting!
You never want to be stuck in one position for a long time. Are you planning on walking around a lot? Take a break every few hours by standing still for a while or sitting. Are you planning on standing around a lot? Take a break every few hours by walking around or sitting.
Wear correct footwear!
While it can be hard to know if a convention center has certain flooring such as concrete or carpet, you can still efficiently plan your footwear. If you know you’ll be walking a lot, avoid sandals. If you know you’ll be standing a lot, wear padded shoes. If you know you’ll be sitting a lot, you have more leeway in terms of what’s worn.
Keep hydrated!
While this one may seem obvious and one of the major rules of any event you attend, many fail to keep efficiently hydrated. Not being hydrated can cause your body to put extra strain on the activity you’re doing, especially your feet.
I hope that these five simple tips can help you to avoid foot pain for future conventions you plan to attend!
