Someone please cut my feet off

[Addler]

They ache so much! It's all underneath. If I had the money I think I would pay someone to come to my house three times a week and massage them. It feels like I've done a 12 hr shift after just pottering around the kitchen. I've only been up for two hours!

I'm only 24 weeks so aware this is just going to get worse. Any tips? Are those foot spas worth it? Although warm water on my feet does not sound pleasant at the moment.

@Addler 🤣🤣 I feel your pain! 27 weeks and working 10 hour shifts where I only get half an hour each day off of my feet. By the end of day 1 my feet are ridiculously sore 🙈 by the end of day 2 I’m crippled lol. Luckily I get every 3rd day off so I get a chance to rest but it’s definitely not pleasant! My heels feel bruised and the rest of my foot is just so tight feeling ☹️ Watching this with interest to see if anyone suggests anything that helps 😅

My foot pain wasn’t pregnancy related so not sure if this would work for you but I loved ice socks (think they are also microwaveable)

I use a foot spa and it relaxes them so much just any cheap one will do but I got one where you can turn the temp up so that I don’t have to keep putting more hot water in, I feel your pain though my legs keep aching and my feet and my bump where it’s stretching and my back is so sore 😂😂

Massage balls (or tumble drier balls do the same job!) help me massively - roll them under your feet!

Orthotics. As your joints stretch your arch can collapse. You need a really well-shaped pair of orthotics, with firm arch and heel supports and plenty of padding. Off-the-shelf they cost about £25-£50, but are well worth the investment. Orthaheel, Reebok and Scholl all seem to be good.

Don't try to use them all day at first. Work up to it: max 1h first day, increasing every day but up to 1h. It can take a couple of weeks to get used to them.

Birkenstocks are also good, but possibly not for walking around in all day as you end up gripping them with your toes.

You saviours. I'm ordering massage balls and a foot spa now. And ice socks! I've never heard of something so wonderful. They're just permanently hot and blobby at the moment. I always used to have cold feet and would rub them on DP's legs to make them warm. The other night he said 'remember when your feet always used to be cold? I didn't think I'd miss that.'

I think I have quite flat feet actually, I used to have custom orthotics when I was in high school but it seemed to improve as an adult. I wonder if it can get worse again during pregnancy?

Definitely. The hormone that relaxes the ligaments in your pelvis to allow the baby's head to pass through, also relaxes every other ligament in your body. Add to that the extra weight your poor feet have to support...

Another tip is to make yourself ice-rollers by freezing water bottles and then rolling your feet over them. Curvy bottles are the best, like Systema or Ribena, because they get right into the arch and up around the margin of your foot.

I loved my foot spa ! It was amazing !! I used it most nights after working on my feet all day !