Is your body trying to tell you something?

Aching feet

We have all experienced aching feet after a long day in heels, but continual discomfort in the soles of the feet can have a number of different causes such as:

• Flat feet
• Arthritis
  
• Tarsal tunnel syndrome - the foot version of carpal tunnel syndrome
  
• Plantar fasciitis or policeman's foot, where pain occurs under the heel and in the midline
  
• Erythromelalgia or burning feet syndrome
  
• Metatarsalgia - where pain is mainly in the ball of the foot
  
• Neuropathy - nerve transmission

Occasionally, burning feet are due to lack of B group vitamins. More traditional treatments of foot conditions often involve wearing heel pads, shoes and insoles, physiotherapy, and sometimes corticosteroid injections.

Floaters

You are not just seeing things - floaters occur when the clear, gelatinous fluid inside an eye starts to thicken (or shrink) and form clumps that cast a shadow on the retina. They are more common in people over the age of 40 who are either shortsighted or have had eye operations in the past. In the majority of cases, though, floaters are of no significance.

Once formed, floaters are difficult to treat, but they tend to become less annoying with time. Antioxidant supplements such as vitamins A, C, E, selenium, bilberry, grape seed extracts or pycnogenol (extracts from French maritime pine bark) may help. Supplements designed to improve the quality and quantity of synovial fluid in the joints (like omega 3 essential fatty acids) may improve floaters, too.

Always seek urgent advice if there is a sudden change in the number or size of floaters, or if you experience flashing lights, as this can be a sign of a detached retina, which needs urgent treatment.

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