Why You Should Put Your Feet Up
We’ve all been told on many occasions to ‘Put your feet up!’. It’s a phrase that’s synonymous with relaxing. But there’s more to putting your feet up than just taking it easy – it can have excellent health benefits, particularly in later life.
Here’s why it’s important to ‘put your feet up’… and how your rise recliner can help you to do this safely and effectively:
Aiding Circulation and Lymphatic Drainage
Over time, as we age, circulation can become less efficient. Arteries may lose elasticity, veins and valves can weaken, and existing heart or vascular conditions can make it harder for blood to circulate effectively around your body. All these things contribute towards making circulation – the constant and vital pumping of blood around the body – more difficult and placing the heart under increased strain. Symptoms of circulatory problems can include swelling to the legs, ankles, and feet, varicose veins, or lack of blood in extremities. Anything that you can do to assist the heart’s increasingly difficult job will benefit your health.
By raising the feet, ideally in line with or above the level of your heart, you utilise gravity to allow blood to flow more easily back towards the heart, reducing pressure on this vital organ and easing some of its excess workload. This not only benefits heart health by reducing strain, but it also improves circulation. This position can also assist fluid return from the lower limbs, helping to reduce swelling (oedema) in the legs and ankles. This can help to alleviate the pain and discomfort that swelling causes.
You should only raise your feet to above heart level for short periods, typically 10–20 minutes, 2-3 times per day, and it is important to consult your doctor before you do so because, although it offers great benefits for many people, it may not always be advisable for those with some serious or complex medical conditions.
Sitting with your feet up at a lower level can be enjoyed for longer periods of time, however it’s always advisable to change position at least once every hour so that you’re not sitting in one position for too long.
Raising the legs can relieve pressure
By alleviating pressure on joints, the kind of supported, gentle movement that a rise recliner offers can help with conditions such as arthritis and sciatica and relieve the associated pain and discomfort.
Make breathing feel easier
Why a riser recliner is the best way to put your feet up
While it is possible to put your feet up on a footstool or a cushion, the safest and most effective way to do it is in a rise recliner chair. Why is this? Well, a rise recliner can safely help you to raise your legs to a higher position than a footstool or cushion would offer, above your hips and your heart, enabling you to gain the most benefit from the reclined position.
What’s more, your chair will easily transition you into and out of this position at the push of a button. You’ll be fully supported along the full length of your body as you recline, and again as you return to an upright sitting position, meaning there’s no pressure on your joints as you transition, and no risk of slumping, sliding or falling out of your chair. You can select a variety of positions and smoothly move from one to the next quickly, easily and safely – with no need to pile up cushions or risk your precariously propped support falling over!
Rise recliners are also carefully designed with comfort, posture and support in mind to help you achieve safe and beneficial resting positions, and there are various reclining options – including single motor, dual motor, tilt-in-space and wall hugger – available to meet differing needs.
If you’d like to put your feet up and enjoy a multitude of health benefits, our team are ready and waiting to help you choose the best rise recliner for you.
Contact our chair experts on call on 01283 704071 or email info@stuartmobility.co.uk. Remember, we offer free home assessment and ‘try before you buy’, as well as free delivery and installation.