Health and Wellness - A Focus on Feet - an Intro

What is your style of shoe?

A Comfortable shoe. That means many things to many people.

Soft and comfortable  Someone says, I love a shoe that is soft and comfortable around my foot.  My foot just molds into the shoe and feels so comfortable!  That could be a bad thing.  Softness eventually wears away to pain when the real shoe structure affects your foot.  Check your comfy shoe for the following:

Can you fold the shoe in half?  If so, it is not offering your foot enough support. 

Is the heel being held in place so that the foot doesn’t roll?  That softness again could be damaging your foot.  A good shoe has a strong heel counter to hold your foot in place, and strong support along the base of the shoe to support your arch and ultimately your foot. 

Without that support it is only leading you down the road to foot problems.  Maybe not right away, but soon enough.

I love high heels! Yes, women look great in high heels, but at what sacrifice?  You can still wear a heel but save yourfoot. 

  Once you get over a heel height of 2-2 ½ inchesyou cause great stress on your forefoot, That stress can cause things like bunions (a growth off your big toe),metatarsalgia (Pain under your toes and forefoot), morton’s neuroma (numbing and pain near your 3rd/4th toe), hallux rigidus (big toepain), and others. 

 Look for heels that have both a lower heel, but also a pad behind the toes to support that forefoot to save it from the trauma.  Your foot and body will thank you later.

How much room does your foot have in that heel?  If you can’t wiggle your toes, not enough.  It’s not worth the sacrifice now, for problems later.

The pointed toe shoe. Yes, stylish but at what cost? Look at your foot design. Either square, more rounded but do you see pointed? 

·      T Think of how your foot needs to form to fit into that shoe.  This causes added pressure on both the large and small toe. Are those toes red by the end of the day?  If you wear this shoe type too long, your foot has no option but to start curving to accommodate that shoe. 

If you must wear that shoe, limit the heel, and limit the amount of time wearing the shoe.

Problems to Avoid:

Did you know that lack of arch support in our shoes can cause several different problems with our foot?  Arch support is the number one solution for most people who have foot problems.  Not everyoneis right for an over the counter support. How different are your feet? Sometime it is a solution, but you should know your options.  Problems can include plantar fasciitis, metatarsalgia, morton’s neuroma,  heel pain, ankle pain, back pain, bunions,  and so many more.  Avoid the problems now, find freedom from foot pain.