January 20, 2023

How Shoes Can Affect Foot Health

Poor footwear choice is probably the most common cause of foot related injuries. Injuries such as corns, bunions, ingrown nails and Plantar Fasciitis are quite common with poor footwear. Other common sports injuries include knee pain, achilles issues and shin splints. All these injuries can seriously hamper your ability to function. Selecting the right shoes can go along way to avoid such problems.

The question is how the right shoes can help to avoid potentially debilitating injuries.

  1. Selecting the right shoes implies using the shoes for the purpose that they were designed for. A court shoes is not made for hiking nature trails. Just like a trail shoe is not made for the tennis court.
  2. Your shoes need to fit your feet first. Not your wardrobe. Fitting implies that your shoes are long enough to allow all your toes wiggle room. Many recommend a ½ inch extra room beyond your longest toe. Fitting also impies that your shoes are wide enough.  Yes, leather will stretch but life is easier when the width feels comfortable. If you purchase the correct widths often you don’t need to get your shoes quite as long.
  3. Support is real and you want to enjoy support through your heel to the arch and eventually the ball of your feet. Arch support does not have to feel like lump under your foot. Rather support allows your heel to be properly enclosed and your arch to feel as if you ae not walking barefoot in the sand.
  4. The perfect fit is a function of both length and width. Never rely on breaking in a shoe. More often than not the shoes will wind up breaking you in and your feet will not thank you.
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