You know that feeling when you come home after work in smart, shiny shoes and your feet are throbbing with pain and fatigue? Or maybe you happen to be working out at the gym in casual trainers, or worse, in padded trainers with a raised heel, and you feel like you won’t be coming back?
We don’t want to scare you or make you sad, but you’re probably severely damaging your feet by walking around in such shoes. Your favorite stilettos might just finish you off.
Today, we’ll expand on the harmful effects of ill-fitting shoes that cause foot deformities. You’ll also find out how today’s footwear is damaging your feet.
Why do we usually have ill-fitting footwear?
“Move your toes”,
“If you walk around a bit, they will spread”.
“Don’t be so gentle; corns are a sign that you’re not slacking off”.
Sound familiar? Unfortunately, there is still very little awareness in most families about the impact of shoes on the body. When you buy shoes, you most often look at a few things: the price, whether they will fit with other clothes, whether the brand is well-known, and the size. You don’t usually think about other things, because who is going to think about how a heavily cushioned heel (you know those trendy sports shoes?) will affect the natural movement of the foot? When buying, who thinks about whether this super footwear will harm the feet?
From a young age, we are taught the ‘wrong’ choice of shoes, and then we repeat these mistakes in adulthood. Fortunately, the barefoot ideology is starting to become better known and is fighting against fast fashion”, promoting health without losing quality or appearance.
How the type of shoe affects the foot
If we want to answer the question ‘how shoes harm you’, it is important to be aware that different types of footwear mean different problems. Of course, ultimately, they all lead to similar illnesses such as hallux valgus, hammer toes, muscle and tendon inflammation, or back pain. Nevertheless, we can all agree that wearing stilettos will fatigue your feet faster than sports shoes. Simply by exercising or running in poor-quality footwear, we defer problems until later.
Choosing good footwear is particularly important in childhood, when the foot is still developing and is more prone to deformities than the adult foot. For information on this topic, see the article on minimalist children’s footwear.
Adidas shoes
Adidas shoes (or simply sports shoes) have one common problem: they all tend to have a raised heel. In theory, this is supposed to help cushion the heel, which itself has no ‘support’. If you stomp hard on the heel, you will feel vibrations even in your head. Precisely for this reason, running ‘out of heel’ is the worst possible. Unfortunately, shoes with a shoe shank teach us to run from the toes, which is also not suitable for our feet in the long run. A person, naturally, should run… from the midfoot. Only then do we have an even distribution of body weight, and neither toe nor heel are stressed. Humans are built for long-distance running, and while bouncing off the toe gives us the opportunity to accelerate, we would not be able to run far.
In the case of sports footwear, if we get used to our heel always being up and protected, we forget that we should protect it ourselves. Therefore, incorrectly selected sports shoes can already cause a lot of problems when you are a child.
High heels
High heels, or stilettos, are by far the least healthy type of footwear. The very unnatural position of the foot causes pain, foot muscle fatigue, and corns and abrasions. People who frequently walk in stilettos and do not show any ‘immediate’ problems are at high risk of joint problems, weakened tendons, and an increased risk of degeneration in later years. The consequences of wearing high shoes can be, for example, hallux valgus, hammer toes (excessively curved toes), excessive pronation or supination of the foot, but also diseases of the spine, hip joints, and crooked overall posture. Now ask yourself, Is it worth wearing high heels for a moment’s attention in company?
Elegant men’s coffin/crocodile shoes
Elegant men’s shoes work on a very similar principle to those with high heels, but while some stilettos can have an ‘open’ toe, this would look rather ridiculous on men. Hence, the majority of men’s shoes are made of harder materials to ‘stiffen’ the toe as much as possible. Tight shoes not only cause abrasion, but they also cause the foot to become accustomed to an unnatural position, resulting in inflammation, hallux valgus, and other conditions. If you have ever had to walk a few kilometers in your new shoes, we sympathize!
Low-quality trainers
Just because you give your feet more freedom in trainers, unfortunately, doesn’t mean they will be healthier. The world is now used to ‘fast fashion’, with large corporations creating hundreds of thousands of new pairs of shoes just to drive sales. Low-quality, simple shoes may be better than, say, high-heeled shoes, but their problem lies precisely in their quality. Such shoes will not protect your foot in any way but will also break down quickly. If you have any arthritis, such as flat feet, you are only making your problem worse.
What are ‘healthy shoes’?
What does the term healthy shoes actually mean? Is it therapeutic footwear that physiotherapists and podiatrists recommend? Not necessarily, because therapeutic shoes are designed to cure a problem. However, we are not able to wear such shoes for life. Or is it enough to fit the right shoes in terms of size? Unfortunately, not either! Even if they are perfectly sized but in a shape that is too narrow, over time they cause pain in the feet and thus deformities.
Healthy footwear has a few common features to look out for when choosing footwear:
- Flat sole, otherwise known as zero-drop. This is the most important feature of healthy footwear, which, incidentally, unites the entire world of barefoot footwear. This type of sole teaches the natural movement of the foot over time, causing us to walk from the midfoot and distribute our body weight evenly. Without heel cushioning, the shoe does not cause a curve going from the back to the front of the foot. While it may take some time to get used to such shoes, over time you will notice a noticeable difference, even in the structure of your foot.
- Wide front, which means plenty of room for the toes. This shoe usually has enough room for the toes to spread out. As a result, all four toes do not suffer from the pressure of the big toe. This reduces the risk of toe disorders. Over time, you will notice that your toes will start to “spread out”, i.e., return to their natural structure!
- Flexibility. Shoes should protect your foot, not restrict it! The foot has a lot of muscles and tendons that need to move, and restricting them will cause illness over time.
- High quality. Shoes should definitely last more than one season. A lot depends on you and how you take care of them. High-quality materials are essential for footwear to last longer.
How do you choose the right footwear?
If you want to start taking care of your feet and embark on a barefoot adventure, come to the Magical Shoes shop, where you will find a wide selection of sports shoes, casual shoes, winter shoes, and more!
All of our shoes are:
- Completely flat (zero drop) will allow you to maintain correct posture.
- Breathable and very lightweight, you won’t feel them on your feet.
- Incredible flexibility means your foot can finally work naturally.
- Wide toe box: the shoe won’t pinch or squash your toes.
- Top-quality materials mean the shoes will last a long time.
- Fully functional shoes: you will shed the weight of uncomfortable, hard shoes.
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