Why Your Feet Are Killing You
January 29, 2012, By Avery Hurt 0 comments
Women are notorious for choosing style over comfort when it comes to shoes. Many woman actually suffer damage to their feet, hips and backs because of all those pretty shoes with spiked heels and narrow toes.
But that doesn't mean that men always make good shoe choices. While men are far less likely to wear uncomfortable shoes just because they look good, they are more likely to wear shoes that are way past their "use by" date and to buy new ones that aren't well-fitted or well-chosen.
How many times have you grabbed a pair of shoes off the display at a store, tried them on for about 45 seconds, bought and wore them even if they never felt quite right? If you're like most men, you do that pretty routinely when buying shoes. Shopping for looks or for speed are both poor ideas when it comes to shoes.
Bad shoes are bad for you. Next time you buy shoes, take the time to get a good pair that fits well. Your body will thank you for it.
However, even that approach may not be enough. According to some researchers, all shoes are bad for you. Barefoot is the only healthy way to locomote. Really. A slew of studies suggest that going barefoot is not only better for your feet but for your knees and back as well. I have to admit, I wasn't hard to convince about this discovery. I love going barefoot. That's why unless I am hiking or playing some kind of sports, I usually wear clogs. That way I can slip out of them easily.
When I was in high school, the class clown once threw my clogs out a window, and I had to go outside at break and rustle around in the bushes to find my shoes. Apparently Class Clown thought this was very funny. In those days, I also often wore moccasins—the closest thing to going barefoot when it's too cold to go barefoot. These days it is hard to find real moccasins, ones that don't look like bedroom slippers (I do have some standards), and when you do find them they cost way too much for what is essentially a thin piece of suede that wraps your foot and ties around the ankle.
But shoe eccentricities aside, very few of us are going to take up the barefoot lifestyle. Even I am not going to the library or the supermarket barefoot (okay, once or twice I've been to the supermarket without shoes, but not often). So if we insist on being shod, what's the best (or least harmful) way to go about it?
NEXT: The Right Shoes
