The average person walks approximately 100,000 miles over the course of their lifetime. Due to this constant everyday use, our feet endure the most wear and tear on any part of our bodies which is why it is very important to wear the proper shoes.
The most common causes for foot pain are due to injury or disease. If you are injury free and disease free, the type of footwear you use is probably causing you pain. Shoes that fit tight or are tied too tightly can cause pain on the top of the foot. High heels can cause pain around the ball of your foot. The proper shoe has comfort, support, and durability. With so many different shoe options, figuring out which is the proper shoe for you can be a very difficult decision. The decision process requires research. A database of shoe comparisons is extremely helpful to help you find the proper footwear for your lifestyle and foot structure.
With 25% of all the bones in the body being located in our feet, it is important to protect our feet by wearing proper shoes. Wearing improper shoes can lead to potential foot problems such as plantar fasciitis, arch spasms, heel spurs, and tendinitis. Even if you do not currently have foot pain, you should still do an evaluation of your feet and your footwear as a proper injury preventive measure. Consulting with a podiatrist will help as well.
I met with my local podiatrist and learned a lot about my feet. I have flat feet, and I have shin splints from being an NCAA Division I athlete. The footwear I was required to wear when I was playing was actually gave me foot pain and lower back pain because the structure of the shoe was not appropriate for the structure of my feet. However, in this situation, I didn’t have much of a choice because not wearing what the university is sponsored by will result in the loss of sponsorship for the entire university’s athletics programs (and this has happened before at the University of Central Florida).
Footwear policies are out of your control, as some work places have footwear policies as well, but see if you can come to an arrangement with your employer, school, or whichever organization you spend a lot of your time with. With my case playing at the NCAA Division I level, I could not get around wearing the team shoe, but I was able to get custom orthotics which helped tremendously.
By Kirstin Chock