Your Feet Can Be Happy Feet
When one sets out to buy a car, typically a feature that is of the utmost importance is safety. No one would buy a car without seat belts, airbags, or working brakes.
Moreover, when living in the snow country, four wheel drive is another option that is important to consider. At the dealership, the number one concern of a new car owner is, “will this be safe for my family?”
Asking the Important Questions
Accordingly, it would be appropriate to ask ourselves that question in much of our daily lives. The unfortunate fact is that we may not always consider safety and health in much of our planning. Let your mind take you back to earlier today. How often were those little piggies taken into consideration after being stepped on and stubbed?
These fine feet of ours have been put through insurmountable punishment and abuse. We have not taken into consideration the numerous times they have supported the density of our weight, recovered after stepping on a pebble that had made a home in our shoe, nor have we given them a second thought as they squeeze into a one size too tight, four inch heel, square toe pump in raspberry pink.
Put Your Feet First
Shame on us for our feet being the last part of our health taken into consideration. Just as one would not buy a car sans any life-saving features, one should not be purchasing shoes that will cause harm to our faithful friends down below.
The key to finding the proper shoe that fits all of your needs: comfort and style while protecting the health of your feet… first we need to learn a little about how important our feet actually are.
Our feet are truly wonderful when we take the time to reflect on them. These hooves are full of nerves and muscles that attach to other nerves and muscles through our bodies. These nerves send messages to our brain to propel us forward and help us keep our balance.
Risks of Improper Feet Care
If we do not take care of our feet, there is a risk of developing ailments as minor as toe fungus, and as major as chronic neuropathy which can make walking difficult. Neuropathy is more common in diabetic patients, however that does not exclude a healthy individual from developing the affliction due to injury and improper care, including a poor choice in shoes.
Our feet are as individual to us as our fingerprints. Endless are the shapes and sizes of our dogs, our piggies. The vast majority of shoes exists without taking every aspect of the foot into consideration. I will bet that many do not know our foot actually have 3 arches.
These arches serve an important purpose in our daily function and require protection. Some individuals are flat-footed. With hereditary conditions, some adults do not develop the three arches in the feet, causing the condition. Injury to the tendons in the feet can cause the arches to fall which makes a fellow flat-footed where they were not before.
Feet Arches
Whether our feet have the proper arches, or we walk flat-footed due to fallen arches, one constant is that shoe companies do not take the arches of our feet (or lack thereof) into consideration when designing the basic fashion shoe.
That is where external help is necessary to build up the areas around the pressure points of the foot to help maximize the comfort and protect the foot from injury. There are many store brand inserts you can buy at your local pharmacy.
It is wise, however, to meet with a podiatrist that specializes in diabetic patients to find footwear and inserts that are appropriate for those with neuropathy issues caused by diabetes. That said, with the proper inserts, there is no need to forego the style you desire.
Styles Differ
Speaking of style, the ‘style’ of our lower digits differs from foot to foot. There are those whose toes taper from the big toe to the little toe in a symmetrical curve. There are those whose toes are wide and square shaped. Yet others have the second toe or the third toe longer than the others which are more in line with one another.
You wouldn’t want to wear open toe shoes where the middle toe far exceeds the big toe and your second toe. Moreover, you would not want to wear a narrow toed shoe when you have square toes that are all the same length and the foot has a wider girth.
Optimal Shoe Fit
Optimal shoe fit is a team sport. One can not merely buy a well fitting shoe without having a healthy foot to place in it. Keeping your toenails trimmed and fungus free will keep those little toes happy. Avoid exposure to extreme elements such as excessive heat or excessive cold.
Massaging your feet not only helps keep a healthy blood flow circulating, but it also relieves the pressures from carrying the weight all day, alleviates tenderness, and reduces all over anxiety. Yoga is an enjoyable way to relieve stress and strengthen every part of the body, including the feet.
Shoe shopping Namaste. Love your feet, and they will love you back.
