People have been using materials to protect their feet for thousands of years. The earliest shoe was actually the leather sandal. Archeologists have uncovered sandals that date back to 8000 BC. Before that time, humans wore animal hides to protect their feet from jagged rocks and from the cold.
What have we learned?
Not much! Human beings suffer from just as many foot injuries as they ever did. There are two reasons for this. The first and most obvious explanation is that our feet are much weaker than they were in the past. Thousands of years of protecting them have made the bones in the human foot thinner and more injury-prone. And the second is that shoes are more likely to harm us than they have ever been.
Cruel Shoes
The foot is an extremely complicated machine. It has 26 bones, 33 joints, and over 120 muscles. Its intricacy is due to the demands we put on it. The human foot must support the weight of the body, absorb shock, and act as a lever to move the leg and body forward. In short, the foot is one of the hardest working structures in the human body. As a result, it takes a terrible beating and is often injured.
Have you ever heard some complain about their feet? More often than not, they'll talk about how they've been on their feet all day and how much they ache. Anyone who stands around or walks for a more than a few minutes a day knows how much pressure perambulation puts on the feet. Scientists tell us that the force of each step is around fifty percent greater than a person's body weight!
Even in the computer age, when folks sit more than stand, the average person still takes around 9000 steps each day. That means our feet absorb over one hundred tons each day. It's no wonder we need shoes!
Unfortunately, shoes can cause just as many problems as they solve. Yes, they can protect our feet from terrible cuts and scrapes and even from ankle sprains and other traumatic injuries. But ill-fitting shoes are actually responsible for millions of chronic and progressive foot conditions each year.
Podiatrists inform us that three out of four Americans will experience some form of foot pain during their lives. In the overwhelming majority of the cases, foot pain is ephemeral. It is simply the result of standing or walking too much. But for one in seven older Americans, foot pain is a chronic condition.
Female Foot Pain
Why do we blame the shoes? There's a reason women are more likely to suffer from foot pain. No, it has nothing to do with the size or strength of their feet. Rather, it has to do with the fact that women are more like wear decorative footwear that puts their feet in unnatural positions.
Public foot enemy number one are high heels. Women wear heels because they are sleek and stylish and because they make them taller, but they also do a number on their toes. The pressure high heels put on the feet lead to common foot injuries, like blisters, corns and bunions. Now, we're not saying women should stop wearing heels altogether, but wearing them every day often causes chronic foot pain.
Find a Proper Pair
Our modern consumer society presents us with countless choices for every imaginable product, and comfort shoes are no different. Will the right shoe help you run the New York Marathon or give you the ups you need to dunk a basketball for the first time? Maybe, maybe not. But there's a reason athletic shoemakers like Nike and Reebok sell millions of pairs of shoes each year.
Their shoes are specifically designed to protect your feet during certain activities. So, while their claims of increased performance may be pure hyperbole, their basic design will protect your feet. In fact, that is what athletic shoes are designed for, protection, not performance.
It should come as no surprise to athletes that certain activities require different types of footwear. Running a marathon or playing a basketball game both put an incredible amount of pressure on the feet. A runner must have padding that can absorb the forty-plus thousand steps or strides he must take. And a basketball player must have a shoe that offers superior ankle support for when he lands.
Injuries often occur when a person chooses the wrong type of shoe. Because our feet are strong and can adapt to nearly any environment, they rarely complain. That is why most injuries occur after year and years of wearing the wrong type of shoes. Blisters, corns, bunions, and bone spurs are early warning signs. Bone spurs commonly appear on the heel of the foot and cause pain by digging into the soft tissue. Rest, splits, ointments, and shoe inserts are the most common treatments for the condition.
Treat yourself and your feet to a solid pair of comfort shoes, designed to give you all the support and padding you need to get through the day feeling great. Find your perfect pair now!
