What is your style of shoe?

A Comfortable shoe. That means many things to many people.

Someone says, I love a shoe that is soft and comfortable around my foot. My foot just molds into the shoe and feels so great! That could be a bad thing. Softness eventually wears away to pain when the real shoe structure affects your foot. Check your comfy shoe for this:

• Can you fold the shoe in half? If so, it is not offering your foot enough support.
• Is the heel being held in place so that the foot doesn’t roll? A good shoe has a strong heel counter to hold your foot in place, and strong support along the base of the shoe.
• Without that support it is only leading you down the road to foot problems.

I love high heels! Yes, women look great in high heels, but at what sacrifice? You can still wear a heel but save your foot.

• Once you get over a heel height of 2-2 ½ inches you cause great stress on your forefoot, That stress can cause things like bunions (a growth off your big toe), metatarsalgia (Pain under your toes and forefoot), morton’s neuroma (numbing and pain near your 3 rd/4 th toe), hallux rigidus (big toe pain), and others.
• Look for heels that have both a lower heel, but also a pad behind the toes to support that forefoot to save it from the trauma. Your foot and body will thank you later.
• How much room does your foot have in that high heel? If you can’t wiggle your toes, not enough. Are those toes red? Time to think about another option.

Problems to Avoid:

Did you know that lack of arch support in our shoes can cause several different problems with our feet? Problems can include plantar fasciitis, metatarsalgia, morton’s neuroma, heel pain, ankle pain, back pain, and bunions. And yes, you can get arch support in a dress shoe…

Shoes are only half of the picture. They do not offer arch support.

Stop in for a free evaluation at Foot Solutions to find out your options and have us take a look at your existing shoes. Avoid the problems now, find freedom from foot pain. Foot Solutions, 425-643-1700 near Macy’s Home Store in the Redmond Overlake area near Sears off 24th.