May 2nd, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in True Stories
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Ask most men how many shoes their wife, girlfriend, or sister has and the
answer is: “too many.” I can’t speak for everyone with large shoe collections,
but I can tell you why I have too many shoes. They each hurt my feet in slightly
different ways – ways that are impossible to predict at the time of
purchase.
Some of my shoes pinch my toes, others cause blisters under the straps, still
others cause blisters on the bottom of my feet or heels. Some of them are
comfortable for short distances but begin to hurt after 5 blocks. I’ve tried to
purchase shoes from the major “comfortable brands,” but without consistent
success in avoiding self-injury.
My husband has difficulty understanding my predicament, as his feet haven’t
seen a blister in over a decade. He occasionally points to his baby soft feet
as evidence of a defect in my own. I protest that women’s shoes are not
comfortable, and he counters with arguments about my not needing any more
shoes.
A recent conversation went something like this:
Dr. Val: [Sitting down on my couch after a long day of
work.] Argh! I’m so disappointed… remember those shoes that looked so
promising when we bought them in the shoe store, honey?
Hubby: [Chewing a bite of sandwich and contemplating my
question.] Which pair might that be?
Dr. Val: You know the nice, wide, dress sandals with a low
heel? [I point to the shoes as I remove them from my bare feet.]
Hubby: The ones that cost a hundred and fifty dollars?!
Dr. Val: Yeah, those ones. Look at what they did to my feet!
[I point out two strips of raw skin on the top of my toes.]
Hubby: [Wincing] There’s something wrong with you.
Dr. Val: What do you mean? I try so hard to find comfortable
shoes and yet I’m always thwarted – no matter how soft they look in the store,
or how expensive they are, they always hurt in the end!
Hubby: Why don’t I hear other people complaining about their
shoes? Everyone seems to be fine with shoes except you.
Dr. Val: I bet other women have shoe problems too… The
only shoes that are comfortable are sneakers.
Hubby: Your sneakers are unattractive.
Dr. Val: I know! That’s why I keep buying more shoes, trying
to find ones that look good but are as comfortable as sneakers.
Hubby: Maybe you have a connective tissue disorder?
Dr. Val: [Eye roll]. I don’t have a connective tissue
disorder. I just need to find that perfect pair of shoes – ones that look good
with suits and shorts and I can walk for long distances in and don’t give me
blisters.
Hubby: You don’t need any more shoes.
***
Am I crazy or do women’s shoes wreak havoc on our feet? Do any of you have
tips for finding that perfect pair of black dress shoes?
(For summer shoe drama, check out my blog post about “flip
flop foot” and racing
in stilettos.)This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
November 13th, 2007 by Dr. Val Jones in Health Tips, News
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Diabetes is a tricky disease. Sugar build up in the blood stream can damage tiny blood vessels that supply nerve endings, resulting in skin numbness. The feet are at the highest risk for nerve damage (neuropathy) and folks with diabetes often cannot sense pain in their feet.
How many of us have gotten blisters from ill fitting shoes? Painful, right? Well imagine if you didn’t feel the pain of the blistering and kept on walking, oblivious to the injury. Eventually you’d have a pretty bad sore there. This is what happens to people with diabetes who don’t choose their shoes carefully. In addition, sores don’t heal well because of the decreased blood supply to the area (from the damaged blood vessels). And to top it off, the high sugar levels in the sores provides additional sustenance to any bacteria that might be lurking on the skin. It’s pretty easy for diabetics to develop infected wounds, which can grow larger and even require amputations of dead tissue.
A recent research study suggests that the secret to avoiding this downward spiral is in choosing shoes that fit well – though they estimate that as few as one third of people with diabetes actually wear optimal fitting shoes. This may be because there is a strange temptation for people with diabetes to choose extra small shoes due to their neuropathy. When normal sensation is lost in the feet, tight fitting shoes actually feel better because they can be sensed more readily by the brain. So even though spacious shoes that don’t cramp the toes or cause blistering are the best footwear, they don’t always feel as comfortable. However, patients with diabetes who are properly fitted for orthopedic shoes with the help of a physiatrist or podiatrist, may substantially reduce their risk of ulcers.
So the bottom line for people with diabetes: choose your footwear carefully, and get professional help to make sure that your shoes fit well. Proper shoes could help to decrease your risk for foot and leg ulcers and potential amputations.This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
August 31st, 2007 by Dr. Val Jones in Health Tips
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Have you ever had a strange cramp in your foot (between your big toe and the next one or in the ball of your foot) after wearing flip flops all day? Do you get sore calves or pain in the bottom of your feet?
Flip flops seem comfortable and easy to wear (I like them because they don’t pinch wide feet) but they actually create more work for your foot and leg muscles than regular shoes. You may not realize it, but when you wear flip flops your toes must grip them extra firmly to keep them from sliding off or sideways. So you actually contract many extra toe muscles (like the adductor hallucis and the flexor hallucis brevis) with each step you take. Wearing flip flops for long hours can give you actual cramps in these muscles and others.
In addition to muscle cramps, flip flops have no arch support so your calf muscles and Achilles tendon have to work extra hard and can become sore. And finally, the lack of support can strain your plantar fascia (a thin rubbery band on the bottom of your foot), causing pain at its point of origin on the heel bone.
So if you’re having foot pain or muscle cramps – it may be caused by too much flip flopping. Of course, the cure is simple: wear comfortable shoes with good arch support and sturdy straps. Luckily for you, summer is almost over and your feet may recover naturally as you pack up the flip flops and pull out the work shoes.This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
August 5th, 2007 by Dr. Val Jones in News
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Russia has been promoting a new sport: the stiletto heels sprint. Although I’d heard of this a couple of months ago, I just noticed some video footage on Yahoo! In this particular race, over 200 women turned out to run 1 kilometer (about 2/3 of a mile) in heels that are at least 3.5 inches high.
It is well known that regularly wearing high heels can result in foot deformities such as bunions and corns. And yet women continue to wear them as they never seem to go out of fashion. If you’re unwilling to give up those heels, but would like to avoid having feet that look like this, here are some tips for you:
1. Minimize the distance you walk in heels. Carry your shoes to work with you and wear flats or sneakers during most of your walking.
2. Wear shoes that are wide in the toe box and do not squeeze your toes together.
3. Put metatarsal pads in your high heeled shoes, to keep your foot from sliding forward (especially if they are closed-toe).
4. Don’t wait too long to see a rehabilitation medicine specialist or podiatrist if you think you’re developing a bunion. Corrective action should be taken as early as possible.
5. If you’re working at your desk, remember to slip off your shoes to reduce the pressure on your toes. Every lit bit helps when it comes to reducing toe joint stress. If your relatives have bunions, you may be at higher risk for developing them too.
As for those Russian women who race in their stilettos, all I can say is that they’ll be keeping the rehab docs, orthopedists and podiatrists in business!This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
March 19th, 2007 by Dr. Val Jones in Opinion
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Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.
–Mark Twain
Today I realized that I have spent the majority of my adult daytime hours enduring a continuous, sock-induced lower extremity discomfort. Socks feature a type of tourniquet system that slowly squeezes calf flesh into red indented rings, crowning edematous ankles. Why must socks be so painful? The manufacturers believe that their ability to “stay up” far outweighs the importance of comfort – and so like the sock zombies we are, consumers continue to purchase them under the assumption that painful elastics are simply part of the sock experience.
I decided to search the Internet for sock commiserators, and lo and behold, I found a comment in a diabetes forum about the dangers of tight socks. This person argues that socks can predispose to blood clots, and promote ulcers in those who have preexisting circulatory problems. She goes on to recommend a special type of diabetic sock that is non-binding, manufactured by a company called “sugar free sox.”
I performed a Medline search for articles about “socks” and “stockings” and there were surprisingly few articles. In fact, the majority of articles only mentioned a specific type of medical sock known as “compression stockings” (or T.E.D.s). I didn’t see any studies confirming the potential dangers of the garden variety sock, but it does make intuitive sense that anything that acts as a tourniquet cannot be a good thing for the circulatorily challenged.
Therefore, my recommendation is that if you are diabetic or have any known problems with your circulation, you should do your best to avoid tight socks. I myself am planning to try out these diabetic soft elastic, stretchy socks – and I will wear them proudly about the office in utter contentment and comfort.
This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
