Good fitting shoes can ensure your body is well supported from the foundation up. A poor fit can lead to back, knee and hip pain as well as painful foot conditions.
Are your shoes contributing to your back or knee pain? Have you had your feet measured but still can’t find a shoe that fits ‘just right’? Try taking a closer look at how your shoes measure up to your feet, instead of the other way around.
The Shoe Analysis
Try this at home with your favorite pair of footwear to determine how well your shoes actually fit your feet! You will need two sheets of recycled copy paper, two contrasting colors of washable markers, a firm floor surface, and a friend.
- With your shoes on, place your right foot on the first piece of paper, and have your friend trace the outline of your right shoe. For the best measurement the marker should be held straight up and down instead of at an angle.
- Then place your left foot on the second piece of paper and have your left shoe outline traced.
- Remove your shoes and socks and place your right foot on the same piece of paper that your right shoe was traced over. Line up the back of your heel with the outline of the shoe’s heel. With the contrasting colored marker have your friend trace your foot (she doesn’t need to trace between the toes), inside the shoe area.
- Do the same with your left foot on the second piece of paper that has your left shoe traced on it.
When you’ve completed the tracing project take a good look at how your feet and shoes match up. Do your toes reach over the edge of the shoe line? What about the width of the shoe compared to the width of your foot? Does the foot hang over any edges of the shoe? Compare the curve of the arch of the shoe line with the curve of your foot’s line, do they line up or is there a discrepancy? Don’t forget to look at the differences in each foot and shoe match, many people have one foot larger than the other and don’t even realize it. If this is the case you will want to purchase all future shoes in the larger size.
You may find yourself surprised that even your roomiest feeling shoes may be lacking in space in the heel area, or the toe box, arch or ball of the foot.
Shoe Inspection
Take out a pair of shoes that you wear frequently and have worn for a few months or longer.
- Look at the bottom of the shoe for areas of wear – this may be over the heel on the inside or outside edge of the shoe, or at the front of the shoe where the toes reach.
- Still looking at the bottom of the shoe take notice of the material for the uppers, the leather or fabric that creates the top of the shoe. Is there any bulging on the inside or outside edges, near the arch or in the ball of the foot area?
- Now flip the shoe over and inspect areas of wear around the toes, the heel and the arch. Do you notice any stretching or foot-shaped impressions left in the shoe? Such as toenail imprints at the front of the shoe or a thinning area in the material around the heel.
Also notice how your feet look after being in these shoes for a few hours. Do you have shoe lace impressions on the tops of your feet from the lacing? Or perhaps across the top of the foot where the steel toe portion of a boot rests? These and other markings could be signs that the shoe does not fit your foot very well.
Talk to your primary care doctor or podiatrist if you are experiencing foot pain. Also mention if you suspect your footwear could be contributing to pain in other regions of your body. Don’t suffer needlessly when the solution could be a pair of feet away.
