By Elizabeth Jenkins
Are you sick and tired of having to wear crummy shoes during the day because you just cant find fashionable footwear that is also functional? Do your feet hurt no matter what you try? Do you suffer from plantar fasciitis?
Salt Lake Running Co. recognizes these are huge issues for many people, and we also recognized that we didn’t have the right gear to sell to people to solve this issue. So, we asked you which shoes you like to wear for long days on your feet, walking around at work, or just living your lives. We found a few brands that really stood out from the rest.
Keen, Dansko, Merrell, and Ecco.
These companies know feet. They know what parts of the foot need to be supported to prevent chronic injuries or conditions in the feet. They understand that shoes should look good and feel good, too.
Having well-fitting footwear for daily activities is absolutely essential to the health of our feet. When it comes to feet, preventing issues is way easier than fixing them once you have them. Here is a list of issues that can arise from wearing poor quality or poor fitting shoes (This list was found here):
- Bunions: This deformity of the foot may be an inherited trait but may also result from many years of friction due to ill-fitting footwear. Flat feet, gout, and arthritis also increase your chance of developing a bunion.
- Corns and Calluses: Corns are caused by friction from poorly fitted shoes or socks or from toes rubbing against each other. Calluses are similar to corns, but develop on the ball or heel of your foot.
- Hammertoes: Hammertoes are caused by abnormal tension in the muscles and tendons around the toe joints, causing them to buckle or flex. Eventually the joint becomes rigid.
- Toenail Problems: Ingrown toenails (usually on the big toe) are caused by inherited abnormalities, incorrect trimming of nails, injury to the toe, infection, or friction from poorly fitted shoes. Abnormally thick, cracked, and yellowing toenails may be caused by fungal infections, friction from shoes, injuries or conditions such as diabetes or psoriasis.
- Diabetic Foot Problems: You may have reduced sensation in your feet from diabetes, making it hard to realize that your foot is injured. Also, blood flow in your feet is impaired in diabetes, so infections can be harder to fight off.
- Arthritic Foot Problems: Osteoarthritis, gout, and rheumatoid arthritis are among the conditions that can cause severe foot pain.
- Heel Pain: A condition such as plantar fasciitis may be caused by poor foot mechanics, such as an overly flattened or overly arched foot. In either case, the fascia—a ligament running along the bottom of your foot—may become irritated and painful. Painful heel spurs are small bone growths that appear when the ligament running along the sole of your foot tugs repeatedly on the heel bone.
- Arch Problems: Flat feet and its opposite—an abnormally high arch (claw foot or hollow foot)—are caused by an Achilles tendon (the vertical tendon behind the ankle) that is either too tight or too loose. These conditions are usually inherited, but flat feet may also develop after years of wearing high-heeled shoes. In this case, the condition is known as posterior tibial tendon dysfunction (PTTD). Flat feet are also linked to obesity, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, or the use of steroids.
- Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome: A nerve called the posterior tibialis nerve may get trapped, causing irritation and painful symptoms.
- Achilles Tendonitis: If you are obese, you may develop Achilles tendonitis from years of extra stress on the tendon. It is also associated with an inherited shortened Achilles tendon or from wearing high-heeled shoes.
- Morton’s Neuroma:In this condition, thickened tissue wraps around the nerves that lead to your toes. It is usually due to overly tight shoes, arthritis, injury, or malformed bones. The result is nerve compression.
Other issues include blisters, ball of foot pain, and more
Do any of these sound fun to you? I didn’t think so. Take your foot health into consideration when you are shopping for shoes. There are lots of options in each brand to fit your needs. We would be happy to help you find the right pair for you.
Here are some of the styles we currently carry:
Womens DANSKO Harlow in Red Full Grain $140
Womens MERRELL Barefoot Life Wonder Glove in Aluminum $100We also carry some ADORABLE Boots from Ecco. We love THEM.