Get the right tread
by James D. Ritchie
Aching back?
It might be your shoes
That hurting in your hips and back may not be all in your head. In fact, it may be your feet. Or, more precisely, your boots. Musculoskeletal pain is the No. 1 reason for visits to the doctor’s office and the No. 2 highest reason for taking prescription and over-the-counter pain medication.
“Footwear can affect not only how your feet feel, but also knees, hips, back and even your neck,” said Marian Minor, physical therapist at the University of Missouri Medical Center, who works with sufferers of arthritis and other degenerative joint diseases. “Once you get arthritis or other joint pain, good shoes or boots can help keep your structure in place and help decrease the pain or keep it from getting worse.
“Every time your foot hits the ground, there is a shock that transmits through your ankles, knees, hips—all the way up your spine,” Minor added. “You need to wear shoes that not only protect the foot but support the arch of the foot, and they should absorb and distribute that shock of each step over the entire foot.”
Price of the footwear is not necessarily a guide. Shoes and boots with a prominent heel—such as cowboy boots or women’s’ high heels—may be costly but contribute to problems.
“Shoes should have a continuous sole-and-heel on the bottom, as many sports shoes do,” said Minor. “Some work shoes and boots have continuous soles, too, which help absorb and distribute the impact of walking.”
Watch how your shoes wear, not just the soles but also the insoles.
“All feet wear soles unevenly—some on the inside, some on the outside,” noted Minor. “When you see the sole or insole starting to wear, buy new ones or get them re-soled.”
It’s important that youngsters wear shoes that fit properly, and that’s a challenge. Kids almost seem to wear out shoes on the way home from the store.
“With kids, it’s most important that shoes protect feet from injury,” said Minor. “That’s doubly true for country kids who are more likely to walk or run on rough or uneven surfaces. Make sure the shoes fit well; not too tight or too short. Shoes should fit tightly enough to hold the foot in place, but not so tight that they cramp toes or squeeze the bones of the foot together.”
For people (of whatever age) whose feet are badly out of alignment, “orthotics” may be the answer. Orthotics are posture-correcting insoles that can help your muscles and joints better respond to the shoes you wear and the surfaces you walk on. Over-the-counter orthotics, such as those made by Dr. Scholl’s, can help. To use orthotics, it may be necessary to remove the existing insole.
“For more severe problems, you may need to see a physical therapist or podiatrist [foot specialist],” said Minor. “They can design orthotics to correct or ease your particular problem.”
Proper shoes, even those fitted with orthotics, aren’t likely to cure the causes of joint and back pain. But they can enable you to stand it better—and stand up straighter in the process.
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