Shoe Shopping
Mar. 20, 2008 by Lisa Currie
“Sex and the City” may have cemented shoe shopping as both urban sport and retail therapy, but it did little to address the basics of shopping for shoes in a way that helps the health of your foot.
The Mayo Clinic Health Letter offers this advice for shoe shopping:
The foundation for preventing corns and calluses is properly fitting shoes. Select what’s best by:
- Shopping late – Feet swell as the day progresses, so shop for shoes in midday or evening
- Finding a sufficiently wide, deep shoe box – You should be able to wiggle your toes, but the shoe shouldn’t be so big that it slides around when you walk.
- Buying low heels – High heels can cramp your foot and put extra pressure on your toes
- Watching for seams- A poorly positioned seams or stitch can cause friction
- Fitting it right- If a shoe isn’t comfortable in the store, it’s unlikely to be comfortable later. If you feel a pressure point in an otherwise good shoe, ask to have the shoe stretched.
- Realizing that foot sizes change – It’s possible to move up a size or two over the years
To read back issues of the Mayo Clinic Health Letter and other health periodicals, stop by the WesWELL Resource Library in Davison Health Center, Room 204.