Can flat soles collapse your arch? This is something I read every now and then. Is it true that footwear like converse will flatten feet over time?
If you are young and fit and don’t spend much time on your feet, a flat shoe can get by OK. If you run, walk or spend time on your feet or manage to get over 40 years old, then your arch can collapse. A genetic predisposition helps that happen. Sometimes surgery is needed, but the first remedy is a built up arch support or orthotic. The support can be too high or too low. Either can cause symptoms. I have found that store bought hard Spenco orthotics work for me. I had to adjust them in boiling water so the level of lift was very slight as the “out of the box” setting caused bruising.
Bottom line: An arch support is important to have even when you don’t feel the need.
Appropriate 1st response, considering Al Bundy works in a shoe store.
Thanks. How come barefoot shoes don’t have an arch then?
Some are better than others. Keen sandals have more arch support than many others, for instance.
How strong your arch is to start with is a big factor. If you have weak arches, expect your soles to flatten over time without a strong arch support. For some people it’s a minor problem, for others, it can affect posture, joints, and spine in detrimental ways.
Huge issue! I’ve heard that about Converse, too, but many years ago–perhaps construction has changed. These cute flat shoes available now cause my feet pain just as much as heels ever did. I need my arch supports and granny shoes.
If you wear Chucks to exercise in, they’re probably not that bad for you.
According to my orthopedist, better than any support is walking around barefoot as often as possible, and not on soft grass, but on varying pebbles and similar, because that way, all your foot muscles are exercised and strengthened. By having a support to prevent the collapse (which is apparently genetic for 2/3 of the population and also a function of age), you’re fine as long as you have the inlay, but long-term, your foot muscles degenerate because their work is done by the support, so you end up worse than without. On the other hand, if you can’t do sports without pain, doing sports with the support inlay is better than not doing sports; but the best option is walking without shoes at all.
The other problem walking barefoot is if you happen to live in a city with a winter of 5+ months, and lots of concrete and working in an office, so even in summer walking barefoot is not easy. A small solution is at least using one of those plastic hedgehog balls at home to stimulate your bare feet, and otherwise look if there’s some possibility to train your feet on pebbles somewhere. (Maybe your gym could make an indoor-track filled with pebbles to walk around on. Invest in a bottle of aroma oil scents “fir” and sell it as “natural wood feeling holistic stuff”).
Christopher McDougall in his book Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen decribes this experience. The Tarahumara indians have a culture based on long distance running, and they use thin rubber shoes which provide minimal protection to the soles. They claim that shoes weaken the foot by providing too much cushioning and support. The author claims to have been able to resume running following prior foot problems after using the thin rubber shoes.
I’m not suggesting the book as a good read, but this topic is covered, and the Tarahumara culture and the Copper Canyon in Mexico are interesting subjects.
… and mine told me exactly the opposite, after treating me for plantar fascitis. He said avoid going barefoot as much as possible, even around the house.
There are two possibilities: one your feet need the support or two, your doctor is going off old information.
A lot of barefooter stuff is woo, but humans have been going barefoot with no major problems for thousands of years. I generally wear the least amount of shoe I can get away with and I have minimal foot problems.
Shoes are generally not good for preserving the arch of your feet, since they hold the muscles almost immobile. Shoes with thick, hard soles and ‘arch support’ are the worst for this.
I had foot, ankle, hip, and back pain (I’ve been working long hours on my feet and walking/running a lot for about 8 years now) until I jumped on the ‘minimalist footwear’/barefoot bandwagon a couple years ago, and I now know a couple people with formerly flat feet who developed arches by doing the same… so IMO ‘support’ from shoes is not at all necessary and might even be detrimental over time.
It seems that orthopedists believe in one of two extremes: shoes all the time, or as little shoes as possible.
How do you get by on surfaces like concrete, rhubarbarin? I find that when I run on concrete my heels ache, which cannot be healthy.
You are not supposed to strike the ground heel-first, even with shoes. You should stay on your toes.
Gesundheit.
Trust me, you will not be a hard heel striker in minimalist shoes. It will take about four seconds to train you out of that one.
When I was in southeast Asia years ago I saw a fair amount of barefoot folk, including a hunter gather tribe. Flat, splayed feet seemed to be pretty common. I am not convinced that humanity went barefoot for millions of years with no problems. I suspect they had lots of problems.
Walking around in bare or stocking feet (if you are worried about warts etc) , is probably good for your feet if you are in shoes the rest of the time. Walking around in barefeet with fallen arches and splayed toes because thats the way you have to live is another story.
As Zsofia said, while barefoot or wearing minimalist shoes it’s a reflex to protect your bony heels (on any surface - running barefoot on grass, it hurts just as much when your heel hits a small hard object as it would to slam it into concrete). My heels don’t touch the ground at all when I run, and only lightly while walking/standing.
If your feet are weak, generally yes. If you are conditioned, generally no. Arch stabilization reduces pronation and flexion which in turn alters gait and posture. Whether the alteration is beneficial or not is hotly debated among podiatrists, biologists, runners, shoe manufacturers and shoe salespeople to name a few.
Anecdotally, I’ve found that a person can adapt to minimally supportive and functionally barefoot footwear comfortably and without injury while engaged in a conditioning routine over time even after long-term reliance on heavily supportive footwear. I now consider arch support to be very much like a brace or cast. Sometimes it’s needed but unless you have a disability that creates a significant alteration of typical biomechanics, it only serves to weaken and create extended reliance on it.