ATI Physical Therapy

WHAT SHOES ARE BEST FOR MY FEET?
ARE SUPPORTIVE SHOES GOOD OR BAD?
DOES STRENGTH OR FLEXIBILITY MATTER MORE FOR YOUR FEET?

IT DEPENDS...

You may not spend time gazing at other people’s feet like I do, but I bet you’ve still noticed that not all feet are the same. In fact, there are many different types of feet, and some are VERY different. Flat feet, High-arched feet, flexible feet, stiff feet, curled or crooked toes, straight toes, sensitive feet, step-on-a-nail-tough feet.

Do you know what type of feet and toes do you have? Are your feet both strong and flexible? Have you thought about those questions before?

Your foot type, strength, and flexibility determine what shoe type is best for you, as well as the activities you plan to do in the shoes. Those activities are essentially your “goals” for your feet – what you want them to be capable of. Maybe you want to run, or hike, or lift weights, or just walk a few miles at a time. Maybe your feet can do those things now, but will they be able to when you’re older? And will they help or hurt the rest of your body’s ability to do those things? Feet are the foundation of human function in many regards, and a foot that is strong, flexible, and adaptive is a great asset or detriment to the function of ones body, whether you’re an athlete or well along in age.

A good test of your overall foot function (and additional “goal” for your foot) is to balance on one foot and watch what your foot does - can you balance without excessive wobble in your arch? Do your toes stays relaxed like they should? Do you have significant space between your first and second toe like you should? If any of these things are challenging for your foot, you should ask “why.”

So where should YOU start when considering foot-wear for your unique feet? Start by considering the specifics of your feet and your foot goals.

If you have high arches, you probably want your feet to be more flexible. So you might want some arch support to support those arches, but you definitely don’t want to have too much arch support. It will make your stiff foot even stiffer, which can lead to different problems and inabilities. It’s actually usually better for the high-arched foot to slowly move towards less arch support and spend more time doing a variety of balancing activities on one foot without shoes. And sometimes stretching the foot or calf can be important or helpful as well.

Now what about flat feet? Arch support is good, right? Well actually foot strength is the most important thing with a flat foot. Weaker flat feet often benefit from arch support, but it’s most often most important to strengthen them to the point of needing minimal or even no arch support. And flat but already strong feet often do just fine without arch support, and keeping them out of arch support can prevent them from getting weaker and more dependent on arch support. That’s right – too much arch support might be a bad thing. Support shoes might not be just unnecessary, but they might actually be making your foot function worse. But at the same time, a more supportive shoe might be exactly what you need, because your foot is weak and you run half-marathons, or stand 10 hours per day. But again, it all depends on the specifics of your feet and activities.

And what about “neutral” arches that are neither high or flat? Can you perform the above balancing test well? If so, your foot and toes are probably working pretty well. Continue single leg balancing to maintain your strength and be cautious of overly supportive shoes or shoes with a narrow toe box. Maybe we’ll talk more about those toes next time.

If you have questions about your feet after reading this article, reach out to a physical therapist to help determine your foot type, strength, and flexibility.

Matt has been Doctor of Physical Therapist for 13 years and had a wide variety of experience and certification, including a board certification as an orthopedic clinical specialist.

Matt uses his education and experience to help people overcome many types pain and injury, usually through identifying what the problem is, why it happened, and how to best fix and prevent it. Typically this involves precise corrective exercise or movement retraining, combined with manual therapy to improve tissue health and mobility; using techniques like dry needling, instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization, and specific joint mobilization.

Overall, Matt enjoys helping people turn the negatives of their pain into the positives of learning and growth, where people respond to their pain by learning about their body and how to best understand it, take care of it, use it, and even appreciate it. Matt too enjoys having a healthy and working body, whether biking to work, working out, shooting hoops, or being active with his wife and three sons in the outdoors.

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