The shoes you wear have a massive impact on your health. The implications that shoes have on health run from your shins up to your knees, to your hips, and all of the way up the spine.
It’s important that you have a pair of shoes that suits and supports your foot type so that you’re not struggling with physical pain down the line. Further, you want to make sure you’re comfortable while you’re at it!
There’s an art to finding the right shoe for yourself. Let’s take a look at some tips that might help you make a better decision.
1. Find a Pair of Shoes That Fits Your Arch
The arch of your foot has wide-ranging implications for your back muscles, posture, mental health, and ability to move around comfortably.
A lot of people don’t know the arch of their foot, though, and they buy shoes that actually do them some harm. The great thing is, there’s an easy way to determine your foot arch and get a better grasp on choosing the right shoes.
Grab a small piece of cardboard and set it on the floor. It just has to be big enough to fit the size of your foot. Next, fill a bowl with water or start running your bathtub for a moment.
Dip the bottom of your foot in the water and bring it over to the cardboard. Make sure that your foot isn’t drenched in water so that it doesn’t cover the cardboard in areas that don’t directly touch your foot.
When you press down and lift up, you should see the imprint of the pads and toes of your feet. If you get things a little too wet, just flip the cardboard over and give it another shot.
The arch is the area in the middle, between your heel and the pads of your feet. If that arch area is around half of the way displayed with water, you have a natural arch.
In other words, a couple of inches of your arch should have come down and pressed into the cardboard. If you see your entire arch pressed into the cardboard, you have flat arches. If you don’t see any arch pressed into the cardboard, that means you have high arches.
High-Quality Shoes for Different Arches
What you’re looking for is a shoe that is able to support whatever arch you have or supplement the curvature in a way that benefits your joints and back.
A little research into the shoe you’re looking at can tell you how its arches are situated. A better way to go about finding the right shoe might be to search for shoes that support the kind of arch you have first, then explore the options.
Note that there are also inserts and different options that can adjust the sole of the shoe to meet your needs.
2. Find Companies That You Support
It’s always good to buy shoes from a company that you believe in. It’s nice to have a little loyalty, but it’s also good to establish trust, especially when you’re dealing with something as important as shoes.
You can learn more here if you’re interested in unpacking the history of one of the most famous shoe companies of all time.
Getting invested in a particular shoe company is beneficial because it helps you to learn more about their products and get used to how they fit over time. Expert knowledge of a particular company’s shoes will help you make better purchases from them in the future.
The alternative is getting shoes from random companies, not knowing how they will last and wear over time.
3. Don’t Skimp on Comfort
Shoes that feel comfortable to you are very important. In fact, comfort could be the most important factor when it comes to shoes.
Comfort occurs for a reason. It means that the shoes you’re wearing are suited to your foot and allow your body to respond well when you walk. Comfort is your body telling you that something is correct.
So, be on the lookout for comfort at all costs. Even if everything else about the shoe seems to be right, go with your gut and find the thing that feels the best on your foot.
4. Think About Your Common Activities
We tend to get rooted in a particular type of shoe from an early age. You find out what you sort of like, then you stick to it. If not in brand, then definitely in style.
The thing about that is, we change the things we do as we age. The activities that you used shoes for in high school might be very different from the things you do now. In fact, the shoes from your younger years might have been chosen because of how they look.
Years later, you’re doing different things and wearing the same kind of shoe. Maybe you’re running and hiking now. Maybe you’re a person who spends a lot of time standing in a resting position for work.
Whatever it is that you do the most, make sure to choose your shoes based on that. It’s always possible to get multiple pairs of different shoes for different activities, but most of us have a main pair of shoes that we wear.
That main pair of shoes should be chosen based on what you’ll be doing most of the time that you’re wearing them. This seems like a no-brainer, but it’s just not something we think about when we pick out our daily sneakers.
Who knows? You might find that a change of shoe type will cause a chain reaction that makes your physical pain go away. Maybe your posture improves, back pain goes away, and you find that you’re a little more peaceful and happy throughout the day.
Need More Help Shopping?
Hopefully, your next pair of shoes is a perfect match for your foot. Keep some of the ideas above in mind as you head out to the shoe store to find your fit.
There’s a lot more involved with shopping practically, though. We’re here to help. Explore our site for more ideas on finding high-quality shoes, beauty products, and much more.
