Choosing Shoes for your Feet

In the previous two articles we have discussed how excessive pronation and supination can possibly result in pain in the knees, hips, back and the ankles. We will discuss further how the type of shoe that is worn can either help or make the symptoms and wear and tear in our joints worse. We will leave most of our discussion of shoes towards athletic shoes.

The shoe that you chose needs to encourage the normal motion of the foot and not excessive or too little pronation of the foot. Pronation is the dropping of the medial (inner) arch of the foot and the slight rolling in of the ankle that occurs each time we place weight on the foot. Pronation of the foot is shock absorbing mechanism of the body. Supination is the slight outward roll of the foot with each step and is commonly present with a foot that is too rigid.

How can you know if your foot pronates the normal amount, excessively, or too little (supination)? You could have your foot checked by a chiropractor, or podiatrist. You could also do a simple test at home. (Not always accurate). This test, known as the wet test, is done by wetting the foot and then placing it on some paper for a few seconds to leave your foot print on the paper. A normal foot print will narrow in the middle of the foot to approximately half of the width of the foot. Too much pronation of the foot will show a print where the middle of the foot only slightly indents. A supinating foot will produce a print that has a large amount of indentation of the middle of the foot because of an excessively high arch. If anyone would like to see examples of each of these prints, please feel free to contact us at Springville Chiropractic (801) 489-4990.

A pronating foot needs a type of shoe that is called a motion control shoe. This kind of shoe will give support and limit the amount of rolling in of the foot during each step. Motion control shoes will have a sole that is relatively straight and contain a firm section under the inner edge of the foot.

A supinating foot needs a shoe that will help cushion some of the shock experienced with each step. These shoes will have a sole that indents at the middle of the foot similar to the print of a foot. If you have a normal foot, a neutral shoe or a stability shoe can be used. These shoes have a sole that is indented at the mid-foot less than a shoe for a supinator and more than a motion control shoe. Be sure to let the sales attendant know the type of shoe that you need so that you can be steered to the correct shoe type.

You can compare the amount of stability a shoe will offer by grabbing the front of the shoe sole with one hand and grabbing the rear sole with the other and then twist the rear portion of the sole in a opposite direction of the front portion of the sole. The resistance to the twisting is an indication of the ability of the shoe to stabilize the foot from pronation.