Feet Hurt? Stop Wearing Shoes

[Ovedya]

I use to wear cowboy boots most of my young life .... and go barefoot indoors....then got married and old (LOL)...and so said "goodbye" to my boots. ....Last year, after a torn Achilles tendon ,my Doctor recommended ....you guessed it..Cowboy boots to avoid surgery..the heel throws the weight forward and the boot supports the heel.. I forgot how good they always made my feet feel...so now Tweetybird's Granny is in boots

Aside from the narrow toebox cowboy boots are actually pretty good for the feet.

[sheya joie]

**hijacking alert**

I can pick up things with my toes; what does that mean?

[/hijack]

[Ovedya]

**hijacking alert**

I can pick up things with my toes; what does that mean?

[/hijack]

I suppoe it means that you can pick things up with your toes.

[Mr_Coffee]

**hijacking alert**

I can pick up things with my toes; what does that mean?

[/hijack]

I suppoe it means that you can pick things up with your toes.

[peaches]

Leave it to Ovedya

I am curious about this though:

In Africa, for example, the people have what are called "flexible flat feet." Although their feet are flat (Which is a bad thing for most people - especially Europeans) they are flexible enough to accommodate for the harder surface. Apparently his study of foot types doesn't mention that.

Why are flat feet "a bad thing for most people"?

If you look at the structure of the foot - particularly the mid-foot, you will see that the joints line up along an arch. The tendons that run under the foot - the posterior tibial tendon and the plantar fascia especially - are designed to support that arch and absorb shock. In the normal flexible flat foot those tendons are really stretchy - like a rubber band - so they can absorb shock pretty efficiently. In the European foot those tendons are not at all used to that kind of shock, so when they are stretched they tear - and when they tear they typically heal shorter, unless some therapy is used to keep them elastic. Children have flexible flat feet. But by the time a child reaches about age 12 those tendons should become more rigid to support the arch.

Note that I mentioned the "normal" flexible flat foot above. In Europeans a flexible flat foot is abnormal, whereas in some Africans the flexible flat foot is considered "normal" and functional. Sometimes it is called a "functional" flat foot.

By the way - "flat foot" is a term synonymous with "foot pronation" Flat feet almost always over-pronate.

me thinks i am thick today - i dont think i understood!

[ladypeartree]

wot ...you dont understand if you is thick or not

[nebula]

Btw, what is the 'RA' that messed up your feet, neb? I didn't quite understand that part.

Sorry - rheumatoid arthritis.

It slowly damages the joints and mis-shapens the foot. My toes as the base are starting to bend sideways. Plus, in the middle of the balls of the feet, I have what feel like knobs sticking down. It hurts a lot to walk on.

[nebula]

Unfortunately this person is going against at least 40 years of solid evidence contrary to his assertion. . . .

You a pediatrist or something?

[refugepsa91]

AWWW....Ovedya blew what I thought was gonna be a perfect excuse for my bad habit of NOT wearing shoes unless I absolutely have too.....

Now I have nothing......

[7thseal]

**hijacking alert**

I can pick up things with my toes; what does that mean?

[/hijack]

I suppoe it means that you can pick things up with your toes.

Unless this person eats ceral, using their toes... then I'm like way behind with making good use of my feet.