A shoe can help you or hurt you. It’s that simple.
As an orthopedic surgeon specializing in foot and ankle, I spend much of my clinical day talking with men and women about their shoes. Men in work boots too narrow for their feet. Executives in heels. Everyone in $5 flat flip flops. On my surgical days, I spend many a case rectifying the damage done by—or certainly exacerbated by—those same shoes.
Over and again, I routinely see people wearing the wrong shoe for their foot type. Their shoe choice can lead to many problems in the feet, as well as knees, hips, and back. Surgery does not always fix the issue, and it certainly doesn’t restore us to our original “factory model” feet. It can, of course, correct deformity and stabilize painful joints, and I always have the hope of improving a patient’s quality of life, as well.
This can require typically 3 months of recovery, whether we pursue surgery or try to let things heal with rest or physical therapy. The good news? I have found that wearing the right shoe can often improve pain to a point that surgery is not required. I believe in it personally—with my own musculoskeletal issues—as well as for my patients, who time and again respond to this approach. Daily, I prescribe better shoes for my patients. Better shoes yield better feet.
That’s why I started all this—to speak feet and get the word out about the importance of shoes to our health. To collaborate with shoe designers and manufacturers to create shoes that address orthopedic needs, beautifully. To offer continuing education for my colleagues in the medical field on the issues of shoe design and orthopedic well being. Together, we can educate consumers on the value of a well designed, properly fitted shoe to their quality of life.
Would you like to work together? Drop me a note to set up a time to speak feet.
