Sandals Healthy Feet:
Sandals for Healthy, Comfortable Feet
By Dr. Ben Kim
DrBenKim.comEarlier this summer, I mentioned that we purchased Keen Newport Sandals for our boys to give their growing bodies optimal support from the ground up.
Our boys have made great use of their new sandals, and I've since received dozens of notes from readers who have found Keen's H2 model to be helpful for a wide variety of physical problems surrounding the feet, ankles, knees, hips, and even lower back.
The positive praise for Keen sandals doesn't surprise me, as I've long observed chronic knee, hip, and ankle problems improve considerably after making sure that all of the joints in the feet and ankles are moving properly.
If you have chronic pain and/or stiffness in your lower extremities, you are likely to benefit from visiting a health care provider who has experience mobilizing the many joints - 33 of them, to be exact - in each of your feet that need to glide properly to allow the rest of your body to function normally.
Having tight muscles or a stiff joint within the middle part of one of your feet can cause problems all the way up to your head and neck. I've actually witnessed chronic tension headaches disappear within a few sessions of mobilizing the feet and ankles. This is why health practitioners who specialize in manual therapies refer to the body as being a kinetic chain - each major joint sits next to other major joints, and like a series of gears, all joints need to work smoothly to allow the whole chain to function.
Since the mention of Keen sandals was well received, I'd like to share a few thoughts on other types of footwear that I can wholeheartedly recommend to provide optimal support to the feet and body.
But first, in case you're new to our community, please note that the two types of footwear that I don't recommend are high heels and flip flops.
The problems associated with wearing high heels are obvious. Wearing high heels significantly increases your risk of experiencing a bad ankle sprain.
High heels and other forms of footwear that have small toe boxes tend to crowd your toes, which can increase your risk of developing painful bunions and other toe deformities.
Wearing high heels can also contribute to lower back pain and upper back stiffness, as standing on the balls of your feet for long stretches forces your lower back to arch backward and your upper back to arch forward - not enough to be perceptible to most observers, but enough to cause real problems over the long term.
Flip flops make for poor footwear because they force your toes to chronically grip down onto the flip flops to keep your feet stable during gait. Though not so noticeable to most people, this constant flexing action by the toes can lead to a number of problems, mostly commonly plantar fascitis (pain in the arches of the feet), pain along the inner aspect of the knees, and even hip pain deep within the ball-and-socket joint.
So now that we're clear on the problems with wearing high heels and flip flops over the long haul, let's take a look at some of the most supportive shoes and sandals that you can bless your body with...
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