Our Feet - probably the most abused and ignored part of our body

From a very young age, when our feet were still malleable, we put our feet away into feet-unfriendly, misfitting shoes or restrictive boxes, which hinders our feet and toes from moving and expanding, stopping them from being able to feel the ground and grip naturally.

Around half of women and a third of men generally buy shoes that don’t fit properly. Shoes that are too small cause compression that alters the shape of our feet, undermining natural movement and weakening your feet.

Women experience foot problems four times more often than men.
More than half the women in the UK have bunions, a common foot deformity in which the joint that connects the big toe to the foot gets larger and juts out.

Foot problems in the elderly are extremely common and are the cause of much pain and disability, and consequent loss of mobility and independence.

I remember in my twenties when I was travelling and I was often in many poor, developing countries where many people walked barefoot. Feet looked different, strong and well-used, like builders’ hands. Toes were spread wide to grip and to enable propulsion.
Feet there did not look to me like they would fit any conventional shoes!

Our feet are made to work, to carry, support, balance and move us and they need this natural stress in order to be functionally healthy.

If we don't let them do the work from the above reasons, they weaken and often collapse. Other muscles in the foot, lower legs or elsewhere in the body need to then overcompensate and a muscular imbalance or biomechanical distortion is created as a result.

…support

We literally stand on them! This ‘bridge-like’ structure carries our body and allows shock absorption when we walk, run or jump. During every step, we take when walking we apply double our body weight on our feet, when we run it is as much as three times our body weight and much more when we jump.

…strength

Our feet are extremely strong, especially our big toes, which are vital for balancing and propelling us forward. Children don't walk till they develop the necessary strength in their big toes.
During an average day of walking, the forces on your feet can total hundreds of tons, equivalent to an average of a fully loaded cement truck. There is a lot of stress on our feet, so it is important to keep our feet strong and healthy.

…flexibility

The human foot contains 26 bones, 33 joints, 107 ligaments, 19 muscles and tendons. 25% of all the bones in the human body are in your feet. This provides us with movement, accommodating the contour of the ground and giving us the possibility to use it as tool, in a similar way to using our hands.

…sensitivity

Like our hands, our feet are the most sensitive part of our body and offer us a fantastic sensory tool. Feet have thousands of neural receptors, giving us sensory information on the ground in which we walk and the position the rest of the body is in, allowing us to enjoy natural movements and balance.

The most common collapse in the foot is the over-pronation of the foot, the over-collapse of the foot’s arch or instep.

The over-pronation causes misalignment of the foot that causes stress on the foot’s ligaments and joints, producing inflammation like plantar fasciitis (heel spurs, plantar fasciitis and calluses).

This inward collapse misaligns the big toe and forces too much body weight on the big toe joint in the pushing-off action involved in our next step, which often causes bunions (and calluses).

This over-pronation will not just affect the foot structure itself, but affect the whole musculoskeletal alignment and functionality of the body above.

When walking or running the collapse of the arch of the foot will rotate the leg inward, affecting the alignment of the ankle, knee and hip and forcing your body out of proper alignment.

It causes a misalignment and dysfunction of the muscular skeletal structure above, often causing chronic inflammation like Achilles tendonitis, shin splints, knee and hip pain, etc.

The arch of the foot acts as a shock absorber and over-pronation will pass the shock onto your legs, knees, hips and spine.

I believe that actually going barefoot is best.

At home, on the beach or in the park, why not give your feet more opportunities to feel free? They’ll thank you for it!

It’s a good start wearing wide, thin-soled and flexible shoes, that don't interrupt the natural movement.

Enjoy your heels, they look great!

But train your feet to stand well and strong in heels and don't wear them too often.

Give your feet a well-earned rest. Why not try wearing barefoot shoes for your commute?

Make a habbit to regularly move your feet and toes, maybe do some toe and foot exercises whilst brushing your teeth.

Walking is the best exercise for your feet. It also contributes to your general health by improving circulation, contributing to weight control, and promoting all-around well-being.

Walk up stairs and escalators without putting your heels down or over-pronating your feet.

When walking think about good posture and correct walking pattern.

Stretch your calves regularly, on a step or on the escalator on the tube (holding on!).

Stretch your toes, feet, ankles, legs and hips, go and find a suitable yoga class.

Massage your feet or tell your partner to!