Shoe shaped feet, many people have them without even knowing. We all know that our feet are fundamental to our overall health and physical structure. We need them to kick, to play, and most importantly, to get around. That said, it’s not uncommon for our feet to come with their own set of problems from age or general wear and tear.
However, your feet problems happen to be a bit different. You can totally influence their form and shape. As long as you’re willing to truly listen to your body, you’ll find a lot of helpful answers.
Luckily, you’ve come to the right place. We have just the info you need to learn more about foot dysfunction, the causes of foot pain, and how you can fix the problem. Read on to find out more. Learn that the shape of your foot matters!
What in the World Are Shoe-Shaped Feet?
You might have heard someone talk about it on Insta, or you may have caught the term online while trying to make a self-diagnosis. Chances are there wasn’t much to go on, and what little you did learn probably sounded like a bunch of mumbo-jumbo. The good news is that shoe-shaped feet aren’t all that hard to break down.
It’s undisputed amongst scientists that the form of an object determines its function, and this is especially true for your feet. Feet are crafty parts of our body that know how to adapt to new situations within a matter of months or even weeks, and they seem to be especially fond of adapting to your footwear.
When you habitually wear a particular set of shoes or wear restrictive shoes, your feet will eventually format themselves to fit that shoe regardless of how well it may form around your feet. Of course, this isn’t much of a problem if you buy shoes that fit you comfortably, and if your shoes are wider at the nose they usually don’t cause much of a problem outside of feeling awkward.
Shoes that are too tight on your feet, however…that’s a different story.
When you wear tight shoes, your feet are forced to squeeze their way in just to conform to them. If you catch the problem at a young age, there’s no harm done, but if you continue to wear these tight shoes as you grow up, your feet will eventually fold the toes inwards.
The (often painful) result is a ‘pointy’ foot form instead of a shape with wide toe-spread. This is called shoe-shaped feet. And unfortunately majority of people have them.
Here’s How to Fix Shoe Shaped Feet
Now that you know exactly what shoe-shaped feet are, you’re going to want to know how to fix the problem. Luckily, just as your feet were able to conform to your tight shoes, they can be worked with to revert them to their original shape and healthier function. Here are a few things you can do for your foot dilemma.
Stretch Out Your Shoes
If you’re on a budget you probably don’t want to throw out all of your footwear that is too tight. In that case you may be able to stretch the material out a bit so they stop crushing your toes.
For leather material, try placing a thick pair of socks into the shoes and apply warm heat from a hairdryer across each one for about 30 seconds apiece.
For non-leather materials, try partially filling a zip-up bag with water and place the bag into the tight regions of the shoe. Then, place the shoe in the freezer so the bag can ice up and swell to stretch the shoe out.
Doing so will of course give only temporary relief as this won’t fix the structure of the foot.
Just Buy a New Pair
No matter how much you love your shoes, we can assure you that you’ll hate having calluses, poor circulation, and growing chronic pain a lot more.
As the famous saying goes, “If you love it, let it go.” It’s about time you applied that thinking to your lovely heels and ditched them for a new toe friendly pair of shoes. Your feet will love their new found toe freedom…and, you know, why not give away the ones that don’t fit to a used clothing store and make some cash.
Train Your Intrinsic Foot Muscles
When your feet have been confined to very limiting space for many years, they’ve lost their natural shape for sure. In that case you’ll have to awaken all the tiny muscles that have been inactive. Strengthening the intrinsic foot muscles lays a foundation for foot health in the long run.
Nowadays people tend to spend majority of time sitting down which doesn’t help foot activation either. Spending more time on your feet, simply by standing that is, can counterbalance that.
Why not create a standing desk at the kitchen table if you work from home? Start the day standing and slowly move towards the floor as the day unfolds. Stand, sit, sit on the floor, lie down. Or make sure to have some foot tools laying around to play with. A tennis ball is nice to self massage, grab and kick around both while you’re standing or sitting down.
Stretch Out Your Toes
If you want to speed up the process, help your feet out by using some equipment to stretch out those toes. Start by investing in some toe spreaders to force apart those toes that have become a bit too chummy with one another. For added measure, try a stretch band to strengthen your big toes and help them straighten up again.
Did your pinkie toe just wiggle with excitement? It’s time to free your toes and spread ’em!