Our feet don’t deal with hard surfaces very well
Podiatrist Phil Vasyli says our feet were actually designed for walking on softer, natural surfaces (think sand and soil), not polished hard ones, so we could also be damaging our feet by traipsing around our homes with none shoes on (via The Healthy). “Our footprint allows the natural ground to accommodate the contours of our feet,” he explained, adding, “The softer ground gives thanks to our heel at foot strike, allowing the surface of the foot to sink into the surface, which correspondingly supports the within of our foot and therefore the collapse of our arch.”
Because many household surfaces are hard, ny podiatrist Miguel Cunha says walking around indoors shoes-free puts pressure on our feet, causing the foot’s arches to collapse — which successively puts pressure on different parts of our body (via Metro). Cunha is particularly concerned about pronation, the rolling of the foot inward, which allows feet to support our weight .
“When we walk barefoot, we pronate for a extended period of your time , which then alters the biomechanics and distribution of pressure and weight across the foot. This imbalance may increase the progression of underlying foot deformities like bunions and hammertoes and cause painful conditions related to excessive pronation like arch and heel pain, inflammation , posterior tibial tendonitis and Achilles tendonitis,” Cunha said.
And if you think that throwing on a pair of squishy flip flips is that the thanks to go, re-evaluate . an equivalent worry applies here, too. “Contrary to common belief, shock absorption isn’t the solution to conditions related to misalignment of the feet and lower limbs,” explains Vasyli. “Sure, they feel comfortable but soft, flat foot beds allow the feet to over-pronate…”