These aren't your grandma's orthopedic shoes

Wearing the wrong kinds of shoes can cause all sorts of ailments — and not just with your feet. The good news is that shoes that are good for your body can also be good for your style.

Everyone knows that poorly designed or ill-fitting shoes can make your feet hurt. But if you’ve been having knee or lower back pain, that could be down to your shoes as well.

“Wearing high heels forces all of a person’s body weight onto a very small area — the ball of the foot,” explained Phil Vasyli, podiatrist and designer of the Orthaheel line of orthotic shoes. “In order to counterbalance this new body position and instability, the wearer unnaturally pushes their knees and hips forward and arches the back.” This can cause not only foot pain and deformity, but knee, hip and lower back pain as well.

When it comes to shoes that cause pain and disability, high heels are notorious offenders, but shoes with narrow toe-boxes also cause their share of woe. According to the Southeastern Podiatry Clinic here in Tallahassee, Fla., any shoe that crowds the toes or forces them down into the tip of the shoe can exacerbate bunion problems. While not actually causing bunions, crowding the toes can cause symptoms to appear sooner and make the deformity worse.

Style and comfort reunited

So what’s a health-conscious fashionista to do? The sandals your mom wore to the macrobiotic potluck may have a certain retro charm, but they just don’t work for the office or your son’s graduation ceremonies. And let’s face it, they don’t have the pizzazz and flair the truly fashion-conscious require. But not to worry. Shoes that are good for your feet have been growing up, too. If you haven’t checked out healthy shoes lately, you are in for a nice surprise. You can still find those iconic Birkenstock sandals, of course, but several popular brands manage to combine good orthotics with cutting-edge design.

The Vionic line features several gorgeous styles that make you forget you were shopping for comfort. Dr. Scholl’s even has styles with wedge heels these days. (The American Podiatric Medical Association recommends wedge heels and heels lower than two inches when you do choose to wear heels.) And while Birkenstocks still retain a bit of that hippie vibe, they’ve definitely upgraded to a 21st twenty-first century interpretation of the theme. When it comes to shoes, there is no longer any need to sacrifice fashion for comfort.

Shaw’s Athletics and The Shoe Box, in Tallahassee, offer a wide selection of brands and styles to help you find the sweet spot where healthful design and good looks meet. And they can help you get a good fit, too. The Shoe Box has a certified pedorthist on staff who can help you get the right fit and make any adjustments necessary to make sure your shoes are not only comfortable but healthful as well.

If you do a little shopping you’ll probably find plenty of designs to make your feet and your eyes happy. There’s no need to throw out all your spike heels, though. Vasyli reassures all the high heel lovers among us that occasionally dressing up in dreadfully uncomfortable shoes won’t do much harm.

Just don’t wear those things every day.

http://www.thenewsstar.com/article/20140120/LIFESTYLE/301200002/These-aren-t-your-grandma-s-orthopedic-shoes