|  | Conditions Treatments | Wounds Injuries

Small Shoes Issues

When you wear ill-fitting shoes, you may think you are only sacrificing comfort for fashion, but the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS) warns that you could in fact be endangering the long-term health of your feet. It recommends that "Your shoes should conform to the shape of your feet; your feet should never be forced to conform to the shape of a pair of shoes."

  1. Blisters and Calluses

    • Fluid-filled blisters and hard calluses result from repeated friction against the skin, often from wearing tight or too-small shoes. To avoid inadvertently buying shoes that will cause these painful conditions, the Mayo Clinic suggests shopping for footwear in the middle of the day. Since your feet will swell as the day progresses, fitting your shoes later in this cycle gives the best fit.

    Bunions

    • This foot deformity is often the result of choosing fashion over fit, according to the Foot Health Network. Shoes with pointed toes narrow at the forward tip, known as the toe box. Forcing your feet into a pointed or too-narrow toe box pushes the big toe toward the center of the foot. This causes the bone to protrude, creating the condition commonly known as bunions.

    Hammertoe

    • Although hammertoe can be the result of injury or genetics, it can also result from repeatedly forcing your toes into unnatural positions by wearing too-small shoes. In this condition, the four smaller toes bend inward toward the big toe, causing deformities that progressively worsen if not treated. The American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons suggests avoiding, "conditions that can force your toe against the front of the shoe," by wearing low or no-heeled shoes with more rounded toes and ensuring that your shoes are sufficiently long for your feet.

    Corns

    • The AAOS discusses the two types of corns, both hard and soft, and how the hard variety can result from too-small shoes. When your shoes force the bones of your toes against your skin for long periods the surface skin thickens and the underlying tissues become inflamed. Most hard corns appear on the tops of your toes or the side of your little toe.

Wounds Injuries - Related Articles