Ageing worries you may not have thought about

Ageing worries are something many of us think about. However, do you ever consider you might be wearing the wrong sized shoes for your feet? It could be a cause of many foot related problems.

Around one in five people are wearing the wrong sized shoes. This is because they haven’t had their feet measured for over ten years a study has shown.

A study carried out by Hotter found that out of 2000 people polled, one in five of them hadn’t had their feet measured for ten years. But come to think of it, I don’t remember the last time I did? Do you?

The study reported that we are not considering the change in our feet over the years. If we gain weight or lose weight our feet change. After women have babies, the size and shape of their feet may change. Maybe you have developed a health problem that causes your feet to change in some way and haven’t even given your shoe size any thought.

Well it is important that you do!

So what is the big deal about wearing the wrong sized shoe?

A podiatrist and foot expert, Dina Gohil, says: “As well as crippling our feet, wearing poorly fitting shoes can even result in back and neck problems.

She goes on to say: “Think of shoes as the foundations of your body. If the foundations don’t support you properly it puts more pressure on other areas of the body like you knees, hips and lower back.

“This extra pressure will cause for overcompensation on these areas.

“It is incredible how so many people are unaware of the problems. Something as simple as your footwear may cause lower body and neck pains and aches.”

Nearly a third of those studied admitted to owning ‘only sitting shoes’. These are shoes that they can’t walk in but will wear when just sitting down.

The problems that the wrong sized shoes can cause is vast. Things like hard skin on your feet and painful blisters can be caused from wearing shoes that fit badly. Not to mention more serious problems like bunions developing.

Are there any other problems with wearing the wrong sized shoes?

Another big problem is that wearing the wrong sized shoe, whether that be too big or too small can cause falls.

Going back to thinking of your feet as the foundation of your body you can understand why. If your feet are crammed up in shoes that are too small or moving around in ones that are too big, this can cause trips and falls.

This is exactly what we are trying to prevent at Nottingham On Call. Other ageing worries of many of our residents is having falls. It makes you wonder if any of these falls could be prevented by wearing well fitting shoes.

Shockingly four in ten adults say that how the shoes look comes before how comfortable they are!

So maybe it is time you get your feet measured? If your shoes or slippers are feeling a little snug or maybe a bit lose, get your feet checked. It may help you in more ways than one.