If you stand on your feet for most of the day, you know how important it is to have a pair of shoes that properly fit your feet. Without shoes that fit well, you’ll often find yourself not only subjected to blistering and soreness, but also to bunions, calluses and back problems as a result of long-time use of ill-fitting shoes. The average human foot is made up of twenty-six bones that are connected by thirty three joints and surrounded by twenty muscles, not to mention hundreds of sensory receptors, ligaments and tendons. We owe it to our feet to find shoes that fit our feet well, seeing as they are the mechanisms that hold us up all day.
A new type of shoe has recently come onto the market that opens up a whole new world for runners, walkers, and everyday people everywhere. The shoes, which are glaringly different from anything else on the shoe market right now, exhibit rubber soles and a specific pocket for each toe, similar to toe socks. These shoes are designed to shape to the feet, and provide the wearer with a natural feeling, as the foot is allowed to stay in its original and natural state. Although they may look strange, but there are several researched benefits to wearing the Vibram FiveFingers shoes, including the improvement of the muscle strength of feet and lower legs, a tendency towards reducing the risk of running injuries, the improvement of balance and agility as well as the improvement of posture and spine alignment.
It’s difficult to tell whether or not these shoes will have a large impact in the fashion-driven shoe industry, however their health and running benefits show that the “toe shoe” may one day become an integral part in procuring good health, wellness and even weight loss.
