It's Never Too Late to Get to Know Your Feet

If you are athletically walking regularly for exercise, you are racking up a lot of mileage on your feet and your shoes every year! Taking care of athletic feet needs more than a nice pedicure every couple of weeks!  You need to make sure you are wearing the right type of shoes for your feet. This means you need to understand your arch type and your gait and how those correspond to the types of athletic shoes available.

FINDING YOUR ARCH TYPE
The first thing you need to determine is your arch type. There are three arch types.
1. Flat
2. Normal
3. High

You can find out what kind of arch you have by using an electronic arch pad found in running shoe stores and some sports stores like Sports Authority, or you can do the “wet test” at home. To do the wet test, you need two pieces of absorbent paper that are larger than your feet. Newspaper works well, or you can use a dark colored craft paper. Get a bowl (also larger than the size of your foot) and fill with 1-2” inches of water. Remove your shoes and socks. Dip one foot into the water so it wets the bottom of the entire foot and place the foot on one sheet of paper with your weight on the foot. Remove your foot by lifting it straight up and immediately take a photo of the image on the paper. Repeat with the other foot using the other piece of paper. Use the image above to determine your arch type. If you use an electronic pad, take a photo of the image of your feet so you can refer back to it later if necessary.
IMPORTANT: Don’t assume that you know what type of arch you have without verifying it. Many times people tell me what kind of arch they have and 8 times out of 10 they are wrong! If you wear the wrong shoe for your arch type you could be setting yourself up for all sorts of problems. 

DETERMINING YOUR GAIT (PRONATION)
You also need to determine your gait. This can be done by having someone knowledgeable about gait watch you walk or run. You can also review the wear pattern on the bottom of your current shoes or bring them with you to the store so a shoe specialist can look at the wear pattern (ideally, you should do both). If the shoe store performs a gait analysis by having you run or walk on a treadmill so they can film you, do not let them bully you into doing it barefoot. The way you run or walk will be very different barefoot than it will wearing shoes. It is best to wear your current running/walking shoes for the treadmill analysis. If you do not have running shoes with you, then put on a pair of neutral running shoes at the store for the treadmill analysis. Then after you have selected a shoe, do the treadmill analysis again wearing the shoe you intend to buy to make sure it does cause problems with the way you run or walk.
A piece of advice - Don’t get freaked out if a shoe sales associate tells you that you pronate. EVERYBODY pronates. “Pronation” refers to how the foot rolls inwards to distribute your weight as it cycles through each step. This rolling inwards motion as the foot progresses from heel to toe is the way that the body naturally absorbs shock.
There are three types of pronation:
1. Neutral (or normal) pronation
2. Over-pronation
3. Under-pronation (Supination)

Neutral pronation
A neutral pronator initially strikes the ground on the lateral side (outside) of the heel. As the weight is transferred from the heel towards the midfoot, it will roll towards the medial side (inside), distributing weight evenly across the foot. At this stage the knee will generally, but not always, be positioned over the hallux (big toe). A neutral pronator has good shock absorption. The wear pattern on shoes will be fairly even across the bottom of the shoe. A neutral pronator will do well with a neutral or light stability shoe. People with normal arches most often, but not always, have neutral pronation.

Over-pronation
As with a neutral pronator, an over-pronator initially strikes the ground on the lateral side (outside) of the heel. As weight is transferred from the heel to the midfoot, however, the foot will roll too far to the medial side (inside), such that the weight is distributed unevenly across the foot, with excessive weight borne on the hallux (big toe). In this stage, the knee will generally, but not always, tracks inwards. An over-pronator does not absorb shock efficiently. The wear pattern will show more wear on the medial side of the shoe towards the big toe. An over-pronator requires a shoe with good medial support to prevent the foot rolling too far inwards. Wearing the wrong type of shoes can exacerbate ankle and knee problems. People with flat arches are often, but not always, over-pronators. 

Under-pronation (also called Supination)
An under-pronator, or supinator, also initially strikes the ground on the lateral side (outside) of the heel. As weight is transferred from the heel to the midfoot, the foot will not roll far enough in a medial direction. The weight is distributed unevenly across the foot, with excessive weight borne on the little (pinky) toe. In this stage, the knee will generally, but not always, track to the outside. An under-pronator does not absorb shock efficiently. The wear pattern will show more wear on the lateral side of the shoe towards the rear of the shoe in the heel area. An under-pronator requires a neutral, cushioned shoe and should never wear any shoe with motion control. People with high arches often, but not always, under-pronate.

You are now more knowledgeable about your feet than 80%+ of the population. This will give you a huge advantage when discussing your athletic shoe needs with sales associates.

It is never too late to get to know your feet!