It’s definitely time to see a podiatrist (aka: foot doctor) if …

1. If you have chronic back pain and it’s not from trauma
2. If you have arthritis
3. If you have yellow or black toenails
4. If your ankle has been swollen for over an hour
5. If your child often complains of foot pain
6. If you have constant knee pain and you’re not sure why
7. If you think you’ve broken a bone in your foot
8. If you have chronic heel pain
9. If you have been stuffing your feet into heels for decades
10. If everyone around you says you walk funny

Have you ever been to a podiatrist? Why?

Do you think you should go now?

Children’s shoes are made with such poor insoles, that it is often necessary to buy children insoles that have arch support, heel cups and other healthy features. The following four kids arch support insoles are sold at HealthyFeetStore.com: KidZerts, Bambini, Arch Angels and Birkenstock. I interviewed Dr. Jeff Hurless, a foot and ankle surgeon, podiatrist, partial owner and medical director of HealthyFeetStore.com to explain the differences between these kids arch support insoles so that you know which one would best suit your child.

KidZerts
Purpose: Use them for collapsing arches, turned in ankles, sore feet, sore leg muscles, help weight distribution
Features that make it unique: A deep heel cup,  lateral post, deeper seated arch support to cup the foot, wear-moldable, anti-bacterial topcover, fun color
Will benefit children with: Flat feet, foot fatigue, leg cramps, tilted heels, abornmal shoe wear, poor balance

Bambini
Purpose: Use them for collapsing arches, turned in ankles, sore feet, sore leg muscles, help weight distribution
Features that make it unique: Durable, soft and conforming leather top cover, super low profile, no heel cup
Will benefit children with: Flat feet, foot fatigue, leg cramps, tilted heels, abornmal shoe wear, poor balance

Arch Angels
Purpose: Use them for collapsing arches, turned in ankles, sore feet, sore leg muscles, help weight distribution
Features that make it unique: Rear foot post to stabilize the arch support, very rigid, will provide the most support
Will benefit children with: Flat feet, foot fatigue, leg cramps, tilted heels, abornmal shoe wear, poor balance

Birkenstock
Purpose: Use them for collapsing arches, turned in ankles, sore feet, sore leg muscles, help weight distribution
Features that make it unique: Firmer material for more support (not cushy), deep heel cup, lateral extended arch
Will benefit children with: Flat feet, foot fatigue, leg cramps, tilted heels, abornmal shoe wear, poor balance

Let’s break it down:
For the most all-over support, buy Arch Angels.
For a soft insole with a very deep heel cup and arch support, buy KidZerts.
For a firmer insole with a deep heel cup and arch support, buy Birkenstock.
For a durable, soft insole with not as much arch support, buy Bambini.

PLEASE NOTE: If your child has tried inserts of this kind and he/she is still experiencing pain or problems, please see a doctor or a foot/ankle specialist.

As the weather warms up and more people head outdoors to work out, shin splints become increasingly common. Why do people get these pains? How do you know if you have a shin splint? What is the best way to treat them? I asked Barbara Adams, our HealthyFeetStore.com pedorthist, for the answers.

What are shin splints?
The formal term is medial tibial stress syndrome. It’s a cumulative stress injury from repetitive actions on an undertrained muscle. They can also be pain caused by the lack of recovery between workouts or repeatedly running on a hard terrain, specifically concrete or compacted surfaces that would decrease the natural rebound that you would have when training on a natural surface.

How do people get shin splints?
Usually it’s in an over-use situation. People try to get back into a running routine after abandoning the course over winter or increase their workout time in order to get ready swimsuit ready.

What does it feel like when you have shin splints?
The pain is usually on the medial aspect of your calf. It gets worse with running, going up and down hills/stairs or weight-baring exercises, because your calf muscles get really tight. It may continue after you exercise. You can start to feel shin splints when you’re exercising. You can usually feel them coming. They can happen post-activity too.

Who are more susceptible to getting shin splints?
People who have a tendency to over-pronate and people who run on concrete. The lack of stretching or warming up and wearing worn out athletic shoes.

When are shin splints the most prevalent?
They usually occur in the spring because it’s training season for a lot of outdoor distance and endurance activities.

How can runners and gym-enthusiasts prevent getting shin splints?
Get new, well-made, supportive athletic shoes that you can find on HealthyFeetStore.com. Don’t run on concrete or other hard surfaces. Leg (calf especially) stretching and strengthening exercises are super helpful, as well.

How should shin splints be treated?
It takes muscles a long time to heal. The only way to treat them is to let them rest and recover. Also you can take non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (like Aleve) to relieve the pain. Some people tape or ice their shins for pain relief and treatment. This can also be preventative if you know you’re prone to shin splints. Some people write out the alphabet in the air with their feet or scrunching up a towel with their toes as a form of treatment, because it stretches the muscles in a non-weight baring exercise.

What is your advice to those who are starting their warm-weather workout routines?
Don’t run in new shoes. If you have long workouts or training sessions and just purchased new shoes, I recommend a break-in period, which is about a week (an hour on, an hour off one day, then two hours on, two hours off another day etc. You should also make sure you have proper socks that are cushiony, if necessary, and depending on the shoe, you may need arch supports or supportive insoles. You should alter your routine- don’t just run on hard surfaces. Run on grass or sand because those softer surfaces will help alter the muscle responses and will reduce your chances of getting shin splints. Build a program for yourself- be conservative when you’re going back into your training.

This new “barefoot running” fad is blowing up. Articles and web sites regarding this “new and healthy” way of running can be found all over the Internet. So I interviewed Dr. Jeff Hurless, a foot and ankle surgeon, podiatrist, partial owner and medical director of HealthyFeetStore.com, to get the facts straight about barefoot running.

A study published in PM&R: The Journal of Injury, Function and Rehabilitation showed that running on a treadmill in the Brooks Adrenaline shoes increases stress on the knee joints up to 38% compared to those who ran barefoot on a treadmill.

Why do you think the study found that?

It would be dependant on the subjects. Who were the subjects? Those kinds of studies have so many variables. What type of treadmill? What pace? Was it inclined? Did the subjects have pre-existing conditions? What were their foot types? Did they ever have surgery on their feet, knees, back? You can pick apart that study so fast. How many subjects were there? It’s a meaningless study in my mind. Anybody who has any interest in research or does research knows you can pick apart those studies in the first paragraph. The downside is that the average person doesn’t know that.

The whole basis behind barefoot running in my opinion – I don’t advocate it or anything – from what I know about it, there were reasonable studies that did show an increase of efficiency of the lower extremity, with barefoot running as opposed to shoe running. I’m not going to debate that – I agree with that. What it comes down to is when you have a shoe on, there is more of a heel strike as opposed to a non-shoe runner, where you strike more in your forefoot. When you heel strike, a lot of the energy you built up in a run gets taken away with a vertical heel strike. Opposed to if you’re landing on your toes, that energy isn’t as absorbed, it gets put back into to propel you forward. I would agree barefoot running is slightly more efficient than running with shoes. A slight amount.

However, barefoot running isn’t for everybody. If you look at the mechanics of it, not everyone can handle it. It’s a very small percentage of the population. The percentage who can run barefoot and not create problems, that’s great. It’s very few and far between.

There’s absolutely no study currently that has shown that a heel striking contributes to more injury than forefoot striking. Who cares if you have more force on your knee if it doesn’t cause any trouble?

You can never make a broad statement that barefoot running is better for you – not today. There are just too many variables. It may be better for that 2 percent – they might have a more efficient stride. We can never blanket that statement.

What types of people can run barefoot?

It has to do with muscle type, slow twitch/fast twitch mussels, reflex efficiency, connective tissue, stability of tissue, bone density of foot. Tissue type and foot function make a difference. There’s no way that the patients I see with collapsed arches could run barefoot. A flat foot is a severely unstable foot. We rely on adding support back to that foot so they can function better. That type of person would never be able to be a barefoot runner. And body weight matters. You’re not going to have a 250 pound person out there running barefoot. Body type, foot type, tissue type – that is what selects the type of people that can run barefoot.

The doctor from the study attributes the increased stress to the characteristic design of the majority of running shoes, including an elevated heel and increased material in the midsole arch. She suspects the cushioning in the heel counteracts the body’s natural response to compensate for the torque associated with impact.
Is there some truth in that?

Those numbers may be correct. It boils back to if you look at people running with shoes and without shoes. You do have more of a heel strike when you’re in a shoe- so that vertical force that gets absorbed through the heel goes up the leg, but I really can’t debate that. I’m not saying that added force is bad. Did it translate into knee problems? The stress doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad thing. Comparing the shoed-running to the non, there is more force that does get absorbed through our heel, ankle, knee and hip. However, our mind changes the foot position when you run barefoot, and its been shown they spend more time on their forefoot, which overall is slightly a more efficient way to run, but again not everyone can do it.

There are very few individuals who can withstand barefoot running. In today’s society, everyone wears shoes, it’s expected. You can’t go from wearing a shoe 98% of your life to running barefoot. Our society will never be without shoes. We can’t fight that. People with foot problems and foot pain- the worst thing they can do is run barefoot.

The doctor running the study said she isn’t advocating that runners take up barefoot running- just that her findings may be a reason to redesign running shoes.
What do you think makes a healthy athletic shoe?

I’m more for support. The population I’m dealing with, I’m always recommending support. For the 90 percent of the population who can’t run barefoot, the characteristics would include: a more slightly elevated heel than the forefoot, it takes tension away from Achilles tendon and plantar foot structures. The mainstream athletic shoe now has a thicker heel, because when the heel is slightly higher than your forefoot, it does relieve some of the stress of the Achilles tendon and plantar foot structures. A ridged sole with an appropriate flex point – it should only flex at the toe box not anywhere else. Because our toes need to flex there but we don’t need it anywhere else. A firm heel counter that goes around the back of our heel. It needs to be ridged. Adjustability is an important part of an athletic shoe- being able to fit the shoe well to your foot makes, the shoe will then provide better support. Uggs are very loose and sloppy, so they’re not supportive. It’s great if you can tighten the shoe around your foot. Also shoes that are durable, absorb shock.

There is a growing barefoot running community. Why do they say running barefoot feels better than in shoes?

Probably – for that few select group who can handle it – it boils down to it is a slightly more efficient stride. You’re avoiding that heel strike; that loss of vertical force that happens when we heel strike that is absorbing that energy isn’t there in the barefoot run.

What types of foot or joint problems will these people develop later?

If somebody new to barefoot running starts doing it, they can get plantar fasciitis. I have a patient who was a tri-athlete and started barefoot running and came down with plantar fasciitis. You can also get a variety of tendinitises or soft tissue injuries. If you’re already a slightly over-pronator, you’re going to really over-pronate and you can get tibial tendinitis. If we lived without shoes, we’d probably have more success at barefoot running. The bone density might be better and muscles would be stronger. But we’re not always on our barefeet – it’s our society and culture to live in shoes and that’s the way it’s always going to be. We’re not in the best position to run barefoot.

Is there any activity that people should do barefoot, besides showering?

Exposing our body to being barefoot is important to a degree. We rely on our feet for many other reasons other than propulsion – we use them to see what the temperature is of the ground, if the ground is level, if the ground is moving. We have all these nerves that give us feedback that we don’t even think about. To basically exercise that sensory input is best done barefoot. We do use muscles in the feet a little more – tiny intrinsic muscles in the foot, we use them more barefoot. Exposing ourselves to barefoot time is appropriate, but there is a balance.

Why is support in a shoe good for your feet?

Our foot needs to serve as a rigid lever so that we have that lever to propel ourselves forward. That’s why we got rid of that opposable big toe. We don’t climb trees anymore. So we use feet primarily to make us go forward. We need stability, we need our foot to be on the rigid side so it does its job, so we can contract our muscles so we can go forward. So support is imperative for our normal functioning foot. A good percentage of people are over-pronators: about 60 to 80% of people. Pronation is a normal motion in our ankle. Pronation is when the arch goes down. We don’t want to over-do anything. Over-pronation is absolutely not good for feet. It causes many problems in the feet. Adding support to prevent this over-pronation of the foot is important.

As we get older, we need more and more support around our foot. We lose our ability to support our feet. Gravity will slowly drop your arches, lose stability in your tissues of your feet. 

If you had the time and resources to do a study, what type of study would you do?

Something that has to do with women and high heels – because that’s a huge speed bump for us in foot medicine. Dealing with women with foot problems that need to wear high heels. I’d put some research into the ultimate high heel that’s good for the foot. There have been attempts.

We at HealthyFeetStore.com are always working hard to improve our business so that customers can get the best of everything: great orthopedic shoes, fantastic podiatrist approved foot care products, and stellar customer service.  We also do our best to share with our customers everything that is newsworthy; from the latest information about our company to anything new happening on our website.  Below you’ll find our most recent press release about our 5th anniversary.

HEALTHYFEETSTORE.COM CELEBRATES 5TH ANNIVERSARY

Online Store Offers Huge Selection of Orthopedic and Diabetic Shoes

SAN DIEGO, November 13, 2009—HealthyFeetStore.com, one of the largest online providers of orthopedic shoes and foot care products, announced today that it is celebrating its fifth anniversary. More than just an orthopedic shoe store, HealthyFeetStore.com is a source of fashionable, comfortable and supportive shoes for people with healthy feet who want to keep them that way.

Dr. Jeffrey Hurless, a board-certified podiatric surgeon in Thousand Oaks, Calif., founded the HealthyFeetStore.com to provide a convenient source for purchasing doctor-recommended foot and ankle products. Only products that have been tested and used by his patients are included in the store’s inventory.

“About three of every four people will experience foot health problems at some time in their life, due to both the foot’s complexity and the fact that the pressure put on feet can exceed a person’s body weight,” Dr. Hurless said. “I’m delighted to have the opportunity to help those who have foot issues, and those who want to prevent them, by providing an outstanding online shopping experience.”

HealthyFeetStore.com offers an extensive inventory of orthopedic shoes, sandals and boots as well as diabetic shoes and sandals in hard to find sizes up to men’s size 20 and 17E wide. In addition, customers can choose from arch supports, therapeutic slippers, house shoes, and other foot care products designed to minimize the discomfort caused by plantar fasciitis, bunions, heel pain, post-surgical healing, and other foot conditions.

“Anyone who’s ever had a foot problem knows how difficult it can be to find shoes that minimize their discomfort while not looking like they’re wearing something from their grandmother’s closet,” said Marty Backer, owner/partner of HealthyFeetStore.com. “Our trained medical staff screens each of our shoes to ensure we offer the best quality and selection…and many people are surprised to see the variety of stylish shoes available. You truly don’t have to sacrifice fashion to wear comfortable shoes.”

About HealthyFeetStore.com
HealthyFeetStore.com was founded in 2004 by podiatrist Dr. Jeffrey Hurless, to offer doctor-recommended foot and ankle products to those who suffer from foot ailments and those who want to prevent them. The store carries more than 60 brands, including New Balance, Birkenstock, Brooks, Finn Comfort, PW Minor and Naot. For more information, visit HealthyFeetStore.com.

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Did you know that every 20 seconds someone is diagnosed with diabetes and according to some surveys the number of diabetics is rapidly increasing in the United States?  In addition, being a diabetic may increase your risk of experiencing common foot problems. The HealthyFeetBlog.com would like to share some valuable information about diabetes and your feet.

As you may recall, earlier this month we welcomed guest blogger Hai-En Peng, DPM, AACFAS who shared with us daily care tips to avoid diabetic foot complications. Today Dr. Peng is sharing information about amputations due to diabetes and how they may be prevented by following a few simple precautions.

Diabetes Patients Urged to Take Simple Precautions to Help Save Their Feet

THOUSAND OAKS, CA, (11/09) – Taking a minute or two every day to inspect your feet and observing a few simple rules can make the difference in sparing diabetes patients from a preventable outcome of the disease – a foot amputation.

“Of all diabetes-related complications, a serious foot ulcer and subsequent amputation might be the most preventable with proper care and vigilance in checking the feet at least once a day for small cuts and other abrasions,” says Hai-En Peng, DPM, AACFAS, a member of the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons (ACFAS).  “Even those with good control of their blood sugar can experience foot ulcers, especially if neuropathy, a frequent diabetes complication, has caused decreased feeling on the bottom of their feet.”

Loss of sensation inhibits the body’s normal pain response. As a result, walking can apply repetitive, unfelt pressure to a wound, making it larger and deeper. Left untreated, diabetic ulcers lead to serious infections, which may result in amputation.

Peng says foot and ankle surgeons use a variety of surgical and non-surgical methods to heal diabetic ulcers, but stressed early intervention yields the most favorable outcomes.

“Daily self exams are the best protection. Too often, patients fail to check their feet for small cuts or punctures that over time will ulcerate and become infected,” he says. “If you have diabetes and see anything suspicious on your feet, consult a foot and ankle surgeon for diagnosis and treatment. Even a few days can make a difference in preventing serious foot problems from developing.”

An estimated 7 in 10 diabetes patients have nerve damage that impairs feeling in their feet. Fifteen percent eventually will develop a foot ulcer. Among those with ulcers, one in four will lose a foot. Each year more than 86,000 amputations are performed as a direct result of diabetes, and studies show half of those who have one foot or leg amputated will lose the other within five years. Proper diabetic foot care, says Peng, prevents foot loss.

In some cases, amputation might be the preferred option. If vascular and podiatric surgeries can’t improve blood circulation and foot function, resolve infection or restore foot function, amputation may be the only solution that enables the patient to heal. Today, advances in prosthetics make it possible for patients to return to an active lifestyle, a necessity for keeping diabetes under control.

Foot problems are not an inevitable consequence of diabetes. The risk can be lessened significantly by following a few simple precautions:

• Keep your blood sugar under control to help minimize cardiovascular and blood circulation problems
• Lose weight, don’t smoke and adhere to prescribed dietary, medication and exercise regimen
  
• At least once a day, examine your feet for cuts and other small wounds you may not feel
• Never walk barefoot, outdoors and indoors
• Cut nails carefully – straight across and not too short; never trim corns and calluses yourself
• Wash your feet every day in lukewarm water; dry carefully
• Choose comfortable shoes with adequate room for the toes
• Wear clean, dry, non-bulky socks; change daily
• Shake pebbles or bits of gravel out of your shoes before wearing
• Seek treatment from a foot and ankle surgeon if minor cuts and sore spots don’t seem to be healing

Thanks again to Dr. Peng for sharing more valuable information for diabetics. To learn more about Dr. Peng or diabetes and your feet, you can visit his practice website at www.pengfootankle.com; or to set up an appointment with Dr. Peng, call (805) 496-2383.

November is National Diabetes Month® and the HealthyFeetBlog.com is joining the American Diabetes Association in their movement to Stop Diabetes^SM. This month most of our blog posts will be related to diabetes and your feet.

Today we are thrilled to have a guest blogger, Hai-En Peng, DPM, AACFAS sharing with us daily care tips to avoid diabetic foot complications.

(THOUSAND OAKS, CA – 11/09)  With the observance of National Diabetes Month in November, Dr. Peng, a member of the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons with an office in Thousand Oaks, CA, reminds residents with diabetes that following simple foot care tips can reduce their risk of toe, foot or leg amputations.

People with diabetes are 10 times more likely to have a lower limb amputated than people without diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association. Dr. Peng says the disease can cause poor blood circulation and nerve damage in the feet, making them vulnerable to developing ulcers, infections, deformities and brittle bones.

The ACFAS consumer Web site FootPhysicians.com provides these foot care tips for people with diabetes:

• Inspect feet daily for injuries that could lead to dangerous ulcers.
• Gently wash feet in lukewarm (not hot!) water.
• Moisturize feet, avoiding the area between the toes.
• Never trim corns or calluses; this can lead to serious infections.
• Inspect the inside of shoes before wearing.

People with diabetes must always be vigilant, says Dr. Peng, and see a foot and ankle surgeon at the first sign of trouble. Early treatment can keep diabetic foot problems from progressing, and reduce the risk of amputations.

Thanks again to Dr. Peng for sharing these helpful tips! To learn more about Dr. Peng you can visit his practice website at www.pengfootankle.com or to set up an appointment with Dr. Peng, call (805) 496-2383.

Reader Question:

Dear HealthyFeetStore.com Blog,
I have been a competitive Irish dancer for 10 years and last August I started to have intense pain in the arch/bottom of my foot ONLY when dancing. Irish dancing requires a lot of pounding with your feet in shoes that do no offer much in the way of support. The shoes that give me the most problems are called “hardshoes.” They are basically a plain lace up shoe with a fiber glass tip of about ¾” thick and a 1.5” wooden heel with a strip of flexible leather in between under the arch. The pain starts about 5-10 minutes into practicing and becomes so intense I have to yank my shoes off and sit down. It feels like a very bad cramp. As soon as I stop dancing though it will go away in 5 minutes only to come back when I start dancing again. It does not bother me at all on a daily basis, only during practice. For this reason, my doctor does not think it is Plantar Fasciitis. I’ve had x-rays which didn’t show anything and I have been to a sports medicine physician. He could not offer much more than orthotics. I don’t know if orthotics in my dance shoes will work because of the flexibility that is necessary to dance. The arch of the shoe has to be able to bend in both directions. I rested for 6 weeks, went to physical therapy, did the stretches, massaged the arch…. all of which did nothing when I went back to dance. No one has been able to give me a clear answer on what this is or what to do. I’m kind of at a loss as to what to do now. Do you have any recommendations?

Thank you!

Podiatrist Jeff Hurless’ Answer:

Although we cannot provide a medical diagnosis to you without seeing you as a patient in our office, we can offer the following product suggestions.

Some dancers who experience foot pain find using Powerstep Arch Boosters in their dancing shoes to be helpful. You might also try a metatarsal gel pad. Usually there is not enough room inside a dancing shoe to support a complete orthotic. These are both inexpensive products that may be worth a try. We do recommend visiting footphysicians.com and finding a board certified foot and ankle doctor near you for an evaluation. Good Luck.

Reader Question:

Dear HealthyFeetStore.com Blog,
I am the mother of a 3 1/2 year old boy. His left leg pronates more than his right and his right foot seems to be flatter than the other one. When I ask him to put his ankles together for me his left knee sticks inward. I’ve heard that children’s feet often pronate and that this tends to correct itself as children get older, but I’m worried that he may have flat feet because his father and grandfather have them.

What I wanted to ask was do I need to get my son orthotics or special shoes?

Can he wear sandals? I do not want to get anything that is flat and it seems all of the sandals made for kids have absolutely no arch support in them.

Any advice you could give me would be helpful. Thank you.

Podiatrist Jeff Hurless’ Answer:

Pronation is a normal motion in the hindfoot. Flat feet is a condition caused by excessive pronation. Excessive pronation also causes increased internal rotation of the lower leg bones – the tibia and the fibula; which can, in turn, place abnormal strain on the knee. You are right that it is a little too early to tell if your son’s excessive pronation will correct itself. The arch of a child’s foot has the ability to continue to develop up to approximately age seven. However, with your family’s history of having flat feet (your father and your grandfather), there is a high likelihood that your son will have flat feet as an adult.

Now, to treat or not to treat a child with asymptomatic flat feet?

I believe the answer to that is very clear: treat. One of my own three children has flat feet and there is no way I would let him go without arch supports throughout his childhood and years of development. The treatment that I recommend is simply wearing arch supports and “good” shoes. The word, “good” to me means extra supportive. The problem with a flat foot is that the foot lacks its normal intrinsic support system. So, the body uses other muscles, tendons, and bones to compensate for this lack of support. If we use shoes and arch supports to supplement the foot, then the need for compensation is reduced. The years of compensating for a foot structure abnormality is what causes problems later in life.

My recommendation for your son would be the Asics GT 2120 or Asics GT 2130 (we don’t carry it yet, but Zappos.com does) for every day normal “boy” play time and for a dressier look any of our Keeping Pace Boy’s Leather Dress / Casual Shoe. Our best selling arch support for children is the Pedag Bambini. As for children’s sandals that are “good for feet”, those have always been a very challenging category, but I would recommend the Naot Santa Cruz.

Thanks for sending your question. Best wishes for both you and your son.

Would you like to ask a podiatrist? Send your foot or shoe question to HealthyFeetStore_Content_Writer at yahoo dot com.

An anonymous reader sent us a couple of questions about using children’s arch supports. We are posting the questions and Dr. Hurless’ answers in case there are any other HealthyFeetStore.com Blog readers who would also find the information useful.

Reader Question #1:

How do I know when to replace my daughter’s arch support?

Podiatrist Jeff Hurless’ Answer:

Many parents who visit my practice are concerned about when their child’s arch support will wear out. Because of how quickly a child’s feet typically grow, in most cases the arch support will need to be replaced because it no longer fits the child long before its support breaks down. Children who wear arch supports should get new arch supports when their foot size increases by 1 size.

Reader Question #2:

When my daughter is walking the arch supports stay where they’re supposed to, but when she plays soccer it starts to slip around and becomes uncomfortable. How do we get it to stop moving when she runs?

Podiatrist Jeff Hurless’ Answer:

Using double-sided fabric tape or adhesive VELCRO® patches usually does the trick. You can find both at most fabric and craft stores.

Would you like to ask a podiatrist? Send your foot or shoe question to HealthyFeetStore_Content_Writer at yahoo dot com.

In a week or less we’ll either reply to your email or, if we think other readers would be interested in the answer, we’ll post our response to HealthyFeetStore.com Blog. We promise not to put your email on any lists or use your name or location in our post unless you give us permission to.