Chances are you’ve never looked at the soles of your shoes unless you needed to wipe dog poop off them, but they can tell you so much about your walk and about when it’s time to buy new shoes! An out-of-town client who I’ll call C, and who I hadn’t seen in years, came in recently with recent hip pain that didn’t have an obvious cause - until we looked at their shoes. Check these out.
C’s right shoe was the direct cause of their hip pain on that same side. If one side of the sole of your shoe (inside, outside, front, or back) is significantly worn down compared to the rest, it will mess with your walk because it will pull you toward that side and affect how the pressure of your step travels through you. You can put in all the arch support you want or tie your shoes in special ways, but if you’re fighting the sole of the shoe, it will always win. In C’s case, the front outside of their right shoe was worn down to practically nothing and the rubber was falling apart. I regularly see clients with worn out shoes, but these were exceptionally so.
I wish I’d gotten a photo of these shoes sitting on the ground. The outside of the right sole was so squished that the whole shoe leaned. It had become totally impossible for C to spread weight evenly through their right foot in these shoes, which affected every activity, especially because C isn’t comfortable barefoot and had been wearing these shoes constantly for years. They’ll be much more comfortable barefoot after replacing these shoes and learning how to use more of their right foot again.
So, go look at the soles of the shoes you wear most often! If they look anything like C’s right shoe, regardless of your wear pattern, it’s beyond time to replace them. If they look more like C’s left shoe, they could last a little longer if you need them to, but it’s probably time to replace them too. Your whole body will thank you, not just your feet.