Who would want to be in your shoes? Seriously, take a good look at the way
you decorate your feet, and unless your choice of footwear can banish
cellulite, flatten a dowager’s hump or create an ironing-board midriff, you
are doing your feet (and body) a big disservice.
During the past couple of years, a sort of functional footwear phenomenon has
spawned a hugely competitive market for sandals and trainers that promise
far more than just comfort and style. Where once we were encouraged to try
Pilates or yoga to improve posture or lose weight, now it seems that all we
need to do is change our shoes.
The most recent sensation is the FitFlop, a thigh-toning sandal whose devotees
are convinced that it gives them longer and leaner-looking legs. The FitFlop
website apologises for the current limited availability of the sandal, which
is due to it “selling out faster than you can say gluteus maximus”. The
shoe’s manufacturer claims that its “uniquely built mid-step is designed to
tone thighs, activate muscles and tone the calves and gluteal muscles” as
well as to reduce joint strain by “recreating the gait of barefoot walking”.
The way the sole is shaped, say its promoters, makes the foot unstable, thus
encouraging more movement than usual. And by raising the middle of the shoe,
it helps to prevent collapsing arches.
But are these promises of lithe and lengthy limbs a step too far? “As with a
lot of these fashionable, quasi-medical shoes, I am concerned that people
will think that they put them on and turn into Cameron Diaz,” says Trevor
Lewis, a consultant physiotherapist specialising in feet and lower limbs at
Knowsley Primary Healthcare Trust in Merseyside. He shares concerns with
other experts, who say that there is no evidence to suggest that FitFlops
are better for the feet than any other flip-flop, and that, in fact, both
can cause problems. Because of their flatness, they can cause Achilles
tendonitis, for example, as well as pain in the lower leg and calf muscles.
“As with all shoes, including high heels, a certain number of people will
find them comfortable, but for some they could cause problems.”
A period of transition is needed with any style of flip-flop, says Lewis, and
anyone who goes straight from wearing trainers or high heels to flatties
risks pain and strain in the Achilles tendon above the heel. “Keeping
flip-flops on also requires a clawing action by the toes that does work
muscles, but it can cause pain in people not used to it,” he says. “They can
be comfortable for some, but not everyone will benefit from them.”
When it comes to MBT (Masai Barefoot Technology) trainers, the clumpy and
somewhat unsightly shoes that are firmly established as a celebrity foot
fashion, the arguments for and against are more definitive. Last year more
than one million pairs of MBTs (costing around £129) were sold in more than
20 countries; there are now 133 stockists of these bizarre-looking walking
shoes in the UK alone.
What makes them different from a regular trainer, the manufacturers claim, is
their unique curved sole, which promotes instability and encourages a
rolling front-to-back action when someone walks in them. Marketed as “the
first footwear that has a positive effect on the entire body”, they
are said to assist in eradicating everything from cellulite and bunions to
back pain.
Indeed, several physiotherapists claim that the hype is true, and it is
supported by small studies at Sheffield Hallam University, the University of
Calgary in Canada and Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. “People with back pain will
certainly benefit from wearing MBTs because they improve posture and can be
helpful for problems as diverse as bunions and osteo-arthritis,” says Joshua
Wies, a Cambridge-based chartered physiotherapist (and, it should be said,
the director of the MBT Academy). “They do improve the way that you walk and
stand.”
But Sammy Margo, a spokes-person for the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy
who wears MBTs regularly, stresses that they are not suitable for everyone.
“They can possibly help people with stiff backs who do jobs that involve a
lot of standing, but for anyone who spends a lot of time at a desk, or has
hyper-mobility in their spine and weak core stability, they could make
postural problems worse.”
Results of a recent study into the effects of the rocking shoes – one of
the few to be published (in the Medicine & Science in Sports &
Exercise journal last year) – were inconclusive, with the Calgary
researchers finding only a negligible difference in the reduction of pain
among osteo-arthritis patients who wore MBTs or good walking shoes.
Nicki de Leon, a consultant physiotherapist at the Sports & Spinal Clinic
in Harley Street, is “not a fan of them at all”, because they can
“fundamentally alter the way people walk, shifting their normal
bio-mechanics so that instead of striking their heel to the floor and
transferring the weight forward, they are being rocked forward by their
shoe”. That, she adds, is bad news, especially for people who wear them to
walk for long distances, such as to work, because “when they take them off
their muscles forget what they are supposed to do naturally”.
Despite such scepticism, consumers are prepared to defend their favourite
footwear’s functionality. Fans of Crocs, a welly/clog fusion that was
originally designed as boatwear, swear that they are not only comfortable,
but also exceptionally good for the feet. Last week Harold Glickman, a
former president of the American Podiatric Medical Association, described
them as “offering more support than flip-flops, which don’t provide a lot of
arch support and are open-toed”. Some models have an anti-bacterial lining
to prevent fungal infections.
What to wear on your feet, then, has become a troublesome decision. Does one
plump for function, fashion or comfort? “There is no rule and no one type of
shoe that is recommended for use all the time and by everyone,” says Lewis.
“Changing the type of shoes you wear and sometimes going barefoot in the
house is probably the best bet so that a range of different leg and foot
muscles are used. When it comes to shoes, one size does not fit all.”
Pros and cons of fashionable footwear
Crocs are brightly coloured, rubbery, waterproof clogs. The fit is very wide,
so they are good for those who suffer from bunions, but they can cause pain
in the Achilles tendon if you are not used to wearing them. Visit crocsfootwear.co.uk
for stockists.
MBTs are trainers with a curved sole that promotes instability and encourages
a rolling front-to-back action. Studies suggest that they can help to reduce
arthritic and back pain but they are not suitable for everyone and could
make back pain worse. Because they need to be fitted, they can be purchased
only at accredited stockists: see mb-uk.com.
Birkenstocks are the original walking flip-flops and sandals. Their cupped
sole offers some support so that the toes are not “clawing” as much as they
do in ordinary flip-flops. But they are not designed for long distances, as
there is minimal support for the upper foot. See Birkenstock.co.uk
for stockists.
