You Won’t Believe This About Lacing...

You Won’t Believe This About Lacing...

Are you sitting down? We have some news for you. Ok, get ready...the way that you lace up your shoes can impact your experience wearing those shoes. Crazy, right? When you get behind the reason why, it actually doesn’t seem so crazy at all! All pairs of shoes are made from one standard shape of a human foot that changes slightly when you increase or decrease the size of the shoe. What about those of us whose feet tend to stray from the average shape of feet? What if our feet are a little more narrow or wide, our arches are higher up, our feet have gone flat, or we have bunions that change the shape of our foot? Ironically, finding a ‘normal’ adult foot these days is pretty difficult.

Everyone has at least one little abnormality that can impact their relationship with shoes! For those of us with slight differences in our feet, especially wide or narrow feet, changing the way we lace up our shoes can have a great impact on the relationship between our shoes and our feet. Do you have wider feet? Did you know that you can change the way you lace your shoes to make them more comfortable for your wider width? Most shoes have two sets of eyelet holes to adjust the shoelaces. When you use the outermost holes to lace your shoelaces, this allows some extra room in the toe box of the shoe, allowing it to accommodate a wider foot.

Similarly to this, you can use the inner eyelets to do the exact opposite - tighten up the toe box of your shoes to accommodate narrower feet. Depending on your needs, you may want to experiment with a combination of using outer and inner eyelets to find what works for you.

Got more questions? Dr. Alan J. Discont at Family Foot & Ankle Care is here to help! Call us today at (408) 732-0033 to schedule your next appointment at our location in Chandler, Arizona.