Most of the patients I work with benefit from wearing a shoe that not only supports your foot, but also provides neurosensory feedback that allows your ankles, hips, ribcage, and neck to move better. The right shoe is like a circuit breaker that gets you out of old patterns so you can rehab better and faster.
These shoe recommendations are not forever, but certainly while you are going through the rehabilitation process a good pair of shoes is essential to progressing and maintaining gains. Every year, the Hruska Clinic, created by Ron Hruska and the Postural Restoration Institute, provide a “shoe list” with the year’s best shoes based on appropriate stability and neurosensory prinicipals. This is a good place to start when selecting shoes. See the current shoe list HERE.
Once you are done with your course of physical therapy, you can certainly wear whatever shoes or boots you like to go out to dinner, the movies, etc. I still recommend that if you will be on your feet all day, when running, or if you are going on vacation and will be walking a lot, wear shoes that provide appropriate support and neurosensory feedback. This will keep you feeling good.
A lot of my patients ask me about dress or casual shoes that they can wear while they are still in their rehabilitation process, as they cannot wear tennis shoes to work.
While the shoes on the Hruska Clinic List will be the best during rehabilitation, here are some general concepts that you can apply to any shoe.
1. No Heels
Heeled shoes push you onto the balls of your feet, making your back arch and front ribs move up. In order to find a neutral position in our bodies, we have to be able to sense the ground through our heels. When we are forced into an extended position, this can cause issues all the way up the chain, from your feet to your neck and head.
2. Shoe Structure
Mary Jane strap shoes or shoes that lace up are best. Slip on shoes or flip flops provide a sense of instability to your body, causing your ankles, pelvis and neck to stiffen in an attempt to stabilize. This leads to compensations and pain.
3. Heel Stability
Not only do you have to sense the base of your heel through your shoe, but it is also important to feel a “hug” around the base of your ankle, just below the achilles tendon. This support allows your ankles the freedom to “wobble” in and out. This wobble allows our foot to transition between pronation and supination, which are essential for normal walking.
4. Sense Your Foot.
Feeling your heels is important, but the shoe should allow you to feel your whole foot. Try this technique to see if you feel your whole foot in your shoe:
- Stand with your right foot slightly in front of left, left arm forward, right arm back (as if you are in the middle of taking a step while walking).
- See if you feel your left heel, arch, and big toe.
- Slightly lift your right foot off the ground, and see if you still feel left heel, arch, and big toe.
- Repeat on the other side (right foot slightly behind left, right arm forward).
If you don’t feel your arch or big toe in this position, this is not the shoe for you. Or, if you only feel your arch and it is painful or you don’t feel the other parts of your foot (heel and big toe), then the arches in the shoe are too high.
5. The Shoe Should Feel Good Right Away!
You should not have to feel like you have to break in a shoe. It should feel comfortable when you try it on in the store. Your body will let you know when you have found a good shoe.
Everyone is different and some people need individualized advice on finding the right shoe. However, if you find a shoe that meets all these criteria, you are likely going to have good success with that shoe.
