Shoe Rotation and Foot Injuries-Downtown Toronto Podiatry and Physiotherapy
There are many benefits to rotating your footwear. Shoes can be expensive these days, but having a couple of pairs in your rotation may actually save you from foot and lower leg injuries that we commonly treat at Downtown Toronto Podiatry and Physiotherapy.
Shoes tend to last longer when you give a day break in between uses. That means not using the same shoe every time you lace up. The foam at the bottom of the sole needs time to rebound back. If the shoe is ran on repetitively, that foam does not have the time to rebound, compressing faster. This is also the part that provides foot support to prevent injuries. You can find a common list of foot injuries from improper or worn out shoes found here :
Due to the fact the shoe is allowed to have time to bounce back, that means you will have more longevity out of the shoe, saving you money on shoe expenses. Typically 48 hours is a safe zone to allow the shoe to rebound back. That means approximately every other day.
You may experience less injuries
Once footwear becomes compressed, the soles can wear out unevenly, not providing the support it once had. Or, the sole can mold to a gait pattern of faulty mechanics. This means more niggles can arise from hitting the pavement in worn-out shoes. Here is a study that looks at running injury prevention and rotating footwear https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24286345/
Finding Your Shoe Preference
Having the ability to use different shoes will allow you to experiment with different types of makes and models. This will allow you to find out what best works for your foot type, preventing injuries. While here at Downtown Toronto Podiatrist and Downtown Toronto Physiotherapist, we can suggest certain footwear, ultimately what is most important is that you are comfortable in the shoe. Comfort is an individual preference which can only be determined by you.
How To Rotate Your Shoes For Injury Prevention
An easy way to have different footwear, to allow for the foam to bounce back, is to delegate certain shoes for certain types of runs. Shoes meant for a track workout will be light with a lower foam stack height (height of the sole). Shoes that are meant for longer runs on the pavement have more foam and are heavier, which also provides more protection for more miles and pounding the pavement.
Foot Injuries and Footwear
Changing up your footwear can also lead to injury prevention by working out different muscles group in your leg. That means if you always wear a shoe with a 10 mm drop your body becomes used to that and the load from running is always placed on the same area. If you change up the shoes to different heights, the load will shift around, making the load more evened out, preventing overuse injuries of one area. One of the first things people tend to do when they experience footman is change up their shoes.
Here at Instride, our registered Toronto Podiatrist and physiotherapist we recommend if you are dealing with achilles injuries, to avoid wearing shoes that are one level from toe to heel. Shoes with a difference from the heel to the forefoot of 10-12 mm is best in these scenarios. While some people with forefoot injuries do better in a shoe with a shoe of a lower drop, reducing the load on the forefoot. Our chiropodist and owner of Instride, Laura Desjardins, is a runner and would love to help you if you are dealing with any foot injuries requiring assistance.
