Why does nearly every shoemaker design shoes that angle acutely towards a terminal point at the third toe? Do me a favor and take off your shoes (and socks). Now, do you notice an overall shape more like a divers flipper, or is your foot shaped like a stiletto? If your foot looks like the one below you are exempt from this conversation: and carry on...
This image is the foot that the shoes I grew up with where designed for.
Your feet, are your link to the ground, by design there job is to offer kinetic feedback from the earth you move over back up through the chain, effecting positioning and movement of every joint, influencing decision making and taking on the role of supporting your dynamic/static structure everyday.
Now, we all (most) from the moment we dive out of our mothers womb, have the intention of mimicking the influences around us and approaching what intrigues us. To do this optimally and quickly we soon begin developing a sequence of motor skills by connecting movements relating to; back to front, up and down, left to right, side to side and once they progress with persistence and timing, we the infant soon begin the phases of crawling, squatting, bending, pushing, pulling and rotating before ending up into a two limbed stance prior to walking.
Hopefully throughout this stage your parents didn't decide to "brace" you into a pair of shoes for any prolonged period of time. As these stages of infant growth all require head-down and ground-up flow of information to meet and integrate, whilst shaping the curves of your vertebrae, developing proprioception, senses, breathing mechanics etc.. and this cannot be achieved if you place a load of construction in the way blocking that loop of information, as what you could be left with is a very confused system thats prone to injury, not just at the foot.
Whilst you can appreciate the importance of exposing your child (s) sensory-bearing feet to the earth, why would we then decide once we reach a certain bracket to shove them into these "casts" we call shoes..? Or maybe we didn't decide to do this and like all aspects of society we tend to follow whats considered "normal" or somewhat civilised at that time.
Theres no doubting the shoe industry is a highly successful, multi-billion currency industry that has literally shaped, polluted and influenced our communities, but that doesn't mean (like BIG pharma) that it makes any sense, at least from a biomechanical and physiological perspective.
Firstly; the side walls of the shoe’s toe-box presses the metatarsals and phalanges together restricting optimal range and spread. Whilst every shoe offers this inconvenience, individuals who 'tighten' their laces also add to the compression of the mid foot further immobilising and restricting any known expression within this "brace". Unlucky (or unconscious) individuals who expose their feet to this environment long enough, soon begin experiencing inflamed bursa's on the medial aspect of their big toe, which can and often does lead to bunion development.
Secondly; leading on, the word immobilisation is often used within areas of rehabilitation and when exposed to acute trauma. To immobilise (usually a joint) more often that not an individual is restricted to partial or no range, after so many days/weeks exposed to no movement of the isolated joint the surrounding tissue begins to weaken and atrophy due to the lack of stress imposed.
and yep you guessed, this is exactly whats happening/ed to anyone that wears footwear which inhibits normal biomechanics of the foot and ankle, the surrounding tissue just becomes slowly more susceptible to injury.
Thirdly; If you had to conduct an important operation, would you prefer to do so wearing a snug fitting and kinesthetically responsive tactical glove or a sensory dulling, over-padded, finger constricting mitten? this was the question I was struck with when i first questioned the use of shoes...It makes sense right, you wouldn't wrap your fingers together and try to function continuing your everyday necessities, so why do it to your feet?
Fourthly; The heel is of no use. The only reason a heel was incorporated into the 'shoe' was to increase the height of the individual, it functioned as no mechanical benefit. You could argue the point that weightlifters use a 5-6 degree heel when competing and this aids in their bottom end position when 'catching' throughout a lift. But this also means that they do not require so much dorsiflexion range at the ankle and the amount of time there exposed to this incline is minimal to alter postural mechanics.
My point being, the heel will only draw you forward of your centre of mass, increase the loading of the knees by encouraging excessive 'heel striking', overly anteriorly tilt the pelvis creating susceptibility to injury at the SIJ (tailbone region), leading to dysfunction throughout the lower back and continuos niggleing headaches that you say is a gluten issue..
Lastly; Just remember how your feet, emotions and whole body feels when you get home after a day on the job and you unwrap those chains off of your feet...Dammnn that feelings good huh? just like when you finish 6x5 deadlifts, a 10 string of lobster pots or a lecture on breatherianism...it feels good! Remember that feeling, your feet are (should) just as integrative if not more so than your hands and anything you do above that isn't supportive..you better believe that your feet will be picking up the slack.....look after them and I'm sure they'll let you.. express you.
Well thats just a few issues I've encountered with athletes and clients and their modern love affair with footwear, and there is plenty more to consider.
Be wise.
Beatle.
