Give Your Feet A Decent Life

Off somewhere? Hair, hands, fingernails, skin all get care that's good for them. Teeth get brushed, eyes get sunglasses or hats. What about those Cinderellas on the floor who are going to carry you?

The shoes you've put them into: right for fashion, the weather and your gear, but are they right for your feet?

Poor feet! They don't need much to stay fit and happy. Only enough room to stand and walk comfortably. Yet so often we pack them in with toes all over each other like sardines in a tin. We like the shoes so our feet have to fit.

Looking after feet begins in childhood; shoes that fit are important while feet are still growing. Shoes tight or the wrong shape can stop feet developing the way they should: One pair of badly fitting shoes after another can alter the shape of toes for life. They can change the way a child holds herself and have a good bit to do with how she walks.

Children's shoes are off almost as long as they are on, which is fine in our climate, and while feet are on earth, sand or grass. On pavements or hard school playgrounds shoes or sandals can be good protection.

Later on shoes have to be worn all day every day, and the child may be out of range of parents' advice, even though the feet are still growing. What the child can afford, what's new and what friends are wearing are frequently the only guides when it comes to new shoes.

Chiropodists know all about the foot troubles that show up when shoes are not right for feet, so their advice is well worth having. They say good shoes should:

Fit snugly round the heel.
Fit snugly round the waist and instep of the foot.
Be long enough, wide enough and deep enough for the toes to lie straight without squashing at all. (It's best if they are deep enough for toes to be able to rise slightly when you walk).
Be flexible enough to bend with the feet, then they can move properly.
Not be too high-heeled, as that throws too much weight onto one part of the foot. A heel 5 centimeters high or more doubles the load on the joint at the base of the big toe.

Feet are your base, so they have to be strong, steady enough to carry you for whatever you are doing.

They also act as a lever to help you move along. When someone walks along the beach you can see feet really working. When feet are free to propel you, walking feels smoother and more effortless. It looks that way, too.

Feet also act as shock-absorbers for the body; take walking down stairs or on hard pavements. It is sense to let feet do their job properly, but so often we wear shoes that hinder them.

A foot is made up of bones linked by little gliding joints, and ligaments which bind the bones together, not tightly but quite firmly.

Foot bones have to be the right shape, or the feet will not be a stable steady base. (Those little Japanese girls with tightly bound feet were never too steady on their pins when they grew up, their foot bones never had a chance to develop normally).

Foot bone joints only have a very small range of movement, but add all the little movements together and quite a bit of action goes on, if there is room for it.

The muscles of the foot give it all-over support; they keep all the bits together.

Feet like to move, stretch and breathe, inside their shoes if that's where they stay all day. So, when it comes to new shoes, see that they fit. Your feet will pay you back all your life for being kind to them.

Author bio:By Natalia Moore, The author is a fashion, beauty and lifestyle blogger.