Arch Supports? Really?

So, let's talk for a minute about Dr. Scholls and arch supports . . . but first let me set the stage.

My mom has barefoot shoes (both with and without individual toes) and loves them.  She's worn them all over the world, including hiking over volcanic (and snowy) rock in Iceland, amazing her tour guide with her prowess!  Inevitably, there are incredulous people who ask her about her shoes and then say "Oh I could never wear those -- I need arch support."

Now, let's assume we all know that arch supports are not something our bodies should need if (a big "if") we had been using our bodies and feet correctly over the years (and if this statement is not entirely clear to you, see the footnote below*).  I just want to take a minute to look at the problems with how the Dr. Scholls machines in the drug stores evaluate your feet and determine which supports you "need."

Have you seen one of these machines?  Take a look at the footprints, into which you are supposed to place your feet for evaluation.  Notice anything unfortunate about their position?

Yes, in fact they are pointing outward and not straight ahead (read my previous post for why straight feet are important).

What does that mean about the evaluation the machine is getting?  Try standing normally -- forget the direction your feet should be facing and just look at how they are facing (walk around the room once and then stop, just to make sure you're as natural as possible).  How are your feet facing?  Without changing your foot position, notice where you feel the most weight in the feet -- the insides?  Outsides?  Heels?  Toes? Is one foot different from the other?  Then, realign your feet so that the outside edges are pointing straight forwards and reevaluate -- now where do you feel the weight?  Then, really turn your feet out, more than they were before -- where do you feel the weight?  Notice how your weight distribution changes as you change the alignment of your feet?

So what is the machine doing?  It is evaluating your feet in a FIXED alignment that is not even a correct alignment at that.  But the alignment of the machine may not even match the alignment of your feet in your natural stance.  So really, the machine tells you nothing.  Unless your feet happen to match its feet.  Not that it matters, given that arch supports are just a temporary fix for a larger problem . . . but somehow, once I noticed this machine's problem, I couldn't let it go without writing about it.  And now you've been the recipients of this random post.

But hopefully you now know more about how you like to distribute your weight over your feet (which may be different than how you should distribute your weight -- a post for another time), which would mean that this post wasn't for nothing!

*Saying the arches in our feet need arch supports is like saying our necks need some neck support or our knees need bracing.  Hopefully neither of those latter two situations applies to you.  Yes, some people need these external forms of support because their internal support system (muscles, bones, fascia, etc.) is compromised.  But our bodies are structured to support themselves without any external help -- assuming we continue to use and strengthen our bodies the way they were designed.

Imagine that you have worn stiff mittens your entire life and now you are trying to play the piano or lean onto your hands.  Those muscles, bones and other soft tissues have become so weakened with disuse that you would most likely need a brace of some kind to help "support" your hands.  The same thing is true with the feet.  By wearing shoes and arch supports our entire lives, we have taken away the responsibility of our feet to support our body weight. 

Can our feet regain some of that responsibility?  Absolutely!  But it takes time to redevelop the strength and mobility that has been lost.  Don't suddenly and completely get rid of the arch supports, but slowly start to spend more time without them and add in some foot strengthening and stretching.  For more information, Katy Bowman's book Every Woman's Guide to Foot Pain Relief is a great resource and is not just for women!