Why do shoemakers put padding where the foot arch rests?

[Frog march]

I bought some sandals this week, off the internet because I need larger shoes, and when I got them, I found that there was a raised padded part, where the arch of my foot would rest.
When I put them on, this was slightly uncomfortable, and if I had a long walk in them, might become very uncomfortable.

Why do they do this?
We evolved so that our weight was supported by the ball, and heel of our foot weren't we?


I made a cut, from the side, and scraped out the padding, and they are much more comfortable; I ended up with a blister on my index finger doing this....

Anyone else have problems with this?

[novaderrik]

i saw something on tv where someone was talking about all the problems people in the west have with joints in their legs. this person was saying that they used to have all sorts of problems with his knees, and that doctors couldn't figure it out. anyways, he went to some third world country where people walk around without shoes and they have no problems with their joints. so, going by the "when in Rome.."theory, he started walking around barefoot. almost immediately, he noticed that his joint pain went away.
thinking about it as i type, i just remembered that he was a marathon runner, and he went to this country to take part in some 100mile long marathon that they have every year where everyone runs barefoot.
anyways, he has since stopped wearing running shoes and says that he feels much better now. and he wrote a book about it- which was why he was on a talk show. it was either the Daily Show or the Colbert report. my memory is coming back as i type it, so i'm sorry if this seems a little scattershot..

[mugaliens]

We evolved so that our weight was supported by the ball, and heel of our foot weren't we?

Well, yes and no. The earliest known shoes were found in Oregan, US, and date back 9 to 10 thousand years ago, but anthropologists have found evidence in the decreasing thickness of toe bones between 40,000 and 26,000 years ago, which indicates shoe wear began around that time.

However, whether or not you descended from shoe-wearers depends a lot on your ancestry. If your ancestry is from the trops and is relatively unmixed, you can probably go without shoes in most situations, but if you're from the northern climes, you probably evolved to be a shoe-wearer. Although I'm the latter, I spent most of my warmer weather in college walking to and from classes barefoot, and my son goes barefoot as much as he can.

As for support built into shoes, today's modern carpent and padding simulates the support given by soils and grasses upon which our ancesters usually trod barefoot, so if you're walking on concrete, asphalt, or tile, a lightly to moderately padded shoe is probably best for your foot.

I made a cut, from the side, and scraped out the padding, and they are much more comfortable.

There you go!

Interestingly, I have problems wearing shoes with too much padding, particularly air soles which evenly distribute pressure to all points, rather than apportioning pressure to those areas which are closer to ground contact. Gell soles which flow to much give me similar problems. Some people have similar problems with air mattresses, and to a lesser extent, water beds.

[Tog]

When I was a kid I had these amazingly uncomfortable hard plastic things that went into my shoes to support my arches. I stopped wearing them when I was around 6. Either I didn't need them at all, or they worked. My feet were good enough for the Army.

I don't mind a little arch support in my shoes, but anything that sticks up more than 1 cm or so is too tall and starts to hurt. In the Army, my boots were far more comfortable than my running shoes for walking around in. For running, the weight and inflexibility became an issue.

The first thing I do when i get home is take off my shoes. I don't like them, but I do wear them outside.

I've never had any knee or ankle issues, but for the last three months or so my right hip hurts if I try to raise my foot more than a few inches off of the ground. That doesn't feel like it's in the joint though. It feels more like the soft tissue in front of it. After a particularly taxing day at work, my feet do hurt for a while, but it's more just soreness.

[Frog march]

I don't know whether the shoes through history would have had a flat base, for the feet, or curvature to fit the feet, or soft.

Padded, or shaped inner shoes, feel unpleasantly like walking on sand, which is alright in moderation.

Our barefoot ancestors, would probably have walked on quite firm ground, most of the time, I would think.



Hard soils, rocks.
And you can quite often feel firm ground beneath grass, with bare feet.

[mahesh]

...However, whether or not you descended from shoe-wearers depends a lot on your ancestry. ...

...Our barefoot ancestors, would probably have walked on quite firm ground, most of the time, I would think....

I would have thought the we, all, at the end of the day, came from Africa!

[mahesh]

sorry Tog, about your pain...it's depreciation, with age...in some cases, as in mine...accelerated...

...And you can quite often feel firm ground beneath grass, with bare feet.

yes..a lovely pleasant feeling.

But it's safer to have footwear on, for the human debris lying around, shamefully.

But, as Tog says, I too, never wear anything when indoors...footwear-wise. Even when I am visiting.
Makes me very uncomfortable. Bringing in the garbage from outside.

[jokergirl]

I always got used to that padding quite quickly. Although I assume that if you already have a problem with a flattened foot-arch, you might find those uncomfortable...

[sarongsong]

...I don't mind a little arch support in my shoes, but anything that sticks up more than 1 cm or so is too tall and starts to hurt...

No high heels for you!

[Frog march]

well, I'm a bit on the rotund side, shall we say a few to many beanburgers, so my feet are a bit flattened by that, but I always felt that that sort of padding was pointless, even when I wasn't so gravitationally challenged.
When I was a runner, I even tried on some trainers with a great wad of padding for the arch...what's the point? Aren't there tendons under the arch?

[Ivan Viehoff]

When I was a kid I had these amazingly uncomfortable hard plastic things that went into my shoes to support my arches. I stopped wearing them when I was around 6. Either I didn't need them at all, or they worked.

I also suffered various torture devices as a child for my outrageously flat feet and non-vertical Achilles tendons.

My 3-yr-old has inherited it from me, in fact rather more pronounced. She was referred to a specialist by our doctor recently, as he said he'd never seen a child which such feet at her age. The specialist said that she (and I) have what are called "flexible flat feet", ie the arch is present when the foot is lifted off the ground. This is a benign condition not requiring any intervention, and actually avoids some of the problems some people with "normal" feet can have.

I have worn orthotics for a period in my adult life, but not for the benefit of my feet. It was because of a problem with my knees, which was not related to my feet, rather it was a muscular issue because lots of cycling up hills had unbalanced my leg muscles. But the orthotics didn't help, no doubt because putting an arch under my foot is not a nice thing to do to someone with flexible flat feet. We later found a better way to control the knee issue with stretching exercises.

[NEOWatcher]

I made a cut, from the side, and scraped out the padding, and they are much more comfortable; I ended up with a blister on my index finger doing this....

Anyone else have problems with this?

No; usually blisters from my shoes end up somewhere on my feet. Do you do a lot of handstands?

I can see the headlines now: "Scientists find a link between arch support and finger problems"

[darkhunter]

Last time I went to a doctor, he said my ankle problems when I have to do PT were from high arches without enough support from my running shoea. Threw in some arch supports and my ankles have been OK since....

It depends on how your feet are shaped, and the (running shoe) manufacturers build different shoes to match different foot shapes and walking/running patterns.

I nomally were combat boots or work boots, and don't have probmlems in daily llife/work--only when I have to run in PT....

[Gillianren]

But it's safer to have footwear on, for the human debris lying around, shamefully.

You know, there's a lot of not-human debris I don't want to step on. And I don't just mean the obvious. At our old site, I used to run around barefoot the whole time except when using the facilities or leaving site. I can't do that at the new site, because there are large, jagged rocks.

But, as Tog says, I too, never wear anything when indoors...footwear-wise. Even when I am visiting.
Makes me very uncomfortable. Bringing in the garbage from outside.

I hope you ask first. I have friends where the first thing I do is take off my shoes. However, I don't automatically assume everyone is comfortable with it. I know people who aren't.

[tdvance]

I bought some sandals this week, off the internet because I need larger shoes, and when I got them, I found that there was a raised padded part, where the arch of my foot would rest.
When I put them on, this was slightly uncomfortable, and if I had a long walk in them, might become very uncomfortable.

Why do they do this?
We evolved so that our weight was supported by the ball, and heel of our foot weren't we?


I made a cut, from the side, and scraped out the padding, and they are much more comfortable; I ended up with a blister on my index finger doing this....

Anyone else have problems with this?

It's probably for people like me who's feet get tired fast if there isn't sufficient arch support!

[tdvance]

I also suffered various torture devices as a child for my outrageously flat feet and non-vertical Achilles tendons.

My 3-yr-old has inherited it from me, in fact rather more pronounced. She was referred to a specialist by our doctor recently, as he said he'd never seen a child which such feet at her age. The specialist said that she (and I) have what are called "flexible flat feet", ie the arch is present when the foot is lifted off the ground. This is a benign condition not requiring any intervention, and actually avoids some of the problems some people with "normal" feet can have.

I have worn orthotics for a period in my adult life, but not for the benefit of my feet. It was because of a problem with my knees, which was not related to my feet, rather it was a muscular issue because lots of cycling up hills had unbalanced my leg muscles. But the orthotics didn't help, no doubt because putting an arch under my foot is not a nice thing to do to someone with flexible flat feet. We later found a better way to control the knee issue with stretching exercises.

I had actually read the opposite--if your feet are permanently flat, it's not a big problem, but if your feet become flat only when you put weight on them, the overstretching of the planter muscle causes heal spurs to develop.

[wd40]

According to this
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/bar...cessary-health
we'd be better off wlaking barefoot altogether

[swampyankee]

According to this
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/bar...cessary-health
we'd be better off wlaking barefoot altogether

Hookworm?

[Moose]

anyways, he went to some third world country where people walk around without shoes and they have no problems with their joints. so, going by the "when in Rome.."theory, he started walking around barefoot. almost immediately, he noticed that his joint pain went away.

My immediate thought is: "What is the survival rate of people prone to experiencing joint problems in countries where the wearing of shoes is not the cultural or economic norm, knowing that joint problems are frequently symptoms of something else, rather than isolated problems in their own right?"

It seems to me that people without joint problems, where conditions are harsh enough that reproductive survival can't be taken for granted like we take it in the western world, have a significant survival advantage over those with what we'd consider minor ailments. Given a harsh enough environment, there's really no such thing as a minor ailment.

[Moose]

I hope you ask first. I have friends where the first thing I do is take off my shoes. However, I don't automatically assume everyone is comfortable with it. I know people who aren't.

Huh. Over here, culturally, we wear shoes in offices, and go sock feet (or slippers) in homes, even when visiting. There are exceptions, but they're not the norm.

[Cougar]

According to this
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/bar...cessary-health
we'd be better off wlaking barefoot altogether

"greenmedinfo"? Sounds like that site might have an agenda. Namely, green. Not that I'm anti-green. I'm very pro-green. But when I looked at that article, it seemed to go well beyond green and into, what, new-age spiritualism? For example,

"It is no great mystery that the human foot was designed, over countless millenia, to be in direct contact with the Earth, the literal and symbolic ground of our being."

In this case, claiming it is "no great mystery" is a perfect example of what is called "handwaving." OMG, then if you read a little further, you see the article is asserting that non-barefoot people are "disconnected... from the earth's electrical rhythms and free electrons to flow from the earth to the body."

Ho-kay. Thanks for resurrecting this 3-year-old thread for that, wd40.

[wd40]

Have you ever worn an unyielding all-wooden Dutch clog?!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clog_(shoe)

[Van Rijn]

*klomp, klomp*

No, I haven't worn them, but my grandparents had some. They were supposed to be quite good protective shoes, which I can easily believe.

[pzkpfw]

Huh. Over here, culturally, we wear shoes in offices, and go sock feet (or slippers) in homes, even when visiting. There are exceptions, but they're not the norm.

Yep, same here.

Freaks me out watching U.S. T.V. shows (much of what we get here) and everybody seems to wear their shoes everywhere - indoor and out.

(I suppose I'm assuming the shows reflect cultural norms, rather than the actors treat the sets as, well, sets.)

Someone sits/lies on a couch or bed and their shoes are all over it. Not something we allow in our home; though I don't know if in N.Z. there's a specific preference one way or the other.

(And I know that's just a bit OCD of me; if lots of people in the U.S. or other places where shoes are worn inside died of shoe-related infections we'd have heard about it by now...)



My Father always has a few pairs of clogs around the house; prefers them as footwear when in his workshop. I sometimes use them when visiting, but the top part of my foot soon hurts.

[Van Rijn]

Well, I'll try to describe what I would consider normal, living in California:

Under informal situations, I don't wear shoes much in the house. We don't have any strict rules about it, but it's generally more comfortable and can help keep the floor and carpet cleaner. If I've been working in the yard, I'll usually take my shoes off to avoid getting stains or dirt on the carpet. For work, I usually put my shoes on a few minutes before leaving, and don't walk around much in the house with them on.

The other side of it is that I often go barefoot in the yard during warm weather. As a practical matter to avoid grime on the floors and carpets I usually find that grimy feet are a bigger issue than grimy shoes.

If someone is coming over for a formal dinner, I'll put on my good shoes (which I have worn outside the house) along with the good clothes and wear them in the house. I'd feel awkward in that situation with just socks, as I would in that situation if I just wore a t-shirt and shorts. In an informal visit with friends or family over it would be different, though. I might not bother to wear shoes or at least might take them off after awhile. Same thing if I'm informally visiting friends or family.

I'd generally avoid having shoes on furniture, with the exception of a foot rest. Even there, usually if I'm using a foot rest I'm relaxing in an informal setting so probably don't have shoes on.

[wd40]

Crocs are the opposite of clogs, but although very comfortable, according to my orthoped, long term outdoor wear will ruin the sole's fascia.

[Gillianren]

How are they the opposite of clogs? They look like clogs to me.

[NEOWatcher]

I inferred it as soft vs hard.

[Gillianren]

Yeah, but you can get felt clogs.

[PetersCreek]

Yeah, but you can get felt clogs.

Haflinger...not my style but nice clogs. I think my wife has a pair.

We shuck our street shoes upon entering the house. At this time of year, we don't want to track salt, traction gravel, or snow into the house. In the Spring, it's slush and mud. In Fall, it's leaf debris. In Summer, it's just other stuff...yard clippings, cottonwood fluff, sticky bud hulls from other trees...you know, stuff. The dog brings in enough without our help.

I can't go barefoot anymore...not for very long, anyway. The resulting pain can be debilitating. I can't even wear the average house slipper because it doesn't off enough support. They're pricey for house shoes but Merrell scuffs do well by me. I'm on my third pair with the other two having been relegated to stepping out into the garage or on the deck.