When Your Feet Get All the Love—Yet Hurt Anyway
We often treat our feet like royalty.
- Special shoes
- Orthotics
- Pedicures
- Foot massages
Yet somehow, foot and ankle pain seems to be commonplace.
With advances in medicine and footwear technology, how is this happening?
The Foot Was Designed a Particular Way
Take a moment and look at your toes. Do they:
- Spread outward, fanning lightly?
- Or curl inward toward a more pointed shape?
The natural design: toes should fan outward and rest in a neutral, slightly extended position.
Why? This gives the foot more surface area to sense ground changes, detect uneven terrain, and distribute load more evenly.
When toes are squished or cramped, the foot’s ability to adapt and absorb force is diminished.
Shoes or No Shoes? The Half-Solution Dilemma
You might think: “So, just ditch the shoes and go barefoot!” But that’s only half the equation.
Yes, the human body is built for barefoot motion—but most of us have lost the strength and neuromuscular control to do so safely anymore. If you go barefoot aggressively, pain or injury will often follow.
When we wear shoes too much, especially with high cushioning or structure, our feet relax into dependency. The muscles and structures that should support motion aren’t challenged, and so they weaken.
So taking shoes off is part of the solution—but not the entire solution.
The Bigger Problem: Movement Deficit
Shoes are just the beginning of what’s going wrong.
Our bodies were built for movement. But in today’s world:
- We sit a lot
- We avoid movements that challenge us
- We rarely demand full function from our feet
This disuse leads to muscle imbalances, joint stiffness, poor proprioception (the ability to know where your parts are in space), and weaker foot structures. Over time, the stress of daily life accumulates, and foot pain becomes almost inevitable.
The Path Back: Restore Demand & Function
Here’s the encouraging part: your body is adaptive.
If you restore the demands—moving intentionally, gradually, consistently—the foot has the capacity to reinvest in strength, integrity, and improved design.
- Start walking barefoot in safe spaces
- Perform foot mobility and strength exercises
- Use an Egoscue menu to support structure (As an Egoscue Affiliate I can help with that)
- Gradually wean dependency on super-supportive shoes or devices
Walking barefoot with a more balanced, aligned body after doing your alignment work is a beautiful next step.
If you’d like help realigning you posture, which will help your feet, with an Egoscue program then check out my option for a 7 Day Trial Program.