Our feet and ankles are major "balancers" of the body meaning they send signals to the brain keeping us balanced and upright! Our shoes, are unfortunately, a major contributor to "muddying-up" this connection between our feet and brains.
The reason: Let's use an example...our hands are sensitive and can feel every detail of an object; We can even close our eyes and our hands feel with such detail that we still manage to figure out what it is we are holding. Now put on a pair of gloves and grab the same object; the nooks and crannies are lost and all we feel is some object with no detail.
So when we put on a thick soled, highly supportive shoe this dramatically impedes our foot's ability to send the brain that "balancing" information. This translates into us putting unnecessary stress and strain on the hips, knees and back!
Yes, there's a time and place for these types of footwear however highly supportive shoes should not be the default choice. Still interested in learning more about your footwear and how it might be impacting your knee, hip or back pain? Give me a call!