Age, wear & tear

Our feet generally stop growing by the age of 20, although as you get older (and a little bit greyer) you probably find that you have gone up a size or two. That is generally due to some natural spread across the ball area of your foot – the bones moving and shifting over time.

There are 206 bones in your body – 26 in each foot. That is a quarter of the bones in your body in your precious feet! You want to look for shoes that have an anatomical shape that mirrors the natural shape of your foot to allow those bones to spread naturally.

Forcing your foot into an unnaturally narrow space or direction is what causes problem such as bunions and hammer toes, where the toe angles inwards – forcing the joint outwards. If you have them – you know how painful this can be.

If, like most, you gained a bit of weight during lockdown, your feet will start to spread and splay to accommodate the increased pressure. Foot problems arise when we fail to acknowledge what is happening and still try to squeeze our swelling feet into our tattered old leather work shoes instead of investing in a comfortable new pair of suede loafers.